EFFECTS OF OXYTOCIN ADMINISTRATION ON INTERSPECIFIC SOCIAL RESPONSES IN SHELTER AND PET DOGS

GABRIELA BARRERA; CAMILA MARÍA CAVALLI; DZIK, MARINA VICTORIA; MARIANA BENTOSELA

Budapest

Congreso; Canine Science Forum 2018; 2018

Introduction: Intranasal oxytocin (OT) administration increases dogs? social behaviors towards humans such as proximity, contact and gazing. However, there are no studies comparing the effects of OT on dogs with different levels of human interaction, like shelter and pet dogs. Hypothesis: As OT is involved in such social behaviors, we expect intranasal OT administration to increase sociability and gazing behavior in both groups. Method: 24 shelter dogs and 21 pet dogs, from 1 to 10 years of age, received 16 IU of either OT (pet n=10, shelter n=12) or saline solution (pet n=11, shelter n=12). After a 40-minute interval two tests were performed. Sociability test consisted of the interaction of the dog with an unknown person, who first behaved passively and then actively. Measures included the time spent near and in contact. In the gaze learning task dogs had to request inaccessible food (pieces of cooked liver) by gazing towards the human face. It comprised three phases: 1) acquisition, each gaze was reinforced with food, 2) extinction, no food was delivered, 3) reacquisition, gazing was reinforced again. Gaze duration was measured during each phase. Results: In the Sociability test, pet dogs spent more time near and in contact with the person than shelter dogs, (Near p=.027; Contact p=.01). Additionally, those behaviors were significantly longer in the active phase, (Near p