Dataset Information

Effect of a Standardized Four-Week Desensitization and Counter-Conditioning Training Program on Pre-Existing Veterinary Fear in Companion Dogs.

ABSTRACT: Many dogs show signs of fear during veterinary appointments. It is widely recommended to use desensitization and counter-conditioning training to reduce this fear. However, the efficacy of this method for reducing veterinary fear has not been examined. We assessed the effect of a standardized four-week training program on behavioural and physiological signs of fear in dogs with pre-existing veterinary fear. Owned dogs were randomly allocated to receive training (n = 15) or no training (n = 22; Control). Owners of dogs in the training group were instructed to perform exam-style handling on their dog and to visit the veterinary clinic weekly. Owners of control dogs were given no instructions. Fear responses were assessed before and after the training period by a blinded observer during clinic arrival and examination. Despite motivated owners volunteering to participate in the current study, 44% of owners were non-compliant to this training program. During examination, control dogs had higher odds (95% confidence Interval (CI)) of reduced posture compared to trained dogs (Odds ratio (OR): 3.79, CI: 1.03-16.3). Fear scores for trained dogs lowered during the second examination (p = 0.046), and 86.7% of dog owners reported a reduction in their dog's fear levels across the training period (p = 0.007). When entering the clinic (p = 0.002) and during examination (p = 0.002), trained female dogs had a higher rate of lip licking than control females. The training program did not influence temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, avoidance, trembling, vocalizations, or willingness and encouragement to step on the scale. Results suggest that this four-week training program was mildly effective at reducing veterinary fear in dogs. Further research is necessary to explore the efficacy of longer, more intensive, and individualized training programs.

SUBMITTER: Stellato A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6826973 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effect of a Standardized Four-Week Desensitization and Counter-Conditioning Training Program on Pre-Existing Veterinary Fear in Companion Dogs.

Stellato Anastasia A Jajou Sarah S Dewey Cate E CE Widowski Tina M TM Niel Lee L

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI 20191007 10

Many dogs show signs of fear during veterinary appointments. It is widely recommended to use desensitization and counter-conditioning training to reduce this fear. However, the efficacy of this method for reducing veterinary fear has not been examined. We assessed the effect of a standardized four-week training program on behavioural and physiological signs of fear in dogs with pre-existing veterinary fear. Owned dogs were randomly allocated to receive training (n = 15) or no training (n = 22; C ...[more]

PMID: 31591343

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Project description:BackgroundThe privately owned companion dog is an emerging model in comparative medicine, notably because it shares the human environment including its risk factors, is affected by many analogous age-related diseases, receives comparable medical care, and has excellent veterinary medical data available.Past studies of dog lifespan have used academic, corporate or insurance data. While independent primary care data exist for the UK, none have as of yet been published for the US. This study analyzed data from three independent primary care US veterinary hospitals and identified factors that influence lifespan and mortality in a cohort of n = 20,970 privately owned dogs using Kaplan-Meier survival estimators and Cox Proportional Hazards modelling, including body size as a covariate.ResultsAs previously reported, body size was negatively correlated with lifespan. Gonadectomy was associated with a longer lifespan, with the effect being stronger in females than in males. This lifespan advantage was conserved in gonadectomized female dogs that lived to at least ages 5 and 8 years. We did not find significant differences in lifespan between purebred and mixed breed dogs; however, breeds with larger effective population sizes and/or lower inbreeding coefficients had median survival times 3-6 months longer than breeds with smaller effective population sizes or higher inbreeding coefficients, indicating that these measures of genetic diversity may be affecting breed lifespans. We also found that dog breeds belonging to the "Mountain" ancestral group had median survival times that were 3.5-4.6 years shorter than other purebred dog groups, which remained significant even when correcting for body size.ConclusionsOur findings show that it is possible to obtain and analyze data from independent veterinary clinics in the US, an approach that could be useful for studies of comparative epidemiology under the One Health and One Welfare paradigms. We also show that the lifespan effects of gonadectomy are not identical between the sexes and should be investigated separately by sex in future analyses. More research is needed to further clarify the influence of age at gonadectomy, as well as the factors leading to the observed differences in lifespan in the "Mountain" ancestral group and in dog breeds of varying inbreeding coefficients and effective population sizes.

Project description:A fundamental question in neuroscience is how memories are stored and retrieved in the brain. Many neurological, psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders are associated with cognitive deficits. Therefore characterizing the biological basis of these processes is critical for understanding normal and abnormal brain function. It is known that long-term memory formation requires transcription and translation as well as epigenetic processes that control gene expression. In this study we examined genome-wide gene expression changes during memory consolidation and after memory retrieval. We observe the largest changes in gene expression 30 minutes after memory acquisition and retrieval, and several novel genes were found to be affected by both. Interestingly, acquisition and retrieval of memory down-regulate different processes. Chromatin assembly is down-regulated after memory acquisition whereas RNA processing is down-regulated so after retrieval. Histone variant H2AB levels are reduced following acquisition, while splicing factor Rbfox1 and NMDA receptor-dependent microRNA miR-219 are down-regulated following retrieval. We also show that miR-219 down-regulation after retrieval is accompanied by up-regulation of its target protein CAMKIIÎ³. Our study highlights for the first time the differential involvement of epigenetic mechanisms that control gene expression, such as histone variants and post-transcriptional RNA processing, during memory acquisition and retrieval. 72 total samples were analyzed, including animals trained in a contexual conditioning paradigm (FC) and controls. Tissue was collected at 30 minutes (FC30), 4 hours (FC4), 12 hours (FC12) and 24 hours after FC (FC24) as well as 30 minutes after testing for retrieval of the memory (RT30). Testing was performed at 24 hours after training over a 5-minute interval. Animals that were handled but not trained were dissected at the same time of day to control for variations due to circadian rhythms (CC30, CC4 andCC12). The protocol was repeated over the course of 2 weeks to obtain 9 animals (2 hippocampi) per group, so that 9 independent FC experiments were represented in each time point and all animals for each group were dissected at the exactly the same time of day.

Dataset Information

Effect of a Standardized Four-Week Desensitization and Counter-Conditioning Training Program on Pre-Existing Veterinary Fear in Companion Dogs.

Publications

Effect of a Standardized Four-Week Desensitization and Counter-Conditioning Training Program on Pre-Existing Veterinary Fear in Companion Dogs.

Similar Datasets

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