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An evidence-based decision assistance model for predicting training outcome in juvenile guide dogs.

ABSTRACT: Working dog organisations, such as Guide Dogs, need to regularly assess the behaviour of the dogs they train. In this study we developed a questionnaire-style behaviour assessment completed by training supervisors of juvenile guide dogs aged 5, 8 and 12 months old (n = 1,401), and evaluated aspects of its reliability and validity. Specifically, internal reliability, temporal consistency, construct validity, predictive criterion validity (comparing against later training outcome) and concurrent criterion validity (comparing against a standardised behaviour test) were evaluated. Thirty-nine questions were sourced either from previously published literature or created to meet requirements identified via Guide Dogs staff surveys and staff feedback. Internal reliability analyses revealed seven reliable and interpretable trait scales named according to the questions within them as: Adaptability; Body Sensitivity; Distractibility; Excitability; General Anxiety; Trainability and Stair Anxiety. Intra-individual temporal consistency of the scale scores between 5-8, 8-12 and 5-12 months was high. All scales excepting Body Sensitivity showed some degree of concurrent criterion validity. Predictive criterion validity was supported for all seven scales, since associations were found with training outcome, at at-least one age. Thresholds of z-scores on the scales were identified that were able to distinguish later training outcome by identifying 8.4% of all dogs withdrawn for behaviour and 8.5% of all qualified dogs, with 84% and 85% specificity. The questionnaire assessment was reliable and could detect traits that are consistent within individuals over time, despite juvenile dogs undergoing development during the study period. By applying thresholds to scores produced from the questionnaire this assessment could prove to be a highly valuable decision-making tool for Guide Dogs. This is the first questionnaire-style assessment of juvenile dogs that has shown value in predicting the training outcome of individual working dogs.

SUBMITTER: Harvey ND

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5470660 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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An evidence-based decision assistance model for predicting training outcome in juvenile guide dogs.

Harvey Naomi D ND Craigon Peter J PJ Blythe Simon A SA England Gary C W GCW Asher Lucy L

PloS one 20170614 6

Working dog organisations, such as Guide Dogs, need to regularly assess the behaviour of the dogs they train. In this study we developed a questionnaire-style behaviour assessment completed by training supervisors of juvenile guide dogs aged 5, 8 and 12 months old (n = 1,401), and evaluated aspects of its reliability and validity. Specifically, internal reliability, temporal consistency, construct validity, predictive criterion validity (comparing against later training outcome) and concurrent c ...[more]

PMID: 28614347

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Project description:Maturational changes in behavior, and the possible influence of the puppy-raising environment on behavioral development, were investigated in a total sample of 978 prospective guide dogs belonging to four different breeds/crosses. All dogs belonged to the same guide dog organization, and had been exposed to similar early environmental influences prior to being assigned to puppy-raising households at 7-8?weeks of age. Behavioral data were collected from puppy raisers when the dogs were 6 and 12?months old using the C-BARQ(©), a standardized, validated, and widely used survey instrument that measures the frequency and/or severity of most common behavior problems in dogs. Information about the puppy-raising environment was obtained from puppy raisers using a standardized questionnaire shortly before the dogs were returned to the guide dog organization for training. Data were analyzed using both univariate and multivariate statistics (binary logistic generalized estimating equations modeling and generalized linear modeling). The findings demonstrated specific maturational changes in behavior between 6 and 12?months of age. In particular, German Shepherd dogs displayed an increase in stranger-directed aggression compared with the other breeds/crosses between 6 and 12?months of age. Several aspects of the puppy-raising environment were associated with puppies' C-BARQ scores at 12?months of age. In particular, growing up in households with more experienced puppy raisers, and in the company of at least one other dog, were both associated with positive effects on a number of puppy behaviors. By contrast, puppies that had been frightened by a person or threatened by another unfamiliar dog showed significantly worse scores for fear of strangers and dogs, respectively. Being frightened by a person, being reared by less experienced puppy raisers, and/or in households without other pets were associated with less successful training outcomes. The relevance of these findings to current guide dog breeding and husbandry practices is discussed.

Project description:Working dogs play a variety of important roles, ranging from assisting individuals with disabilities, to explosive and medical detection work. Despite widespread demand, only a subset of dogs bred and trained for these roles ultimately succeed, creating a need for objective measures that can predict working dog aptitude. Most previous research has focused on temperamental characteristics of successful dogs. However, working dogs also face diverse cognitive challenges both in training, and throughout their working lives. We conducted a series of studies investigating the relationships between individual differences in dog cognition, and success as an assistance or detection dog. Assistance dogs (N = 164) and detection dogs (N = 222) were tested in the Dog Cognition Test Battery, a 25-item instrument probing diverse aspects of dog cognition. Through exploratory analyses we identified a subset of tasks associated with success in each training program, and developed shorter test batteries including only these measures. We then used predictive modeling in a prospective study with an independent sample of assistance dogs (N = 180), and conducted a replication study with an independent sample of detection dogs (N = 90). In assistance dogs, models using data on individual differences in cognition predicted higher probabilities of success for dogs that ultimately succeeded in the program, than for those who did not. For the subset of dogs with predicted probabilities of success in the 4th quartile (highest predicted probability of success), model predictions were 86% accurate, on average. In both the exploratory and prospective studies, successful dogs were more likely to engage in eye contact with a human experimenter when faced with an unsolvable task, or when a joint social activity was disrupted. In detection dogs, we replicated our exploratory findings that the most successful dogs scored higher on measures of sensitivity to human communicative intentions, and two measures of short term memory. These findings suggest that that (1) individual differences in cognition contribute to variance in working dog success, and (2) that objective measures of dog cognition can be used to improve the processes through which working dogs are evaluated and selected.

Dataset Information

An evidence-based decision assistance model for predicting training outcome in juvenile guide dogs.

Publications

An evidence-based decision assistance model for predicting training outcome in juvenile guide dogs.

Similar Datasets

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