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1 avril 2007
Stretching and yawning
as stress's symptom by animals

Chat-logomini

The behaviour of laboratory colony cats and their reactions to a familiar and unfamiliar person
A. L. Podberscek, J. K. Blackshaw and A. W. Beattie
 
 Department of Farm Animal Medicine and Production, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld. 4072, Australia
Applied Animal Behaviour Science 1991;31(1-2):119-130
 
Abstract
The behaviour of a colony of eight laboratory cats and their reactions to a familiar and unfamiliar person were recorded and analysed. Seven of the cats were Domestic Shorthairs and one was a Persian. All were male and only one was intact.
Maintenance behaviours (resting, sitting, drinking, eating, defaecating and urinating) were the most commonly observed behaviours (36% of observations). Comfort (grooming, scratching, sneezing, coughing, head shaking, stretching and yawning) and locomotory behaviours (walking, running, jumping from floor to shelf and shelf to floor) were also commonly observed (30% and 24.5%, respectively). Agonistic behaviours were rarely observed (1%). Other behaviours recorded included marking and investigatory (clawing, scratching post, rubbing cage, anal sniff, body sniff, wall/floor licking; 4%), play (2%) and vocalisation behaviours (2%).
 
Walking, jumping, eating, drinking, scratching, rubbing, defaecating and urinating were observed most often between 08:00 h and 09:00 h. Running, walking, resting and sitting occurred most often on the shelves in the cage.
 
The cats made more direct contacts with the unfamiliar person than with the familiar person. Significantly (P<0.01) more attention behaviours (rubs against person, claws person, stands and watches, jumps to floor, stretches head out to person, lies on floor near person) were observed on the first day of the human-cat study than on the second and third days for both the familiar and unfamiliar person.
 
Behavioural, saliva cortisol and heart rate responses to different types of stimuli in dogs
Bonne Beerda, Matthijs B. H. Schilder, Jan A. R. A. M. van Hooff, Hans W. de Vries and Jan A. Mol
 
a Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
b Department of Ethology and Socio-Ecology, Utrecht University, PO Box 80.086, 3508 TB Utrecht, Netherlands
 Applied Animal Behaviour Science 1998;58(3-4):365-381
 
Abstract
Stress parameters that can be measured noninvasively may help to identify poor welfare in dogs that live in private homes and institutions. Behavioural parameters are potentially useful to identify stress, but require further investigation to establish which behaviours are appropriate. In the present study, behaviours were recorded and analysed for signs of acute stress in dogs. Simultaneously, saliva cortisol and heart rate were measured to support the interpretation of the behavioural data with regard to stress.
 
Ten dogs of either sex, different ages and various breeds were each subjected to six different stimuli: sound blasts, short electric shocks, a falling bag, an opening umbrella and two forms of restraint. Each type of stimulus had been selected for its assumed aversive properties and was administered intermittently for 1 min. The stimuli that could not be anticipated by the dogs, sound blasts, shocks and a falling bag, tended to induce saliva cortisol responses and a very low posture. The remainder of the stimuli, which were administered by the experimenter visibly to the dog, did not change the cortisol levels but did induce restlessness, a moderate lowering of the posture, body shaking, oral behaviours, and to a lesser extent, yawning and open mouth.
 
Pronounced increases in the heart rate were nonspecifically induced by each type of stimulus. Heart rate levels normalized within 8 min after stressor administration had stopped. Saliva cortisol levels decreased to normal within the hour. Correlations between behavioural and physiological stress parameters were not significant. From the present results, we conclude that in dogs a very low posture may indicate intense acute stress since dogs show a very low posture concomitant with saliva cortisol responses. Dogs may typically show increased restlessness, oral behaviours, yawning, open mouth and a moderate lowering of the posture when they experienced moderate stress in a social setting. The nonspecific character of canine heart rate responses complicates its interpretation with regard to acute stress.

Evaluation of the effects of a socialization program in a prison on behavior and pituitary&endash;adrenal hormone levels of shelter dogs
Michael B. Hennessy, Angela Morris and Fran Linden
 
aDepartment of Psychology, 335 Fawcett Hall, 3640 Colonel Glenn Highway, Wright State University, Dayton, OH 45435, USA
bPet Behavior and Training Services, Dayton, OH 45410, USA
 Applied Animal Behaviour Science 2006;99(1-2):157-171
 
Abstract
This study examined outcomes of an ongoing socialization program for shelter dogs conducted at a local prison. Dogs residing at a Humane Society facility were assigned to either a "Control" or "Socialization" treatment. Dogs assigned to both treatments were administered a pretest at the Humane Society consisting of blood withdrawal for hormone analysis, assessment of responses to commands, and observation of behavior in a novel situation. Dogs assigned to the Socialization treatment were then transported to the prison where they lived with, and were trained by, inmate handlers. Dogs in the Control treatment remained at the Humane Society and received no explicit training. Three weeks later, dogs were administered a posttest identical in form to the pretest. Dogs provided the Socialization, but not Control, treatment exhibited significant improvement from pretest to posttest in compliance with commands. In a novel situation, Socialization dogs showed significantly less jumping on an unfamiliar human and vocalizing, and significantly more yawning, in the posttest relative to the pretest than did Control dogs. Whereas plasma cortisol levels did not vary from pretest to posttest in either group, ACTH levels unexpectedly increased with time in both groups. Moreover, cortisol and ACTH levels were significantly positively correlated with each other at the posttest, but not the pretest. These results provide evidence for positive behavioral outcomes of prison socialization programs for shelter dogs, as well as further support for the notion that shelter housing results in a dysregulation of the hypothalamic&endash;pituitary&endash;adrenal axis.
 

Le bâillement chez le chien - Yawning in dogs. Nathalie Tomczyk 2009
 
Teaching Dogs to Yawn, Sneeze, and Implications for Preparedness Theory and Observational Learning
JR. Perkins
 
Coping with fear and stress: licking and yawning
SR. Lindsay
Handbook of applied dog behavior and training 2000
 
Behavioural, saliva cortisol and heart rate responses to different types of stimuli in dogs
Bonne Beerda, Matthijs B. H. Schilder, Jan A. R. A. M. van Hooff, Hans W. de Vries and Jan A. Mol
Applied Animal Behaviour Science 1998;58(3-4):365-381.
 
Puppy behaviours when left home alone: a pilot study
Diane Frank, Michela Minero, Simona Cannas, Clara Palestrini 
Applied Animal Behaviour Science 2007;104(1-2):61-70.
 
Evaluation of the effects of a socialization program in a prison on behavior and pituitary&endash;adrenal hormone levels of shelter dogs
Michael B. Hennessy, Angela Morris and Fran Linden
Applied Animal Behaviour Science 2006;99(1-2):157-17
 
Dogs catch human yawns
Joly-Mascheroni RM, Senju A, Sheperd AJ
Biology letters Animal Behaviour 2008;4(5):446-448
 
Adapting to the human world: Dogs' responsiveness to our social cues
Reid PJ.
Behavioural Processes 2008;80(3)325-333.
 
Comprehension of human pointing gestures in young human-reared wolves (Canis lupus) and dogs (Canis familiaris)
Virányi Z, Gácsi M, Kubinyi E, et al.
Anim Cogn 2008;11(3):373-387
 
Human-like social skills in dogs?
Hare B, Tomasello M.
Trends Cogn Sci 2005;9(9):439-444
 
The domestication of social cognition in dogs
Hare B, Brown M, Williamson C, et al
Science 2002;298(5598):1634-1636
 
Mouths wide open: yawning as a communicative behavior in dogs. Hoff AE 2001
 
Assessment of Stress in Laboratory Beagle Dogs Constrained by a Pavlov Sling
Stracke J, Bert B, Fink H, Böhner J.
Altex. 2011;28(4):317-325