Lateralised behaviour as a predictor of welfare risk in the domestic dog, Canis familiaris

The ability to predict an animal's susceptibility to suffer from poor welfare would enable interventions to be undertaken before the individual's well-being is compromised. Many studies have focused on the detection of poor animal welfare and then undertaken ameliorative action. Far fewer studies, however, have attempted to design measures that can detect welfare risk, i.e., how the animal may respond in particular circumstances or situations. It is the aim of this research to evaluate whether it is possible to predict the welfare risk of an animal through the use of the novel measure of motor laterality or bias, often termed 'handedness' in humans. Handedness, the predominant use of one hand, has been studied as an observable measure of brain functioning for numerous years. Until recently, it was assumed that handedness was unique to humans. It is now known, however, that many animals show a significant preference to use one side of their body more than the other. Indeed, behavioural asymmetries in the form of paw preferences, swimming direction and breaching, have been recorded in a wide variety of species. Recently, it has been suggested that there may be association between motor bias and animal welfare, with left-limb preferent animals being more vulnerable to stress and reduced well-being than animals showing a right-sided motor preference. If this association were to be proven, then it would enable behavioural asymmetry to be used as a simple, inexpensive and, importantly, non-invasive, measure of welfare risk. This project will examine, for the first time, the relationship between behavioural lateralisation and welfare risk, focusing specifically on the domestic dog. Thousands of dogs around the globe are exposed on a regular basis to stressful situations (e.g. kennel housing, obedience training, transportation), in many cases resulting in compromised welfare. Finding a reliable, harmless and consistent measure that can predict which animals are likely to cope poorly with such stressors would be immensely valuable, enabling preventive measures to be put into practice that allow the animal to cope better with its surroundings at a very early stage, or not to be placed in situations that may compromise its welfare. The dog has been shown to display behavioural asymmetry in the form of paw preferences. However, the association between this motor bias and susceptibility to stress has been virtually overlooked. This project will evaluate the potential of motor asymmetry in the form of paw preferences, to assess welfare risk, investigating the association between motor bias and measures of physical and psychological well-being and tests that measure emotional vulnerability. We will examine the relationship between paw preferences and measures of canine welfare during exposure to a known stressor (in this case kennel housing) and examine the correlation between 'pawedness' and the exhibition of behaviour problems. The research will determine whether behavioural lateralisation in the form of paw preferences can be used as a reliable, harmless and independent predictor of welfare risk in animals, offering a viable tool for the early targeting of vulnerable individuals. The fact that motor biases are seen in virtually all vertebrates means that we will be able to develop guidelines for the use of motor bias as an examination of welfare risk for many different animal species.

This project will explore the utility of a novel method for assessing welfare risk in animals. Identifying individuals that are naturally vulnerable to stress by virtue of some underlying characteristic or trait is important, allowing individuals to be targeted before their welfare is compromised. As yet, few such measures exist, although tests of affective state (e.g. cognitive bias) and personality (e.g. temperament tests) have been studied, and utilised, often indirectly. It has recently been suggested that brain and behavioural asymmetry may be related to animal welfare, opening the door for motor bias to be used as an indicator of welfare risk. This project will therefore explore the relationship between lateralised behaviour and welfare risk, testing the hypothesis on the domestic dog, a species often exposed to situations that may compromise its welfare. The project will initially investigate the association between behavioural asymmetry, as measured by 2 paw preference tasks, and tests that measure emotional vulnerability (cognitive bias, temperament), to determine the association between motor bias and the underlying predispositions measured by these tasks. The study will also explore the association between paw preference and both physical and psychological welfare measures, using kennel-housed dogs, to elucidate whether motor asymmetry can be used as a tool to predict how individual animals cope with the stressor of captivity. Since handedness is associated with mental health in humans, the relationship between motor bias and canine behaviour problems, an indicator of psychological ill-health, will also be examined. The study will determine whether behavioural lateralisation can be used to predict welfare risk in the dog. Given the ubiquity of lateralised behaviour across vertebrates, motor bias may be a measure that can be used in all species to assess welfare risk, with applied potential for numerous user groups concerned with animal welfare.

The most significant impact of this research will be the development of a well-validated tool that will enable the susceptibility of an animal to suffer from poor well-being to be identified, i.e., the welfare risk of the animal will be determined. Specifically, the research will determine the utility of motor bias as a tool for predicting welfare risk in the dog, a species exposed to a wide range of stressful situations around the globe. The work will have significant impact beyond academia, offering benefits to those concerned with canine welfare. Institutions housing dogs (rescue shelters, quarantines, boarding kennels, laboratories, etc.) will gain a practical tool for assessing welfare risk early on in an animal's captive housing, allowing measures to be put in place that reduce compromise to well-being. The test will be of value to organisations relying on lengthy, potentially stressful, temperament tests for assessing the suitability of dogs for a specific purpose (e.g., assistance animals, sniffer dogs), thereby allowing the identification of animals that might be more vulnerable to stress. This is important, as training is a costly exercise, and identifying animals that may not be suited to certain types of work by virtue of some underlying trait would save money. In a similar vein, rescue shelters will be able to use the tool to assess disposition for behaviour problems, one of the main reasons dogs are relinquished, and returned to, kennels. Veterinary surgeons, who are dealing more frequently with the assessment and treatment of pet behaviour problems will be able to use the tool as an indicator of vulnerability to reduced mental well-being, and will learn more about the relationship between motor bias and welfare risk. Dogs are one of the most commonly owned companion animals in Western society and the research is therefore likely to attract considerable attention from pet owners, helping to raise awareness of issues relating to both animal behaviour and welfare. While the study focuses on the domestic dog, given the ubiquity of motor bias across the animal kingdom, the findings from the work are likely to be applicable to all species which exhibit a motor bias in their behaviour. The research will therefore have impact for other user groups beyond those concerned specifically with dogs, and the principles of the methods adopted in this research may well be adopted by others. To facilitate impact, findings from the work will be disseminated to appropriate user groups and the wider public through a variety of channels, including features written for popular science and pet magazines, websites and social networks, e.g. Facebook. The work will be presented at meetings with user-targeted organisations and delivered to the general public via talks and press releases. Both of the applicants have amassed considerable experience in dealing with all forms of media; indeed, the PI for the project is the spokesperson for one of the largest insurers of pets in the world (Petplan), and routinely discusses issues pertaining to pet welfare in the form of newspaper, radio and television interviews. In the longer term, the research has the potential to deliver commercial impact; for instance, the work could eventually result in the development of an automated system for assessing paw use. This may be something the applicants explore for 'follow-on' funding, although more will come to light with respect to this issue as the project progresses.