PHEROMONES AND INTEROMONES CHANGE HEART RATE AND BEHAVIOR OF ANXIOUS DOGS

The objective of the following studies was to evaluate the efficacy of different pheromones/interomones in anxious dogs. Pheromones have been used in the past as alternative methods in behavior modification. Two studies were designed to test the differences in pheromone collars that are now sold currently and to develop new pheromone collars that may aid in behavior modification in the future. The methods for the following studies differed from previous studies on pheromone collars in that our model had a highly controlled environment. Previous studies had surveys at the end of home trials in which owners answered a set of questions about their dogs’ behavior before and after different treatments. We employed a Latin Square experimental design that exposed each subject to each treatment in random order with appropriate wash-out period between treatment applications. Data was summarized in two phases (baseline and startle) in which a trained individual recorded behaviors and heart rate and was unaware of different treatment groups. Additionally dogs were diagnosed as having anxiety by a behavior-boarded veterinarian. The results of these studies aided in the understanding of how anxious dogs react to different pheromones. The data showed that not only did a conspecific pheromone (DAP) create change in behavior and heart rate compared to placebo, but heterospecific pheromones (RP) also created change. This is important because the data supports the idea that anxious dogs do not respond uniformly to each pheromone/interomone, and different pheromones from other species could be used to treat anxiety in dogs.