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Efficacy of dog‐appeasing pheromone in reducing stress associated with social isolation in newly adopted puppies
Author(s) -
Gaultier E.,
Bonnafous L.,
VienetLegué D,
Falewee C.,
Bougrat L.,
LafontLecuelle C.,
Pageat P.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
veterinary record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.261
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 2042-7670
pISSN - 0042-4900
DOI - 10.1136/vr.163.3.73
Subject(s) - puppy , placebo , distress , isolation (microbiology) , incidence (geometry) , medicine , veterinary medicine , zoology , biology , ecology , clinical psychology , alternative medicine , pathology , microbiology and biotechnology , physics , optics
This study was designed to determine the potential value of dog‐appeasing pheromone ( dap ) in reducing stress in puppies newly adopted from a pet shop. The trial was triple‐blinded and placebo‐controlled. After their arrival at the pet shop, 32 puppies were fitted with a dap collar and 34 were fitted with a control collar, according to a randomisation protocol. Adopting owners were contacted by telephone, three and 15 days after they had adopted a puppy, to obtain information about the puppy's integration into the family, and particularly about any signs of distress shown by the puppy when it was socially isolated. All the isolated puppies from the control group vocalised during the first night. Signs of distress, particularly vocalisation, were significantly lower in the dap group on day 3 and throughout the rest of the study, and vocalisation during the night ceased significantly sooner in this group. These differences were observed in puppies of small, medium and large breeds. The dap collars had no effect on the incidence of house soiling.