Assessing the Relationship Between Emotional States of Dogs and Their Human Handlers, Using Simultaneous Behavioral...

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Medicine
• Animal Behavior
• Human-Animal Interaction

Background:

• Companion dogs often experience stress during veterinary handling, posing risks to staff and care quality.
• Positive human interactions can mitigate stress in dogs, especially in challenging environments like shelters.
• Dogs possess the ability to perceive human emotions through various sensory channels and can exhibit emotional contagion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between the emotional states of dogs and unfamiliar human handlers.
• To assess the impact of handler familiarity and routine handling on canine stress levels.
• To explore potential emotional contagion between dogs and handlers during handling sessions.

Main Methods:

• Simultaneous recording of cardiac activity (mean heart rate, RMSSD, HF_log) and behavior in dogs and handlers.
• Utilized Polar H10 cardiac sensors and digital video for data collection.
• Assessed human emotional states before and after stress-reduction interventions compared to control conditions.

Main Results:

• Increasing familiarity with the setting and handler was the primary factor influencing canine stress.
• Dogs exhibited significantly decreased mean heart rate and increased heart rate variability (RMSSD) from the first to the third handling set.
• Canine heart rate variability (HF_log) was highest in the third set, though not statistically significant. No strong patterns were observed in human cardiac data.

Conclusions:

• Familiarity and repeated exposure to handlers and settings demonstrably reduce stress in dogs.
• The study did not find consistent evidence of emotional contagion between dogs and handlers, possibly due to limited interaction duration.
• Findings offer practical recommendations for improving dog handling in clinical and other settings.