Tag: dog studies

Most dogs — nearly three-quarters of over 13,700 pets observed in Finland, at least — have some kind of anxiety disorder, according to a new study.

Among the most common disorders were fear of noise (which about 33% of the study participants and 90% of my own dogs have had), fear of heights, and fear of strangers (which my very nervous Pit Bull mix Ella definitely has, among many other fears).

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Helsinki, was published this week in Scientific Reports. The largest study of its kind, it involved 13,715 dogs of various breeds and mixes. No dogs were subjected to any testing or otherwise harmed during the study. Their owners were simply asked to complete a questionnaire analyzing the following seven behavioral traits:

• Noise sensitivity, including thunder, fireworks and gunshots
• Fearfulness of humans, other dogs and unfamiliar locations
• Fear of surfaces and heights
• Inattention and impulsivity
• Compulsive behavior
• Aggressiveness
• Separation anxiety

Interestingly, some breeds were more likely to have certain behavioral traits. Rough Collies, for example, had the greatest fear of surfaces and heights — so don’t expect Lassie to ever rescue Timmy from that well.

Not surprisingly, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, often considered “Pit Bulls” and subjected to unfair breed-specific legislation (BSL) that allegedly keeps people safer, are less aggressive toward strangers than many other breeds that have never been banned, like Border Collies and Miniature Schnauzers. Here’s hoping Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, who recently vetoed the city council’s decision to end BSL, takes a really good look at this study.

The study found that the age of dogs may play a part in their anxiety disorders. Older dogs become more sensitive to loud noise such as thunder. Most of the behavioral issues like tail chasing and inattention were experienced by younger dogs.

So, what does all this mean? For one thing, this could be yet another way dogs can be beneficial for humans: They could help provide a better understanding of what determines our mental health problems.

“In humans, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) often occurs together with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but this is the first time the same has been seen in dogs,” said the study’s first author, Milla Salonen. She told Gizmodo this correlation was possibly the study’s most surprising discovery.

The study results may also be helpful for someone wanting to adopt a purebred dog. “It is important to think about how much you will exercise and do any activities with the dog,” Salonen told Gizmodo. “If you want a dog only as a companion and will not exercise heavily or for long periods of time, it is not advisable to get a working dog, that is, a dog with high energy level.” Good advice.

Photo: That’s my Ella, trying to hide from everything that scares her.

If your dogs are anything like mine, some of the most common words they hear (besides, of course, “I love you soooo much”) are “OFF!” and “DOWN!”

Yet these two words are nowhere to be found on a list compiled by researchers Alexandra Horowitz and Julie Hecht from Barnard College’s Dog Cognition Lab. In a new study examining how dogs and people play, they watched 187 videos of people, from the ages of 8 to 75 and in 19 different countries, playing with their dogs, and noted the words most commonly used.

The researchers also looked at how people interacted with their dogs during playtime. While only half of the men touched their dogs, two-thirds of the women did. Dog professionals, such as veterinarians, trainers and groomers, tended to stay in closer proximity to their dogs than did other pet parents.

The mood of the person also had an affect on the interaction, the researchers discovered. Pet parents who appeared to be happy touched their dogs more often and played more actively. Not surprisingly, as for the four-legged players, “Dog affect was overwhelmingly positive,” the researchers noted.

These were the words most commonly said by pet parents to their dogs in the videos:

1. You
2. Good
3. It
4. Get/got
5. Gonna
6. Come/C’mon
7. (Dog’s name)
8. Girl
9. Yay/yeah
10. That
11. Here
12. I
13. On
14. Oh
15. Are/aren’t/’re
16. Ready
17. Boy
18. The
19. Give me/gimme
20. Play
21. Okay
22. What/whatcha/what’s
23. Me
24. To
25. Yes/yea
26. Do/does
27. Wanna/want
28. Where/where’s/where’d
29. Your
30. Drop
31. Is
32. No
33. Ball/bally
34. Am/’m
35. This

As Discover Magazine reports, since more dogs are being trained to become human helpers, studies like this are useful in gaining a better understanding of how dogs and their owners interact.

Photo credit: Tony Crescibene