Acta Vet. Brno 2026, 95: 195-204
Effects of work duration, environment, and experience on stress-related dog behaviours in canine-assisted therapy
Canine-assisted therapy (CAT) work may impose stress on participating dogs. This study examined stress-related behaviours in Golden Retrievers in relation to session duration, working environment, and experience level. Twelve certified, experienced dogs were observed during one-hour CAT sessions. Stress-related behaviours increased with session duration (r = 0.9317, P < 0.01), reaching maximum levels within the first 20 min, after which no significant change occurred (P > 0.05). Lip licking, whale eye, gaze aversion, and owner-seeking were the most frequent behaviours. Environmental influences were assessed using a separate cohort of 12 experienced females working either in a nursing home or a vocational school. Dogs working at the school displayed fewer stress-related behaviours than those working in the nursing home (median 89 vs. 109; P < 0.05). Whale eye occurred less frequently in nursing-home dogs (P = 0.048), whereas yawning was markedly more common in this environment (P < 0.001). A third cohort of inexperienced dogs undergoing certification testing did not differ from experienced dogs in total behaviour frequency (P = 0.8163), though specific behaviours varied. Testing dogs showed more lip licking and whale eye, whereas experienced dogs displayed more gaze aversion, yawning, and shaking off. Behaviours increased during tasks involving intensive human–dog contact (P < 0.0001). Overall, the results underscore that therapy-dog welfare can be optimized by adapting session length, selecting suitable environments, and supporting dogs with appropriate handling strategies.
Keywords
Ethology, calming signals, welfare, canine, animal-assisted interventions.
Funding
This study was supported by the Internal Creative Agency of the University of Veterinary Sciences Brno (Project No. 2024ITA26).
