Abstracts e3

questionnaire including information about the family andits environment and variables related to adopted dogbehavior: obedience, quality of sleep, behavioral disorders,et cetera. Among other results, our analysis showed twoconsistent successive phases following adoption. First, dogswent through an initial acute phase that included anorexia,resistance to urinate or defecate outside, and reluctance towalk on a leash and climb stairs. This phase may last fordays or weeks. In a second phase, dogs became cleaninside, were eager to be walked and became friendly withfamily members and other animals. Most dogs were easilyfrightened by rapid movements or loud noises. Lookingback to the behavior of dogs in the laboratory yielded apretty good indication of their adaptability. Those who wereshy or extrovert remain that way within the adoptingfamily. Though the adoption program was largely success-ful (only 6% returned), adopting laboratory beagles re-quired a lot of patience, but the families reported a veryhigh degree of satisfaction.

Key words: dog; laboratory; pets; adaptability; adoption

COMPARISON BETWEEN GROUP AND PAIR HOUSINGCONDITIONS: EFFECTS ON SHELTER DOGS’ BEHAVIORAND WELFAREP. Dalla Villa1, S. Barnard1,*, E. Di Fede1, M. Podaliri1,C. Siracusa2, J.A. Serpell21Istituto ‘G. Caporale’, via Campo Boario, Teramo, Italy2School of Veterinary Medicine, University ofPennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA*Corresponding author: shanis.barnard@nemo.unipr.it

The Italian National Law (281/1991) forbids the euthanasiaof shelter dogs if not dangerous or seriously suffering.Adoption rates are insufficient to assure a home to everydog, necessitating keeping some animals in kennels for life,with the dogs’welfare becoming an issue. Seventeen subjectswere housed in groups of 5-8 animals, in 4 outdoor enclosures(36m2). After one month, 8 dogs (experimental group) weretransferred in pairs (one male and one female) to smaller en-closures (6m2), while the other 9 dogswere left in the outdoorenclosures (control group). A mixed linear model withgroups and housing as random effects, and their interactionas fixed effect was used to evaluate the outcome of differentforms of confinement on these dogs’ behavior. Group hous-ing provided a more complex environment with dogs show-ing significantly more active behaviors (T53.82,p50.002), more digging (T52.33, p50.03), more visualand olfactory exploration of the environment T53.49,p50.003; T52.42, p50.03, respectively), and more urinat-ing (T53.67, p50.002) compared to pair-housed dogs.Due to dogs’ individual variability, some subjects may sufferfrom social stress in permanent group housing. Althoughvery rare, fear reactions, mild agonistic behaviors and stereo-typical locomotory behaviors were recorded in group houseddogs and not in pair-housed dogs. Pair housing was

associated with higher levels of inactivity and an increasein time spent in a lying posture (T52.37, p50.03), indicatingthat these dogs should be provided with an adequate amountof time for exercise. Both housing conditions may be a suit-able solution for long-term shelter dogs if individual copingstrategies and social needs are taken into account. Animal-based measures of welfare could be employed to developand validate a welfare assessment certification system forlong-term shelter dogs.

Key words: shelter dog; long-term housing; welfare;behavior

THE STUDY OF THE BEHAVIOR OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS:FROM ARISTOTLE THROUGH DARWIN TO TODAYB.L. Deputte*G.Re.C.C.C. (Research Group on the Behavior of Dogsand Cats), ENVA, 7 avenue du G�en�eral de Gaulle, 94704Maisons-Alfort Cedex, France*Corresponding author: bdeputte@vet-alfort.frPhone: 33 (0) 2 99 06 88 37

Domestic species have a special status to naturalists andbiological scientists. Aristotle held a very broad view onadaptations of animals. Darwin and other 19th centuryscientists who interested in evolution made assessments ofcanine speciation that proved to be incorrect. In contrast,companion animals in France today receive only a smallshare of scientific behavioral research. Unfortunately, manyassessments of companion animal behavior are idiosyn-cratic and not scientifically evaluated. The prevalence ofsubjective assessments over scientific approaches iscounter-productive. Veterinary ethology, as a new disci-pline, has two aims: stimulating a dynamic researchprogram in the ethology of companion animals, andproducing sound scientific results useful to clinicianstreating companion animal behavioral disorders. As partof this we can ask whether two concepts, dominancehierarchy and attachment, are relevant to a better under-standing of dog-human relationship.

Key words: ethology; dog behavioral research; veterinaryethology

SIGNAL DETECTION THEORY TO EXPLAIN DIFFERENCES INHUMAN-DOG COMMUNICATION IN MOTIONC. Diederich1,*, K. Knez2, G. Verplancke11Department of Veterinary Medicine (IVRU), University ofNamur, FUNDP, Belgium2Master of Ecophysiology and Ethology, University ofStrasbourg, France*Corresponding author: claire.diederich@fundp.ac.be

In psychology, the signal detection theory is used to assessthe performance in recognition and implies that, to observea response, two processes are of importance: the sensoryresponse and the judgment response. We conducted an

e4 Journal of Veterinary Behavior, Vol 7, No 6, November/December 2012

initial study on dual tasks performance in a human-dogactivity. These tasks involved the control and correction bythe handler of dog’s direction simultaneously with the dog’sdetection and recognition of the handler’s signals. Therelative role of the owner signals to guide the dog amongobstacles was studied in 2 conditions, with and withoutverbal commands. Each condition included 10 randomlypresented obstacles (1 target/5 possible obstacles) within a15-minute interval. Results from 40 owner-dog teamsshowed no effect of the repetition or of the target obstacle.A successful jump was associated with voiceless ownersgazing more and pointing at the target obstacle (p,0.05).The success rate was also higher in dogs with voicelessowners (mean success rate: 86.75%) than with thoseallowed to talk (77.25%). Dogs of all levels of expertise(novice to expert) showed this pattern and novice andintermediate dogs significantly performed better in thevoiceless condition (p.0.01, p.0.05, respectively). Norandomization of the conditions was implemented to pre-vent human bias (the order was with, then without the voicefor all the teams), so a second study using randomization isbeing conducted using only novice and expert dogs. It isexpected that novice dogs will perform better in thevoiceless condition presented first and that there will beno changes in expert dogs. These studies explain how thetraining and the human-dog relationship might influencethe judgment response of the performing dog.

Key words: dog-owner communication; canine; behavior;training; agility practice

BRAIN AGING IN HUMANS, BRAIN AGING IN DOGS,WHICH SIMILARITIES?C. Escriou*Small Animal Medicine Department, National VeterinarySchool of Lyon, 1 avenue Bourgelat F-69280 Marcyl’�etoile, France*Corresponding author: c.escriou@vetagro-sup.fr

Due to advances in medical care and nutrition, dogs livelonger than they did a few decades ago. Neuropathology inaged dogs parallels that seen in the elderly human brain andin individuals with Alzheimer disease. The development ofcognitive dysfunction with increasing neuropathology sug-gests that these two features are linked in dogs and humans.Aged brained in dogs and humans are similar (e.g.,progressive brain atrophy, characteristic histopathologicallesions including senile plaques composed of Beta-amyloidprotein, amyloid angiopathy, and loss of neurons) althoughdogs do not form neurofibrillary tangles (formed byhyperphosphorylated protein tau and intracellular microtu-bules). Oxidative damage, beta-amyloid cascades and de-clines in cerebral glucose metabolism are commonmechanisms implicated in brain aging in both dogs andhumans. Functional impairments and decline in cognitivefunction are significantly associated with severity and

extent of neuropathology in dogs and humans. Simpleassociative learning remains intact in aged dogs but morecomplex discrimination learning problems such as size andoddity discrimination learning are significantly impaired asreversal learning problems. Spatial memory and objectrecognition memory are equally impaired with aging. Asfor human Alzheimer disease or dementia, canine cognitivedysfunction syndrome is characterized by one or morespecific behavioral signs including disorientation, changesin social and environmental interaction, changes in sleep/awake cycles and loss of previously conditioned behaviors.Treatment for both species remains limited. Dogs areconsidered a good preclinical model for therapeutic andnutritional approaches to treatment.

Key words: brain aging; dog; cognitive dysfunctions;neuropathology; treatment

PHENOTYPIC AND GENETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF‘‘SPINNING’’ OR ‘‘TAIL-CHASING’’ IN BULL TERRIERSC. Escriou1,*, S. Renier1, K. Tiira2, C. Dufaure de Citres3,L. Koskinen2, P. Arnold4, H. Lohi2, A. Thomas31Small Animal Medicine department, National VeterinarySchool of Lyon, 1 avenue Bourgelat F-69280 Marcyl’�etoile, France2Canine Genomics Research Group, University ofHelsinki, Finland3Antag�ene, Limonest, France4The Folkhalsan Institute of Genetics, Toronto, Canada*Corresponding author: c.escriou@vetagro-sup.fr

A predisposition to develop ‘‘spinning’’ (S) and ‘‘tail chas-ing’’ (TC) behavior has been observed in Bull Terriers (BT).These stereotypic behaviors are related to obsessive com-pulsive disorder (OCD). To characterize the disease werecruited 44 affectedBT (32 standard and 12miniature) usinga web questionnaire. All dogs underwent clinical, neurolog-ical and behavioral examination and were followed during a2-year study. This form of OCD is a pleomorphic but uniquedisease where S and TC behaviors coexist in occasional orshort bouts or alternatively can last for several hours withtotal dissociation of the environment. Signs of hallucinationand psychotic behavior (freezing, staring, unprovoked ag-gression, unexplained growling, fly catching) were observedin a majority of cases (31/44 dogs). The disease appearsgenerally before 7 months (35 dogs), at a median age of 5months and with no gender predisposition. Fourteen dogswere euthanatized due to the severity of the disease. Bio-chemical analysis, brain MRI, and complete brain histologywere performed on a selection of dogs, but revealed noanomalies. Treatment using phenobarbital and potassiumbromide on 27 dogs allowed control or alleviation symptomsin 8 and 11 dogs, respectively. Based on pedigree analysis anautosomal recessive transmission mode was proposed. Weconclude that S or TC constitute signs of a neurological,pleomorphic and evolving disease in BT. Complex partial