Restless nights: Shelter housed dogs need days to adapt to new
surroundings
Nocturnal activity of dogs as an indicator of adaptability

Date:
July 13, 2021
Source:
Utrecht University
Summary:
Every year, thousands of dogs end up in a shelter in the
Netherlands.

Experts expect an increase in this number in the upcoming period,
when people go back to the office after working from home during
the corona crisis. Despite the good care of staff and volunteers,
the shelter can be a turbulent experience for dogs. Researchers
investigated if dogs can adapt to their new environment based on
their nocturnal activity.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Every year, thousands of dogs end up in a shelter in the
Netherlands. Experts expect an increase in this number in the upcoming
period, when people go back to the office after working from home during
the corona crisis. Despite the good care of staff and volunteers, the
shelter can be a turbulent experience for dogs. Researchers at Utrecht University investigated if dogs can adapt to their new environment based
on their nocturnal activity.


========================================================================== Janneke van der Laan and fellow researchers from Utrecht University's
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine compared the nocturnal activity of 29
shelter dogs and 29 pet dogs in their own homes -- similar in breed,
age and sex -- with the help of night cameras and a small activity
tracker on their collar.

They found that shelter dogs rest much less at night than pet dogs,
especially during the first two nights in the shelter. This restlessness
did decrease over time, but even after twelve days in the shelter,
the dogs still rested less at night than the pet dogs.

"We also saw this restlessness in hormone measurements in the urine of
shelter dogs" says Janneke van der Laan. Shelter dogs had higher values
of the stress hormone cortisol in their urine than pet dogs, especially
during the first two days but also after twelve days. It was also striking
that smaller shelter dogs, for instance Shi Tzu's and Chihuahua's, were
more restless during the first two nights than larger shelter dogs,
and they also had higher cortisol values.

The researchers found big differences between individual dogs: some
were already quite calm during the first night in the shelter, while
others barely slept for a few nights. "It seems that dogs need at
least two days, but often longer to get used to their new environment,
in this case the shelter," Van der Laan explains. "Humans usually
also sleep less good during the first night in a new environment,
for example at the beginning of a vacation." "With our follow-up
research we will zoom in even further on the welfare of dogs in
shelters. But our current findings already show that it is important
to pay close attention to dogs that are unable to rest properly after
several nights. The shelter staff may already be able to help these
dogs by for example moving them to a less busy spot in the shelter." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Utrecht_University. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Janneke Elisabeth van der Laan, Claudia Maureen Vinke, Joanne
Antonia
Maria van der Borg, Saskia Stefanie Arndt. Restless
nights? Nocturnal activity as a useful indicator of adaptability
of shelter housed dogs.

Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 2021; 241: 105377 DOI: 10.1016/
j.applanim.2021.105377 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210713093656.htm

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