Less stress and better care for dogs
Project overview
Participants
More related research
Short summary
The purpose of the project is to investigate whether we can reduce stress in dogs during care. We are testing a tool to assess stress and developing training guides for care procedures. We hope these will help veterinarians, veterinary nurses, and dog owners give dogs better care with less fear.
Fearful dogs are hard to help
Many dogs become stressed at the vet, and when their owners treat them at home. A stressed dog pulls away its paw, tries to escape or bites. This makes examination and treatment difficult. The dog may heal more slowly, and in the worst case it is euthanised because treatment is not possible.
Stress makes diagnosis harder
Stress raises heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. This can give misleading clinical findings. Stress and pain also amplify each other and are hard to tell apart. It becomes harder to know what treatment the dog needs.
Stressed dogs can lead to stressed people
Dog owners, veterinary staff and students often feel unsure when a dog is fearful or aggressive. If you recognise the dog's stress signals, you can pause and change your plan in time, before the dog tries to break free or bite.
What we do
We are testing a Swedish-language tool to assess stress levels in dogs. We are also developing training guides that teach dogs to cooperate during care procedures. We will then follow up and evaluate the effect of the training.
Participants
PhD student: Elin Lindell, licensed veterinarian, student at the Department of Clinical Sciences (KV).
Principal supervisor: Lena Olsén, Universitetslektor vid Institutionen för kliniska vetenskaper (KV); Anestesiologi https://www.slu.se/cv/lena-olsen/
Supervisor: Karolina Brunius Enlund, Universitetsadjunkt vid Institutionen för kliniska vetenskaper (KV); Smådjurskirurgi https://www.slu.se/cv/karolina-enlund/
Supervisor: Katarina Varjonen, licensed veterinarian, specialist i hundens och kattens sjukdomar, specialist i dermatologi (steg 2) samt Europeisk specialist i dermatologi (Dipl ECVD)
