Exposure to a dog elicits different cardiovascular and behavioral effects in pregnant and lactating goats.

Background: Heart rate and plasma cortisol concentration are often used in evaluation of physiological reactions to stress and fear, but arterial blood pressure is rarely measured in farm animals. Goats are prey animals and can be expected to react strongly to a predator, especially when they have kids. We hypothesized that exposure to a dog elicits a flight response during pregnancy and a fight response when goats have kids to defend. Arterial blood pressure and heart rate should increase in both these cases, due to a synchronized discharge of the sympathetic nervous system.

Methods: Seven goats were exposed to a dog for 15 minutes at 12 ± 3 days before, and again at 10 ± 1 days after, parturition. Arterial blood pressure, heart rate, and activity were registered by telemetry. Behavioral data were collected during 5 minute sessions, followed by blood samples obtained via intrajugular catheters. Plasma cortisol concentration was analyzed by radioimmunoassay.

Results: At the appearance of the dog, the mean arterial blood pressure of the goats increased from 90 ± 8 to 111 ± 8 mmHg (p < 0.001) during pregnancy and from 96 ± 8 to 108 ± 8 mmHg during lactation (p < 0.001). Heart rate did not change at dog exposure during lactation, but increased from 117 ± 6 to 126 ± 10 beats/min (p < 0.01) during pregnancy. Dog exposure resulted in plasma cortisol concentration increasing from 17 ± 1 to 43 ± 7 nmol/l (p < 0.01) during pregnancy and from 21 ± 1 to 49 ± 6 nmol/l (p < 0.01) during lactation. In response to the dog, goats vocalized at a higher frequency and started to ruminate later during lactation compared to pregnancy.

Conclusions: When goats were exposed to a dog during pregnancy, their heart rate, blood pressure, and plasma cortisol increased, in contrast to lactation when only their blood pressure and plasma cortisol increased. However, when they were lactating, goats vocalized more and started to ruminate later compared to when they were pregnant.