Association of Puppies�? Behavioral Reaction at Five Months of Age Assessed by Questionnaire with Their Later ‘Distraction�? at 15 Months of Age, an Important Behavioral Trait for Guide Dog Qualification

Journal of Veterinary Medical Science

Yasushi KIYOKAWA¹  Natsuko KOBAYASHI¹  Yuji MORI¹  Yui KOHARA¹  Yukari TAKEUCHI¹  Ai HATTORI¹  Sayaka ARATA¹ 

[1] Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, Department of Animal Resource Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1–1–1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113–8657, Japan

关键词: behavioral traits;    Distraction;    guide dogs for visually-impaired people;    puppy-raising period;    questionnaire;   

DOI  :  10.1292/jvms.12-0148

学科分类：兽医学

来源: Japanese Society of Veterinary Science

【 摘 要 】

References(19)Cited-By(1)Guide dogs help visually impaired persons both physically and psychologically. More than half of all candidate dogs do not qualify, mainly for behavioral reasons. Improved training efficacy is desirable, and earlier prediction of qualification-related traits would be beneficial. In a previous study, we identified ‘Distraction�?, assessed during the training period, as an important behavioral trait for judging the qualification of guide dogs at the Japan Guide Dog Association. As a second step, we aimed to develop an index that can predict during the puppy period. In this study, candidate guide dogs, 5-month-old Labrador retrievers, were assessed by puppy raisers using a newly developed questionnaire that consisted of 20 items. The same dogs were assessed later, at 15 months, by trainers to determine ‘Distraction�?. In principal components analysis, nine items, including excitability toward strangers, initiative while out for a walk, and exploration, composed the first principal component (PC1). When we compared PC1 points with ‘Distraction�? points, the two categories were positively correlated (n=110, rs=0.31, P=0.0009). Although the accuracy of the questionnaire should be increased, the results of the present study suggest that it may be possible to assess and predict ‘Distraction�?, which is associated with disqualification for guide dogs, early in the puppy-raising period.

【 授权许可】

Unknown