Behavior and Welfare of Canids
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Welfare".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 September 2024 | Viewed by 17101
Special Issue Editors
Interests: animal welfare; canid behavior; stress
Interests: animal welfare; applied ethology; animal temperament; animal personality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The interest of society in the welfare of animals is increasing. Animal welfare is intrinsically linked to the efforts animals make to adapt to their environment, and can be evaluated through the assessment of their physiological and/or behavioral coping strategies, i.e., the efforts they make to try to maintain physical and mental homeostasis. Environmental stimuli which surpass the coping capacity of the animals—for example, high levels of noise, or social isolation in a social species—if prolonged or repeated may result in chronic stress and, usually, in poor welfare. Although canids are one of the animal groups most studied nowadays—especially domesticated species, i.e., dogs—these animals still suffer from inadequate environmental conditions and/or interactions with humans. Numerous studies have focused on the profits humans may have from contact with canids; however, few studies have adequately investigated the effects human activities may have on these animals, be they wild or domesticated. Therefore, this Special Issue invites researchers who study the behavior and/or welfare of canids to submit papers to contribute to enlarge the knowledge about the mechanisms and processes related to their welfare.
Dr. Angélica Vasconcellos
Dr. Aline Sant'Anna
Dr. Cristiano De Azevedo
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- behavioral measures
- cognition
- dogs
- human–dog interactions
- physiological indicators
- stress
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: Communication as a tool for exhibiting prosocial behavior in dogs
Authors: Generoso, C.; Resende, B.; Albuquerque, N.; Andrade, M.; Savalli, C.
Affiliation: 1. Department of Experimental Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of São Paulo, Avenida Professor Mello Moraes 1721, São Paulo, 05508-030 – São Paulo – Brazil
2. Center for Natural and Human Science, Federal University of ABC– Brazil. Avenida dos Estados 5001, Santa Terezinha, 09210580 - Santo André – Brazil.
3. Department of Public Policies and Collective Health, Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Silva Jardim 136, Santos, 11015-020 – São Paulo – Brazil
Abstract: Pro-social behaviors related to empathy have been drawing the attention of several
researchers working on different species of animals. Recent studies suggested that dogs
present pro-social behaviors towards humans. For example, they are able to open a door
to rescue their guardian from a large box, and they do so more frequently and quickly in
a condition where the guardian are stressed compared to the condition in which they are
calm. The current research to investigate how dogs react when they observe a person
crying through an adapted prison paradigm. We also investigated whether they would be
able to communicate with an experimenter to get access to the person in distress. In our
experiment, the dog, the experimenter, the guardian, and an actress were in a room. The
actress was visible but inaccessible, staying behind a fence during the entire test, and she
could either be crying (emotional condition) or just talking (neutral condition). The
experimenter was next to the fence, which she could open to allow access to the actress,
and the dog was free to move around in the experimental environment. Our main results
showed that dogs alternated more gazes between the actress and the experimenter, and,
between the actress and the guardian when the inaccessible actress was crying compared
to the neutral condition. We also found that the frequency of gazes at the tutor and at the
actress and the duration of gazing at the actress were greater in the crying condition
compared to the talking condition. Furthermore, we found that the number of times that
dogs moved to a position closer to the actress were greater in the crying condition than in
neutral. This is the first time a study has tested the possibility that dogs are able to use
communication as a tool to enable the prosocial behavior.