Human contact in the shelter may lessen effects of change in environment and smooth transition into a home. Training can increase a dog's interaction with people in a shelter environment. Experiments were conducted to determine how rapidly shelter dogs learn to sit, if the dogs can retain sitting behavior over time, and if sitting transfers to novel locations and people. Two experiments trained shelter dogs (n = 21) to sit when a stranger approached over a 10-trial session. Food and a verbal cue or a clicker reinforced the sit. The experiments measured latency to sit for each trial. Latency to sit decreased significantly over trials. Another experiment included reinforcement given to dogs (n = 20) on a noncontingent basis or for sitting. Five days of the experiment (condition training) were in the same room with the same experimenter. The last 4 days (testing) varied by both experimenter and location (familiar or strange). Results indicate that short training sessions are effective for teaching shelter dogs to sit, that dogs can retain sitting behavior over 2 days, and that training transfers to novel people and situations.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327604jaws0901_3 | DOI Listing |
PLoS One
January 2025
Arizona Humane Society, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America.
SARS-CoV-2 is the cause of mild to severe acute respiratory disease that led to significant loss of human lives worldwide between 2019 and 2022. The virus has been detected in various animals including cats and dogs making it a major public health concern and a One Health issue. In this study, conjunctival and pharyngeal swabs (n = 350) and serum samples (n = 350) were collected between July and December 2020 from cats that were housed in an animal shelter and tested for the infection of SARS-CoV-2 using real time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) that targeted the N1 and N2 genes, and a SARS-CoV-2 surrogate virus neutralization Test (sVNT), respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPathogens
December 2024
Centro di Referenza Nazionale per Anaplasma, Babesia Rickettsia, e Theileria (C.R.A.Ba.R.T.), Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia "A. Mirri", 90129 Palermo, Italy.
Vector-borne diseases represent a serious threat to human and animal health, especially where environmental conditions favor pathogen-carrying vectors. Dogs serve as natural hosts for two tick-borne pathogens: , which causes canine monocytic ehrlichiosis, and spotted fever group (SFG) spp., a zoonotic threat in the Mediterranean region.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnimals (Basel)
December 2024
Akkhraratchakumari Veterinary College, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand.
Multiple blood pathogen infections are increasingly found in many areas, particularly in tropical regions. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and safety of using doxycycline monotherapy to treat triple blood pathogen infection in sheltered dogs. A total of 375 sheltered dogs were screened for blood pathogen using polymerase chain reaction technique (PCR).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnimals (Basel)
December 2024
Anthrozoology Research Group, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bendigo, VIC 3552, Australia.
Defining the ideal characteristics of canine companions is imperative to those seeking to improve human-dog relationships. Previous investigations into the preferred traits of companion dogs were conducted before substantial recent events, such as the rise of social media and the COVID-19 pandemic, which altered human lifestyles and potentially affected canine preferences and owner satisfaction. This study surveyed Australian adults ( = 337) online to assess these shifts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPol J Vet Sci
September 2024
Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Van Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Türkiye.
Blastocystis is an intestinal protist commonly found in humans and many different animal species. It is probably the most common enteric parasite with an estimated one billion infections worldwide. The fecal materials for this study were collected from 100 cats and 200 dogs of different ages and sexes in shelters in Van, Turkey.
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