THE AUSSIE - SUMMER 2019

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The Hair of the Dog Anyone who has watched crime series on TV will be aware of the informa4on forensic science can find these days. A single hair and CSI New York is on the case! Recently, researchers have been comparing owner’s hair and that of their dogs to see what links can be made. The latest Swedish Study has demonstrated that dogs can pick up on their owner’s stress levels and feel anxious too.
The author of this Swedish study is Lina Roth, who was one of a team of researchers who looked into whether there was synchronisa4on between dogs and their owners rela4ng to stress. Previous research has demonstrated that stress is highly contagious between people and between individuals of other species. However, it has also been shown to occur between species, for example between dogs and humans, making the dog-human rela4onship a good model for studying this. Dogs and humans are two social species that share a unique interspecies rela4onship as a result of living in close associa4on for at least 15,000 years. Today, most dogs live as companion animals, sharing both environment and everyday life of their human owners. Stress contagion can occur between the two species as measured by cogni4ve performance, and it can be no4ced when dogs take part in sports with their owners. Where does the hair come in? Cor4sol is one of the steroid hormones and is made in the adrenal glands. Most cells within the body have cor4sol receptors. Secre4on of the hormone is controlled by the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal gland, a combina4on glands oVen referred to as the HPA axis. This hormone is released during 4mes of stress, as it will increase heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose, respira4on and muscle tension. It temporarily shuts down any func4ons that are not needed in the fight or flight response, like diges4on. When cor4sol is produced to manage a stress situa4on it will be released into our hair. As a result, hair cor4sol provides an objec4ve measure of stress over 4me. Because it reflects cor4sol produc4on over a month or more, hair cor4sol is less likely to be influenced by acute situa4onal or individual stresses. In other words, hair cor4sol measures the longterm impact of stress, rather than just 'a day in the life'. And this applies not just to us, but also dogs have the same response. Linking Dogs and their owners The study was based on 58 dogs and their owners. Researchers looked at the corresponding levels of cor4sol found in the hair samples in both the winter and the summer. The study also involved establishing the Personality traits of both dog and human. This was achieved with a Dog Personality Ques4onnaire and a Big Five Inventory Survey for the owners. This would give a broader set of data as a basis for analysing the results. The breeds in the study were Shetland Sheepdogs and Border Collies and were also chosen with a mixture of sexes, pet dogs and compe44on dogs. (Obedience and agility). The goal being to ensure different lifestyles were included. And the study showed….. In simple terms, the study did suggest that dogs do mirror the stress levels of their owners. The human personality traits neuro4cism, conscien4ousness, and openness significantly affected dog HCC [hair cor4sol concentra4ons]. Interes4ngly, the study noted that the results did not show that physical ac4vity had a significant role on the dogs’ stress levels. This study showed that it was the owner’s personality rather than dog’s personality affec4ng the Cor4sol levels and therefore sugges4ng that dogs mirror the stress of their owners. Not the other way round. CompeKng with dogs The study also found that a stronger correla4on was found among people who compete with their dogs in disciplines such as agility and obedience. But also female dogs had a stronger correla4on than males. When it comes to compe4ng dogs, it could actually be that they spend more 4me together, and that this training could increase this emo4onal closeness. The researchers did check to see if there was any effect caused by greater amounts of exercise which compe4ng dogs might do. But this proved not to have any effect. Another interes4ng fact that was established was that there was a seasonal effect on the cor4sol in the dogs. It was higher during the winter months. Is our behaviour hurKng our dogs? This research doesn’t suggest that as owners we should be anxious that, if we are stressed, it might harm our dog. Instead owners should think of their dogs as being “a social support for you, and you are a social support for the dog.” So much so as we have read in previous ar4cles, the stronger the bond between a dog and it’s owner could truly help lower stress levels. The researchers want to inves4gate further using support dogs to see the correla4on between owners and their dogs.
Page 1 and 2: The Aussie SUMMER 2019 EDITION To b
Page 3 and 4: The Aussie It’s over for another
Page 5 and 6: Hon Secretary Chris Foske5 briefing
Page 7 and 8: We all know our Aussies can jump. T
Page 9 and 10: Kick back their feet? How many of y
Page 11 and 12: You can splash out and enjoy aVerno
Page 13 and 14: In the Summertime As you read this
Page 15 and 16: BBQs We have all taken to the idea
Page 17 and 18: A Thankyou to the PAT Aussies
Page 19 and 20: One topic of conversa/on with Aussi
Page 21 and 22: Without an honest approach, dogs co
Page 23 and 24: Why are dog’s nails important? Do
Page 25 and 26: The unsuspecting killer Con4nuing t
Page 27 and 28: Is there any treatment for pyometra
Page 29: To give readers an idea of how our
Page 33 and 34: Although this product has been arou
Page 35 and 36: In this edi/on of ‘The Aussie’,
Page 37 and 38: And what is the answer to the ques4
Page 39 and 40: Treatable condi4ons Neck and back p
Page 41 and 42: Thank you to the Magazine readers w
Page 43 and 44: FINAL WORD Eagle eyed TV viewers th

THE AUSSIE - SUMMER 2019

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