Behavior Coding of Adolescent and Therapy Dog Interactions During a Social Stress Task.

Youth mental health interventions incorporating trained therapy animals are increasingly popular, but more research is needed to understand the specific interactive behaviors between participants and therapy dogs. Understanding the role of these interactive behaviors is important for supporting both intervention efficacy and animal welfare and well-being. The goal of this study was to develop ethograms to assess interactive behaviors (including both affiliative and stress-related behaviors) of participants and therapy dogs during a social stress task, explore the relationship between human and dog behaviors, and assess how these behaviors may vary between experimental conditions with varying levels of physical contact with the therapy dog.

Longitudinal patterns of companion animals in families with children during the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.

Pet acquisition purportedly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic with individuals acquiring pets during periods of social isolation. Families with children experienced unique challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, balancing childcare, remote schooling, and other needs and therefore patterns of pet acquisition and loss may differ from the broader population. The goal of this study was to understand patterns of pet ownership within families with adolescents during the pandemic to help identify areas for improved support and programmatic recommendations.

Financial fragility and demographic factors predict pet owners' perceptions of access to veterinary care in the United States.

Objective: Access to veterinary care is critical for pet, human, and community health. However, inequities in how easily pet owners can access veterinary care may exacerbate health disparities in vulnerable populations. This research analyzed pet owners' perceptions of access to veterinary care in order to understand how demographic characteristics and financial fragility predict perceived access to veterinary services.

Surgery in a veterinary outpatient community medicine setting has a good outcome for dogs with pyometra.

Objective: To compare the outcome of canine pyometra surgeries performed at referral hospitals with those performed at community clinics (outpatient settings), and to evaluate factors that impact outcome.

Animals: 133 client-owned dogs with pyometra treated with ovariohysterectomy (OHE) at 2 community clinics or 2 referral hospitals between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2019.

Procedures: A retrospective electronic medical record search was used to identify eligible cases.

Demographic and contextual factors as moderators of the relationship between pet ownership and health.

Objective: Companion animals are an important feature of the family system, and human-animal interaction is increasingly being recognized as an important social determinant of health. However, there is a need for more nuanced assessment of not only who owns pets, but how pet ownership is related to various health outcomes, and which sociodemographic and contextual factors moderate these associations.

Design: Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data collected from an online, probability-based panel to generate a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States ( = 1267).

Community Programming for Companion Dog Retention: A Survey of Animal Welfare Organizations.

Animal sheltering organizations in the United States offer programs to support dog ownership, yet little is known about what has been implemented across the U.S. In order to systematically examine factors sheltering organizations believe contribute to canine relinquishment and identify what programs they employ to address relinquishment in their communities, we conducted a cross-sectional online survey of U.

Aging Equines: Understanding the Experience of Caring for a Geriatric Horse with a Chronic Condition.

This study evaluated the experience of 1,448 people in the United States who currently care for or had previously cared for a geriatric horse and how that experience was qualified by the presence or absence of a chronic condition in the horse. An anonymous, online questionnaire was distributed to a cross-country sample to investigate the burden of caregivers from the perspective of owners of geriatric horses. Traumatic events and veterinary care decisions were also explored.

Survey of Massachusetts Animal Shelter Record-Keeping Practices in 2015.

The animal sheltering industry lacks standardized methods of data collection and analysis. The resulting lack of available data limits our understanding of the homeless animal population. The objective of this study was to better understand record-keeping practices and attitudes toward shelter statistics among Massachusetts shelter and rescue organizations and to identify barriers to data collection and analysis.

Effect of Visitor Perspective on Adoption Decisions at One Animal Shelter.

This study investigated the visitor experience at one urban animal shelter. While several previous studies have examined the reasons particular nonhuman animals are chosen by adopters, few have investigated the possible reasons one would visit a shelter and leave without adopting. Over a two-month period, 158 visitors were surveyed after they were finished touring the shelter.

Characteristics of Excitable Dog Behavior Based on Owners' Report from a Self-Selected Study.

Past research has found that excitable dog behavior is prevalent among sheltered and owned dogs and many times is a reason for canine relinquishment. In spite of its prevalence in the canine population, excitable behavior is relatively unstudied in the scientific literature. The intent of this research was to understand the experience of owners of excitable dogs through the analysis of self-administered online questionnaires completed by owners as part of another study.

Use of accelerometers to measure stress levels in shelter dogs.

Stress can compromise welfare in any confined group of nonhuman animals, including those in shelters. However, an objective and practical method for assessing the stress levels of individual dogs housed in a shelter does not exist. Such a method would be useful for monitoring animal welfare and would allow shelters to measure the effectiveness of specific interventions for stress reduction.