OBJECTIVES To investigate the psychosocial effects of the companion robot, Paro, in a rest home/hospital setting in comparison to a control group. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial. Residents were randomized to the robot intervention group or a control group that attended normal activities instead of Paro sessions. Sessions took place twice a week for an hour over 12 weeks. Over the trial pe...

In order to improve well-being of dogs during veterinary visits, we aimed to investigate the effect of human social interactions on behavior and physiology during routine examination. Firstly, we assessed the impact of a standardized veterinary examination on behavioral and physiological indicators of stress in dogs. Secondly, we examined whether the owner's tactile and verbal interactions with...

In the last five years, canine genetics has gone from map construction to complex disease deconstruction. The availability of a draft canine genome sequence, dense marker chips, and an understanding of the genome architecture has changed the types of studies canine geneticists can undertake. There is now a clear recognition that the dog system offers the opportunity to understand the genetics o...

Facial expressions are important for humans in communicating emotions to the conspecifics and enhancing interpersonal understanding. Many muscles producing facial expressions in humans are also found in domestic dogs, but little is known about how humans perceive dog facial expressions, and which psychological factors influence people's perceptions. Here, we asked 34 observers to rate the valen...

Considering several reports about the similarity between the chemical compositions of the mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and Portland cement (PC), the subject of this investigation was to analyze the behavior of dog dental pulp after pulpotomy and direct pulp protection with these materials. After pulpotomy, the pulp stumps of 26 roots of dog teeth were protected with MTA or PC. Sixty days af...

A detailed thermodynamic study of isolated strips of dog aorta is basic to the interpretation of the nonlinear and apparently rubber-like elastic behavior of such specimens. Experimental data indicate that the retractile force in isolated aortic strips of the dog is entropic. Volume changes with elongation in such strips are negligible. However, a large negative internal energy contribution to ...

  Background :Although the incidence of animal bite is increasing in Iran, there is no sufficient knowledge about delayed Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP). Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate delayed PEP and its associated factors in bitten people.   Methods : This cross-sectional study was conducted in Tuyserkan district of Hamadan Province (West of Iran) from February 2011 to February...

A survey given to animal shelters across the US reported food bowl guarding as one of the most common reasons for euthanasia and only 34% attempted to modify this guarding behavior. This study identified 96 dogs that guarded their food bowl during an assessment, and then placed them into a home on a modification program. Food guarding behavior was identified as stiffening, gulping, growling, fr...