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Hernander, Louise, 2008. Factors influencing dogs' stress level in the waiting room at a veterinary clinic. SLU, Dept. of Animal Environment and Health (until 231231), Skara. Skara: SLU, Dept. of Animal Environment and Health (until 231231)

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Abstract

A number of 110 dogs were observed during their whole time in the waiting room at a veterinary clinic and the dogs' stress level was recorded in three different events; entrance, wait and weighing. One of the aims of this study was to investigate if the gender of the dog had any impact on the dog's stress-related behaviour in the waiting room. This had however no significant influence, suggesting that female and male dogs show an equal amount of stress. Another goal was to establish if the gender of the dog owner influenced the dogs' stress level. No difference between male and female owners could be detected. However the result showed that dogs who is accompanied by a female and a male owner as a couple were more likely to have a higher stress level when entering the clinic than dogs accompanied by a single person, and a similar result was found with regard to the time in the waiting room. Thirdly, dogs that recently had been to the clinic had significantly higher stress value in the waiting room. Also the time in the waiting room itself was analyzed for its impact on the dogs' stress level in comparison with the stress value at the entrance, and the result showed that a vast majority of dogs displayed a decrease in stress during the wait. Finally the weighing of the dogs was analysed for its influence on the dogs' stress level compared to the stress level achieved during the wait, and it showed that a majority of dogs displayed an increase in stress during the weighing. This study suggests that the time in the waiting room is beneficial to the dogs since they get a chance to relax prior to the meeting with the veterinarian. It also suggests that it would be preferable to weigh the dogs right after the registration at the reception desk and then let the dog sit down and wait continuously until it is called up, instead of the current proceeding where the dogs is weighed just before it is time to meet the veterinarian. By taking these adjustments under consideration the welfare of the dogs in the waiting room could probably be improved by small means.

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Totalt 110 hundar studerades i väntrummet på en veterinärklinik och deras stressnivå
registrerades under tre olika händelser; entré, efter en stunds passiv väntan samt när hunden
skulle vägas. Ett av syftena med studien var att undersöka om hundens kön hade någon
påverkan på hundens stressrelaterade beteende i väntrummet. Könet visade sig dock inte ha
någon signfikant effekt, vilket antyder att hanhundar och tikar visar samma grad av stress i
väntrummet. Ett annat syfte var att undersöka om hundägarens kön hade någon påverkan på
hundens stressnivå. Mellan manliga respektive kvinnliga hundägare fanns ingen signifikant
skillnad, men däremot visade det sig att hundar som kom till kliniken med både en man och
en kvinna hade högre stressnivå under entrén än hundar med en ensam ägare, och ett likartat
resultat visade sig också under passiv väntan. Hundar som kom på återbesök hade
signifikant högre stressnivå under väntetiden än hundar som var där på nybesök.
Väntetidens påverkan på hundens stressnivå analyserades också och det visade sig att
väntetiden är något positivt för de flesta hundar, som då får en chans att stressa ner innan
mötet med veterinären. Slutligen analyserades vägningens påverkan på hundens stressnivå.
Resultatet visade att de flesta hundar upplever vägningen som något obehagligt, och att det
därför troligen vore att föredra att väga hundarna så snart de anmält sig i receptionen istället
för att vänta tills de ropas upp för att gå till undersökningsrummet, då detta gör att hunden
får en onödigt hög stressnivå inför veterinärundersökningen.

Main title:Factors influencing dogs' stress level in the waiting room at a veterinary clinic
Authors:Hernander, Louise
Supervisor:Loberg, Jenny
Examiner:UNSPECIFIED
Series:Studentarbete / Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, Institutionen för husdjurens miljö och hälsa
Volume/Sequential designation:190
Year of Publication:2008
Level and depth descriptor:Other
Student's programme affiliation:Other
Supervising department:(VH) > Dept. of Animal Environment and Health (until 231231)
Keywords:dogs, stress, veterinary, behaviour, animal welfare
URN:NBN:urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-6835
Permanent URL:
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-6835
Subject. Use of subject categories until 2023-04-30.:?? 7032 ??
Veterinary science and hygiene - General aspects
Language:English
Deposited On:11 Sep 2017 14:50
Metadata Last Modified:13 Sep 2017 08:25

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