Abstract

BARRERA, GABRIELA et al. Evaluation of the Temperament of Shelter Dogs and Family Pets. A Comparative Study. Rev. colomb. psicol. [online]. 2013, vol.22, n.2, pp.307-320. ISSN 0121-5469.

The study compared the performance of shelter dogs and family pets in a battery of behavioral temperament tests, in order to evaluate whether there is an association between the living conditions in shelters (social and spatial restriction) and alterations of behavior. Thirty half-breed house dogs were given a battery of four temperament tests: sociability and interspecific fear, trainability, interspecific aggression, and non-social fear. Results show that, compared to family pets, shelter dogs remained close to the experimenter for a longer period during the sociability test and their scores were significantly higher in the non-social fear test.

Keywords : shelter dogs; temperament; sociability; fear.

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