Development of a fixed list of descriptors for the qualitative behavioural assessment of shelter dogs

Abstract

The shelter environment may have a severe impact on the quality of life of dogs, and there is thus a need to develop valid tools to assess their welfare. These tools should be sensitive not only to the animals physical health but also to their mental health, including the assessment of positive and negative emotions. Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA) is an integrative whole animal measure that captures the expressive quality of an animals demeanour, using descriptors such as relaxed, anxious, and playful. In this study, for the first time, we developed and tested a fixed-list of qualitative QBA descriptors for application to dogs living in kennels. A list of 20 QBA descriptors was developed based on literature search and an expert opinion survey. Inter-observer reliability was investigated by asking 11 observers to use these descriptors to score 13 video clips of kennelled dogs. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to extract four main dimensions together explaining 70.9% of the total variation between clips. PC1 characterised curious/playful/excitable, sociable demeanour, PC2 ranged from comfortable/relaxed to anxious/nervous/stressed expression, PC3 described fearful demeanour, and PC4 characterized bored/depressed demeanour. Observers agreement on the ranking of video clips on these four expressive dimensions was good (Kendalls W: 0.60-0.80). ANOVA showed a significant effect of observer on mean clip score on all PCs (p<0.05) due to a few observers scoring differently from the rest of the group. These results indicate the potential of the proposed list of QBA terms for sheltered dogs to serve as a non-invasive, easy-to-use assessment tool. However, the observers effect on mean scores points towards the need for adequate observer training. The QBA scoring tool can be integrated with existing welfare assessment protocols for shelter dogs and strengthen the power of those protocols to assess and evaluate the animals experience in shelters.