Investigation of stress responses in trained and untrained Beagle dogs to assess optimal training for toxicity studies

摘要

Beagle dogs were assigned to trained or untrained groups to investigate whether training dogs for toxicology procedures can reduce stress levels associated with these procedures during the in-life phase of a toxicology study. To achieve this 5 male and 5 female beagle dogs were allocated to each group and behavioural and physiological indicators of stress were measured, and examined to determine inter group differences. Saliva and plasma cortisol measurements were analysed and no statistical difference was shown between the trained and untrained groups. Behavioural observations indicated that the untrained group showed significantly more stress related behaviours in comparison to the trained group. Heart rates measured by electrocardiograph analysis were significantly higher in the trained compared with the untrained group. The significance of these findings and their effect on the future training of dogs for toxicology studies is discussed.