CASE STUDY: The pig pheromone androstenone, acting as an interomone, stops dogs from barking

نویسنده

  • John J. McGlone
چکیده

Some dogs display behaviors such as excessive barking and jumping. Unwanted behaviors can often lead to animal abuse or pet relinquishment to a shelter. This study focused on the effects of androstenone on the behavior of dogs showing a barking and jumping syndrome. In the first study, barking dogs were sprayed with (a) nothing, (b) a placebo spray with sound or noise, (c) the same as (b) plus 0.1 μg/mL androstenone in isopropyl alcohol, (d) the same as (b) plus 1.0 μg/ mL androstenone in isopropyl alcohol. Dogs were videotaped for 1 min after treatment was applied. Treatments were effective at stopping barking and jumping in 25, 44, 78, and 100% of the barking and jumping dogs, respectively. Videos of the behavioral effects are available for viewing online (see Methods). A second study examined the effects of androstenone on heart rate and behavior while dogs were calm. Four “anxious” dogs were fitted with telemetry jackets and transmitters, heart rate was monitored continually, and cameras recorded behavior. Dog heart-rate data were measured for 10 min before and treatment, 10 min after isopropyl alcohol spray, and 10 min after a spray in the snout with androstenone. Neither androstenone nor isopropyl alcohol changed the heart rate of dogs compared with baseline. The pig pheromone, androstenone, working as an interomone reduced excitable behaviors of dogs. Behavior modification using pheromones can improve animal welfare by reducing the incidence of unwanted barking and jumping behaviors in dogs. Androstenone stops dog excitability through the olfactory system. Androstenone is a pheromone produced by pigs but acts as a powerful interomone in the dog.

برای دانلود رایگان متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Impact of Androstenone on Leash Pulling and Jumping Up in Dogs

Dogs are relinquished to shelters due to behavioral problems, such as leash pulling and jumping up. Interomones are chemical cues produced by one species that elicit a response in a different species. We reported earlier that androstenone, a swine sex pheromone, acts as an interomone to reduce barking in dogs. Here we report two models using 10 dogs/study: a dog jumping and a dog walking model....

متن کامل

A natural interomone 2-methyl-2-butenal stimulates feed intake and weight gain in weaned pigs

A novel approach to potentially improve pig growth and welfare is to supplement environments with biologically meaningful odors that are deficient. The post-weaning environment lacks maternal odors that may contribute to the often-observed post-weaning lag in growth and health challenges. A recently reported rabbit maternal pheromone (2-methyl-2-butenal (2M2B)) may act as an interomone in the p...

متن کامل

An Evaluation of the Aboistop Citronella-Spray Collar as a Treatment for Barking of Domestic Dogs

The aim of our study was to investigate whether citronella-spray collars offer a humane alternative to electric-shock collars to reduce the barking of domestic dogs. The Aboistop collar was applied to seven dogs with problematic barking behaviour by the dogs' owners in a series of case studies concurrently run. Vocalisation of the dogs was recorded in the problem context under baseline conditio...

متن کامل

Effect of faecal soiling on skatole and androstenone occurrence in organic entire male pigs.

Production of entire male pigs could be a future strategy for organic pig production. However, production of entire males leads to increased risk of carcasses with elevated boar taint levels. It is hypothesized that skatole levels in pig meat are affected by faecal soiling and that organic housing facilities can increase the risk of pigs being heavily soiled. Therefore, the overall aim of this ...

متن کامل

Expression of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, cytochrome P450-c17, and sulfotransferase 2B1 proteins in liver and testis of pigs of two breeds: Relationship with adipose tissue androstenone concentration1

An excessive accumulation of androstenone in pig adipose tissue is a major contributor to the phenomenon of boar taint. Androstenone deposition is dependent on the rate of androstenone biosynthesis in testis and androstenone degradation in liver. The aim of the current study was to examine the possibility of the existence of breed-specific mechanisms controlling androstenone accumulation in pig...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

عنوان ژورنال:

دوره   شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2014