Separation-related Problems and Their Interaction with Physical Disease.

The condition of separation-related problems (SRPs) is common in companion dogs and clinicians should be comfortable diagnosing it. There are numerous diagnoses related to physical disease that have clinical signs similar to SRP, that exacerbate SRP, or may cause regression in treatment of SRP. Common examples include conditions affecting the following systems: musculoskeletal, neurologic, gastrointestinal, and dermatologic. Therefore, it is important for clinicians to rule out causes of physical disease and address them accordingly. The signalment of the patient, medications they are receiving, and other behavioral comorbidities should also be considered.

Pain and Problem Behavior in Cats and Dogs.

We argue that there is currently an under-reporting of the ways in which pain can be associated with problem behavior, which is seriously limiting the recognition of this welfare problem. A review of the caseloads of 100 recent dog cases of several authors indicates that a conservative estimate of around a third of referred cases involve some form of painful condition, and in some instances, the figure may be nearly 80%. The relationship is often complex but always logical. Musculoskeletal but also painful gastro-intestinal and dermatological conditions are commonly recognized as significant to the animal's problem behavior. The potential importance of clinical abnormalities such as an unusual gait or unexplained behavioral signs should not be dismissed by clinicians in general practice, even when they are common within a given breed. In general, it is argued that clinicians should err on the side of caution when there is a suspicion that a patient could be in pain by carefully evaluating the patient's response to trial analgesia, even if a specific physical lesion has not been identified.

The effects of exercise and calm interactions on in-kennel behavior of shelter dogs.

Over-activity, or excessive locomotion and barking in the kennel, may be unattractive to adopters and an indicator of poor welfare of kenneled dogs. The study assessed the efficacy of two common enrichment strategies, providing calm interaction and additional exercise, on in-kennel behavior in 16 shelter dogs. Both interventions resulted in appropriate behavior just prior to the sessions (t=2.10, df=7, p=0.03 and F [2216]=7.58, p=0.0007, respectively), but both also resulted in an increase of some undesirable behaviors immediately after the dogs were taken back to their kennels (F [3216]=7.77, p=0.0001 and F (5216)=10.1, p<0.0001 respectively). Right after receiving additional exercise, the dogs spent more time in back and forth motion in the kennel. Right after receiving the calm interaction, the dogs spent less time in the front of the kennel, less time facing forward, and more time engaging in back and forth motion. However, dogs also spent less time barking and jumping on the kennel door right after the calm interaction. The results suggest that both interventions may be useful, but shelter administrators and volunteers must take all of the behavioral changes into account when administering these interventions.