scholarly journals Comparing Behavioural Problems in Imported Street Dogs and Domestically Reared Danish Dogs—The Views of Dog Owners and Veterinarians

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1436
Author(s):  
Natascha Munkeboe ◽  
Amalie Lohse-Lind ◽  
Peter Sandøe ◽  
Björn Forkman ◽  
Søren Saxmose Nielsen

Street dogs are common in southern and eastern parts of Europe. They are often adopted by people living in North European countries, including Denmark. However, these dogs may experience difficulties adjusting to their new life as companion animals, and this may in turn lead to behavioural problems and complications for owners. The objective of this study was therefore to investigate whether former street (FS) dogs display a higher degree of behavioural problems than dogs reared in Denmark (RD). Two questionnaires were developed. One was distributed to Danish dog owners and resulted in 3020 useful answers. FS dogs were found to display 9 of the 45 listed behaviours more often than RD dogs. All of these behaviours were related to fear, aggression and stress. The second questionnaire was distributed to Danish veterinarians working in small animal practices and resulted in 173 useful answers. The most commonly reported behavioural problems were fear of humans, stress and problems when the dog was left at home alone. The extent of the behavioural problems reported by the veterinarians was much greater than that reported by the dog owners which, at least partly, may be due to fear-induced reactions of the dogs when handled at the veterinary clinic.

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Alicja Buczek ◽  
Weronika Buczek

Increased human mobility elevates the risk of exposure of companion animals travelling with their owners or imported from other regions to tick attacks. In this study, we highlight the potential role of dogs and cats taken for tourist trips or imported animals in the spread of ticks and tick-borne pathogens. The Rhipicephalus sanguineus tick, which is a vector of numerous pathogens causing diseases in animals and humans, is imported most frequently from endemic areas to many European countries. Additionally, alien tick species with high epizootic and epidemiological importance can be imported on dogs from other continents. Companion animals play an even greater role in the spread of autochthonous tick species and transmission of tick pathogens to other animals and humans. Although the veterinary and medical effects of the parasitism of ticks carried by companion animals travelling with owners or imported animals are poorly assessed, these animals seem to play a role in the rapid spread of tick-borne diseases. Development of strategies for protection of the health of companion animals in different geographic regions should take into account the potential emergence of unknown animal tick-borne diseases that can be transmitted by imported ticks.


1995 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 851-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randall S. Singer ◽  
Lynette A. Hart ◽  
R. Lee Zasloff

66 individuals were given a questionnaire during their initial visit to a veterinary clinic for homeless pet owners. Among the 35 men and 31 women, 32 had been homeless for 6 mo. or less and were termed the acutely homeless subgroup, and 34 had been homeless multiple times or for more than 6 mo. and were termed the chronically homeless subgroup. In responding to the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale, both men and women participants had significantly higher mean scores on attachment to their pets than did the scale's standardization population. Participants did not differ from the normative sample of adults on the Beck Hopelessness Scale. Both men and women participants stated a preference for being rehoused. 93% of men and 96% of women said that housing would not be acceptable if pets were not allowed. 61% of the men and 33% of the women stated they would be willing to live anywhere pets were allowed except in a shelter Reluctance to live in a shelter was significantly greater among chronically homeless men than other subgroups, and they also had low desire to be rehoused. A majority of the participants had been refused housing because they had pets. Attempts to rehouse homeless individuals who have pets are likely to be unsuccessful unless accommodation for pets is included.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-97
Author(s):  
Jorma Sipilä

The presented article is an attempt to draw attention to the economiccontexts of the functioning of families in Europe. The author presentsvarious types of financial support for families using the examples fromselected European countries. The idea of paying the mother for lookingafter her children at home is analysed in detail.


Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaume Fatjó ◽  
Jonathan Bowen

The systematic classification of human mental health disorders and behavioural problems in companion animals face the same challenges. These disorders and problems are complex, multi-factorial, and can interfere with the individual’s ability to function within society, a social or family environment. Classification systems are reductive, they discard a lot of critical information, and can be overly focused on the presenting problem, inflexible and obstructive to new research. As a result, human psychiatry is moving away from classification systems and toward a clinical and research model based on dimensional characteristics that encompass the full range from normal to abnormal, and include multiple sources of influence from genetic, to environmental and psychosocial. In this paper, we set out a multi-axis model for the collection and organisation of information about companion animal behaviour problem cases that avoids some of the limitations of classification systems, is aligned with the current research approach in human psychiatry, and assists the clinician in making a complete and thorough assessment of a case.


2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 582-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wouter Andringa ◽  
Rense Nieuwenhuis ◽  
Minna Van Gerven

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how the interplay between individual women’s gender role attitudes, having young children at home, as well as the country-context characterized by gender egalitarianism and public childcare support, relates to women’s working hours in 23 European countries. Design/methodology/approach – This study presents results of multilevel regression analyses of data from the European Social Survey (Round 2). These micro-level data on 23 European countries were combined with country-level measures on gender traditionalism and childcare expenditure. Findings – The authors found that the negative association between having young children at home and women’s working hours is stronger for women with traditional gender role attitudes compared to women with egalitarian attitudes. The gap in working hours between women with and without young children at home was smaller in countries in which the population holds egalitarian gender role attitudes and in countries with extensive public childcare support. Furthermore, it was found that the gap in employment hours between mothers with traditional or egalitarian attitudes was largest in countries with limited public childcare support. Social implications – Policy makers should take note that women’s employment decisions are not dependent on human capital and household-composition factors alone, but that gender role attitudes matter as well. The authors could not find evidence of the inequality in employment between women with different gender role attitudes being exacerbated in association with childcare support. Originality/value – The originality of this study lies in the combined (rather than separate) analysis of how countries’ social policies (childcare services) and countries’ attitudes (gender traditionalism) interact with individual gender role attitudes to shape cross-national variation in women’s working hours.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 490-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
George E. Dickinson ◽  
Heath C. Hoffmann

Many humans treat their companion animals as “fictive kin” and thus want them to be treated with dignity and respect in death and disposal. Limited research exists on how caretakers themselves experience the euthanasia of their companion animal, including how they handle the remains and honor their legacy. This research fills this void by reporting the results of a survey of 567 individuals. Euthanasia was typically performed in the veterinary clinic, with the client remaining 74% of the time. Ninety percent or more of the clients expressed satisfaction with how the veterinarian treated the companion animal and the client. The majority of companion animals were cremated and honored their companion animals in individualized and diverse ways (e.g., shrines, tattoos, and photographs).


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolina Brunius Enlund ◽  
Ebba Jennolf ◽  
Ann Pettersson

Veterinary communication skills are fundamentally important in animal practice. Despite client-centered communication being recommended as the optimal medical communication style, a paternalistic approach is still common in veterinary medical encounters with pet owners. Motivational interviewing (MI) is a client-centered, evidence-based counseling method aiming to strengthen a person's motivation and commitment to behavior changes. In this exploratory study, the aim was to investigate Swedish small animal veterinarians' use of client centered communication with dog owners regarding dental home care in dogs. This was achieved by analyzing the use of MI-techniques among veterinarians without previous training or knowledge of the method. Individual telephone calls, reflecting a veterinary clinical scenario, between small animal veterinarians (n = 8) and a trained professional actor playing a dog owner were recorded and coded according to an MI coding protocol (MITI 4.2.1). In the present study, the degree of spontaneously used MI was low. From an MI-communication perspective, with a simulated dog owner, the veterinarians predominantly relied on asking questions, giving information, and persuasive talk. The veterinarians dominated the conversations and made minimal attempts to involve the dog owner resulting in a power imbalance between veterinarian and client. As the degree of spontaneously used MI was found to be low, MI-training may be required in order to apply the method in professional counseling. The veterinarians' communication pattern suggested a paternalistic communication style, when attempting to motivate a client to brush his or her dog's teeth. We suggest that Motivational Interviewing (MI) has a potential to improve veterinary communication and adherence to medical recommendations if introduced and implemented in veterinary practice.


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