Cortisol Concentration in Horsehair and its Relationship to Body Location, Coat Colour, and Gender.

The determination of cortisol concentrations in animal hair appears to be a relatively simple and non-invasive method of assessing chronic stress. This method has advantages but it also has some drawbacks. We discovered that there are specific coat properties and individual factors in animlas that can affect corisol levels and skew the interpretation of results.

Monitoring Blinks And Eyelid Twitches In Horses To Assess Stress During The Samples Collection Process.

To assess stress in horses, a method of monitoring eye blinks (full and half) and eyelid twitches while collecting saliva and blood samples before and after annual intensive police training was carried out. This noninvasive monitoring method was used to determine whether blood collection, which is considered invasive, is more stressful for horses than saliva collection. We discovered no significant difference in stress related manifestations between saliva sampling and blood collection in our study.

Dog Tethering in Slovakia: Legal, Ethical and Behavioral Aspects and Dog Welfare Implications.

Long-term tethering of dogs, or their keeping under unsuitable conditions can result in issues related to changes in their behavior as they may not satisfy their basic needs of life. These needs are discussed in this paper, along with cases when dogs unnecessarily have to endure cruelty and pain. The unavoidable tethering of a dog must not cause trauma and must be arranged in a way that it guarantees physical comfort.

Friendship or Competition? Symmetry in Social Play within the Two Packs of German Shepherd Puppies.

The symmetry of social play in Canids has been previously studied, especially in wolves, free-ranging dogs, and within mixed-aged groups, however our study focused on symmetry and asymmetry within play interactions in two litters (14 puppies) of German Shepherd dogs (GSDs). At the age of 7 weeks, we evaluated 1287 dyadic interactions (litter 1: = 339 interactions, litter 2: = 948 interactions), and at the age of 9 weeks we evaluated 1255 dyadic interactions (litter 1: = 433 interactions, litter 2: = 822 interactions). Dyadic interactions were observed and the winning indexes were calculated for 43 pairs (dyads).