Ain't misbehaving...
 Some
months ago Sarah Gardner, an experienced agility competitor, posted a survey on Agilitynet FB to gather data for her
undergraduate dissertation: ‘To what extent do medical conditions influence
the behaviour of the domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)?’ The research
project itself was completed in April 2015 and she attended a conference at the
University of Lincoln, presenting her research in May 2015. Sarah has written
this summary of her findings.
Canine behaviour is an
incredibly complex function influenced by a whole range of factors. Behaviour is
dynamic and a normally loving and friendly dog may on occasions exhibit
seemingly out of context behaviours that can shock owners. So often we hear
people say 'they did it for no reason' but frequently that is not the case.
There will be some form of driver for any given behaviour.
As humans, we all know
that we can all be happy and interactive one day yet maybe another day our back
hurts or we have a cold and we are less tolerant of interacting with people
around us. Others may perceive us as grumpy. This 'sparked' an idea, exactly how
do dogs respond behaviourally to a medical condition? Are the behaviours ‘set in
stone’ (neurological) or exhibited dependant on the dogs threshold?
As this is an
undergraduate project, I had to keep my research idea relatively simple, before
we can understand the true relationship between a medical condition and
behaviour we need to find correlations between a condition and ‘specific’
behaviours, indicating there may be a relationship.
The
survey
This project itself attracted a lot of attention. During data collection 1,270
people showed an interest and 943 people completed the survey. The majority of
dog owners listed their dog as crossbreeds (228, 24%) while 105 other breeds made up
the balance of dogs represented in this study. Of the 943 participants, 874
owners had stated their dog had a treated or on-going medical condition.
Medical conditions with
large numbers of dogs were analysed. Ten of these conditions provided at least
one correlation with an abnormal or unwanted behaviour. For instance:-
-
Chronic scratching
significantly correlated with destruction of household items and
self-mutilation
-
Heart disease
significantly correlated with aggression towards unfamiliar dogs
-
Bladder disease
significantly correlated with house soiling, both when the owner was and
wasn’t present
-
Hip and spine
problems significantly correlated with appearing withdrawn and elbow
problems correlated with reluctance to walk
All behaviours, apart
from heart disease and aggression, are fairly 'expected.' We can explain that
chronic scratching is uncomfortable and dogs may over-groom or chew on painful
areas or use things within their environment as 'scratching posts,'’ creating
seemingly destructive behaviour. We could possibly explain the correlation of
heart disease and aggression towards unfamiliar dogs by suggesting heart
conditions can be uncomfortable, painful and stressful for the dog and dogs tend
to be more dog reactive than human reactive. Further research needs to be
conducted to fully understand this.
The importance of understanding the relationship between medical conditions
and behaviours
This extends further than just gaining a deeper understanding. Veterinarians and
canine professionals can be more observant and aware of behaviours that can
indicate a medical condition while rehoming centres can educate owners of dogs
with known medical conditions of potential/expected behaviours, thus ensuring
dogs are placed in suitable and capable homes.
Other animals can also
benefit from research into the field of medical-behaviour. I recently read about
a case of a horse with 'severe aggression issues' that was euthanised because of
its behaviour. Upon post mortem examination, it was found the horse had a
painful abscess in its gums and was ruled the most probable cause for the
aggressive behaviour. Cases such as this can be prevented if professionals had a
thorough understanding of how animals respond to medical conditions.
This project indicates
that there is yet a lot more research to be conducted in this field before
conclusions can be fully drawn. Conditions that correlate to specific behaviours
need to undergo further testing to conclude whether the condition is the main
influence of the behaviour or if another factor, such as context (e.g. being at
the vets) is a bigger influence. Behaviours can also be learnt so even after
treatment dogs may still exhibit the unwanted behaviour. In such cases owners
and professionals should work in conjunction to resolve the problem.
Over the next year data
from this project is hopefully going to undergo further analysis with the hopes
that it will provide even better information on the relationship between medical
conditions and canine behaviour. If anyone has any questions or just wants to
talk about this research, feel free to email me (sarahgardner2894@gmail.com)
or
talk to me at any shows you see me at.
Also I’d just like to add a thank you to
Helen Zulch (dissertation supervisor, canine behaviour consultant) as well as
the Agilitynet team for allowing me to post my questionnaire and everyone who
took the time to complete the questionnaire.
 About
the author...
Sarah Gardner has always had a dog in her life. Her first experience of
agility was when she was about six with her family's second Border Collie, Holly
(now aged 15.)
By the age of 11, she
had two of ‘her own’ dogs: Meg, a German Spitz who won her up to Grade 6
(Unfortunately I lost her last year) and Dexter, WSD who eventually. after many
hours of frustration and tears, won into Grade 4 with his first clear
round. Since then he’s been more consistent but has now retired to anysize.
Sarah also owns a ‘dog
in a million’, her Japanese Spitz x collie, Koko. She started competing with
Koko as she was starting university so progression has been slow. They're
currently in Grade 4 and is looking forward to being able to focus on training
and competing with him more over the summer.
She also has Meg and
Koko's daughter, Kizzy who is just starting her training... 3 years late! Now
that Sarah's finished university, hopefully she’ll be competing in Small with
her next year.
At home we also have
four other dogs besides Holly, Dexter, Koko and Kizzy. Her brother owns a rescue
WSD, Blue (Grade 5) and a rescue WCS, Jack who is Grade 3 in agility and also
enjoys shooting season. Her dad owns two border collies, a red and white named
Flynn who competes at Grade 5 and a blue and white named Jessie who is yet to
start training properly –she’s just enjoying being a naughty puppy for the time
being!
Sarah is now focussing
on becoming a fully qualified canine behaviourist and trainer and intend on
conducting more research projects in the future.
She is moving back home so will be living in Stamford, near Peterborough.
The link below shows the
poster used in the conference.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_M5FjNiXDuHQ3BfVzR0b0J1OEk/view?usp=sharing
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