Increasing Dog's Adoptability by Working on Emotions.

Emotions are immediate and adaptive responses, which animals use to interact with reality. Dogs feel emotion, both positive or negative, correlated to the environment or social relationships. Arousal is the gradient of emotional activation and expression determining the excitement degree, self-control and concentration of animals. In shelter dogs several factors could raise the arousal, promoting the possible development of problematical behaviors not very compatible to adoption. Aim of the study was to assess if the employment of a dog training protocol, adopting a cognitive approach, was effective to lower the arousal level in dogs. For the study, carried out by the LEBA and the ASL2 municipal dog shelter of Collestrada (Perugia), twenty-one dogs were trained for two weeks (three sessions/week). On each subject, during every session, the behavior and the heart rate were recorded. Data were analyzed by Mann Withney Test and Ordinal Logistic Regression. The results showed that as the sessions progressed, the excitement index decreased (P<0.003) and the animals tended to look more frequently at the operator (attention). No significant heart rate variations were observed. From a post-adoption questionnaire administered to the adopters of these trained dogs, emerged that these low level of arousal was maintained even after adoption. This was an aspect much appreciated by the owners. In conclusion, the cognitive dog training seems to be effective in promoting calm and attention in shelter dogs. Working on dog’s emotions can have positive repercussions on their welfare, enhancing their adoptability.