Psychological stressors most highly activate the HPA system.
Stress Responses
Sympathetic (adrenaline)
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system
Brain activity
Behavior
Stressors elevate circulating levels of HPA
Cortisol level is (the best?) measure of stress:
BUT, it is not a perfect measure
Not all stressors clearly elevate cortisol
Cortisol can increase without stress
System can become dysregulated with prolonged exposure
Cortisol is a good measure of the effect of relatively short-term psychological stressors, when other factors affecting HPA activity are controlled.
Experimental Conditions
Handling control “Base”
Alone home
Alone novel
Dog novel
Person novel
Threat
Dogs entering animal shelters are confronted with an array of psychological stressors (e.g., novelty, uncertainty, separation from attachment figures). On entering the shelter, cortisol is higher on Day 1 than in pets at home.
Why should high cortisol levels matter?
Welfare of dogs
Long-term effects on behavior
Adoptability
Potential health effects
White blood cells are elevated on 1st day in shelter and continue to rise.
Can human interaction reduce the cortisol response?
Human interaction is a key factor for improving the welfare of dogs in shelters.
Human-dog interaction can counteract stress.
Human interaction prevents enhanced cortisol elevation.
Specific human interaction in the shelter reduces cortisol response to:
additional stressor (venipuncture)
additional stressor at a later time (novelty)
Presence of a human, regardless whether they ignore, pet or play with the dog, stress response is reduced for the shelter dogs. Suppressed immune systems from high CORT levels of dogs in shelters means there is a potential illness risk throughout entire shelter.
Shelter stresses:
uncertainty
loss of control
social separation
novelty
threat
CORT levels differ depending on the kind of life the dog has and medical conditions.
Final Notes
Key ingredient: human interaction away from the main kennel area significantly reduces stress.
Relinquished dogs didn’t find human petting as reassuring (per cortisol tests) as strays.
Circulating levels of the primary stress hormone, cortisol, are about three times higher than observed in pet dogs sampled in their owner’s homes.
As little as 15 minutes of interaction between humans and dogs can reduce the circulating cortisol response.
Multiple sessions continued to produce effects, and dogs entering the shelter as strays appeared more susceptible to stress than dogs released by their owners.
Anthrozoology (also known as human–non-human-animal studies, or HAS) is the study of interaction between humans and other animals.
The types of questions Anthrozoology asks are:
Why do humans keep pets?
Are there gender differences in how we think about pets?
What are the physiological effects on humans from interacting with animals?
Statistics:
“90% of owners think of pets as family members.”
“40% of married women say they get more emotional satisfaction from their dog than from significant other.”
40% of owners would save their dog over a stranger if they had to choose between the two.” Read more about the Trolley Problem.
The Humanization of Pets
The “humanization of pets” includes dressing pets up in costumes, throwing them birthday parties and weddings, as well as breeding or selecting for childlike features.
“Humanization” comes with moral consequences.
“Humanization” shifts dog breeds from having a function to being fashionable.
Different cultures around the world view animals differently. There is a cultural difference between “having a dog” and “having a pet.” “Having a pet,” did not come as a cultural shift in the United States until after WWII.
Dog Popularity
“Having a purebred dog,” peaked in 1987 and has been in decline ever since. This shift can be linked to the cultural view that “having a rescue dog,” makes people “good,” and “moral.”
There are more than 400 breeds of dogs worldwide, but most breeds are less than 200 years old.
What decides one breed becomes popular over another is based on chance. Those breeds that gain popularity very quickly also decline very quickly. Having a specific breed becomes fashionable.
Owner reported behavior issues have no impact on whether a dog remains popular or declines.
Dogs appearing in movies increase in popularity based on first week ticket sales, with AKC registrations for that breed peaking 10 years after the opening weekend. On average a breed being in a hit movie results in 800,000 additional registrations than there were prior to the movie’s release.
The Pet Industrial Complex
There is a cultural shift with the Pet Industrial Complex, which promotes healthier living through pet ownership, morality through pet ownership, and creates dividing lines between “good” people and “bad” people.
The promotion of morality of what makes someone a good person is how they treat their pets. Even if they are bad people who treat animals well, they are viewed as having some morality.
The Takeaway
When we study our relationships with animals what we really do is learn about ourselves.
On the matching law: “The greater the satisfaction, the greater the strengthening. The greater the dissatisfaction, the greater the decreasing.”
On Premack’s principle: “Reinforcers are responses, not stimuli.”
On the role of affect: “No matter how we think about stimuli and their settings, we must also know how to feel about them. Affect tells us which action modes to engage.”
On the role of emotions: “Emotions tell us what to do.”
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Types of Stressors
Types of Stressors
