Document type: scientific article published in Journal of Veterinary Behavior
Authors: Ahu Demirtas, Durmus Atilgan, Begum Saral, Sevim Isparta, Hakan Ozturk, Tarkan Ozvardar, Yasemin Salgirli Demirbas
Preview: Pain management in veterinary medicine has been drawing considerable attention in recent years. Although it is important to evaluate the daily behaviors of dogs while assessing chronic pain, there is scarce research available on owners' ability to assess behavioral changes related to pain in their dogs. This study aims to understand which behavioral changes and/or gestures are perceived by owners in their dogs. Dog owners were asked to fill out an online survey including three main parts: demographic information about the dog, pain-related behavioral changes, and pain-related ear and tail positions in dogs. In total, 124 dog owners participated in the study. Among 35 pain-related behavioral/postural changes, 13 of them were reported significantly more often by the owners of the dogs thought to be in pain. Most of the behavioral changes that were reported by the owners were related to movement-based behaviors observed in day-to-day activities. Owners were able to recognize changes in the ear and tail positions which can be related to pain during activity or positional changes (i.e., while standing up and jumping on /off couch). Most of the pain-related behavioral changes were reported in young adult dogs. In senior dogs, reduced general activity, resistance to walking and getting up, having difficulty turning onto both sides while lying down, and stiffness while walking were reported significantly more often in the dogs which were presumed to be in pain (P≤ 0.05). This research is the first to show that owners are able to notice some of the pain-related behavioral changes in their dogs. They mostly report pain-related changes in behaviors and/or body language of their dogs during everyday contexts, in particular during activity/exercise and positional changes. Thus, it might be significant to pay more attention to those behavioral elements while developing reliable chronic pain scales for dogs in order to include owners' assessments. Pain scales that can be used by owners would help to detect chronic pain at early stages, and further to increase quality of life in dogs.
Publication in articles in:
- Honey Pets April 4, 2023: How you can tell if your dog might be in pain: Study finds ear and tail positions can indicate if your pup is sore
- Earth.com on April 4, 2023: Study reveals body positions that indicate your dog is in pain
