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Alleviation of separation distress in 3 breeds of young dogs
Author(s) -
Pettijohn T. F.,
Wong T. W.,
Ebert P. D.,
Scott J. P.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420100413
Subject(s) - stimulus (psychology) , distress , shetland , audiology , psychology , medicine , clinical psychology , psychotherapist , oceanography , geology
Twenty‐four puppies (8 each of Shetland sheepdogs, Telomians, and beagles) served as subjects in this experiment which was designed to examine the effectiveness of 12 stimulus conditions (food, toys, canine contact, and human contact) on alleviation of separation‐induced distress vocalization. Testing consisted of a prestimulus trial, stimulus trial, and post‐stimulus trial each session 3 times a week from 4 to 8 weeks after birth. Overall results showed human contact to be the most effective, followed by canine contact, toys, and food. Breed differences were significant in only 2 of the stimulus conditions. In the typical case of effective treatment, the vocalization rate declined from the prestimulus trial to a low point in the stimulus trial and then increased again in the post‐stimulus trial.