Session: Companion Animals

498 - Late-Breaking: Identifying Meaningful Measures of Dam and Puppy Welfare in Commercial-breeding (CB) Kennels

Thursday, July 15, 2021

4:30 PM – 4:45 PM EST

Location: Kentucky International Convention Center (KICC), M101 & 102

Presenting Author(s)

Aynsley Romaniuk

PhD Student
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana

PDF Slides and Audio

Author(s)

SB

Shanis Barnard

Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana
JW

Jennifer Weller

Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana
TS

Traci Shreyer

Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana
CC

Candace Croney, PhD

Center for Animal Welfare Science
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana

Maternal factors such as fear and stress influence offspring welfare in many species, but this area of research has been underexplored in dogs. As a large proportion of society’s dogs originate from commercial-breeding (CB) kennels, further investigation in this environment is crucial to ensure canine welfare. The current study aimed to refine a set of welfare metrics used to explore associations between maternal factors and litter welfare in CB kennels. Dams (n = 28) from five USDA-licensed CB kennels were tested at 6 and 1-week prepartum, and 4 and 8-weeks postpartum using a stranger approach test, physical health assessment, exposure to novel stimuli, social isolation test, hair cortisol concentration, fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM) and fecal immunoglobulin A (IgA) concentrations. Puppies (n = 138) were tested at 4 (4W) and 8-weeks (8W) old using equivalent measures. Preliminary analyses of the metrics collected during puppy social isolation revealed that locomotion was positively correlated with exploration (4W: r_s=0.46, P < 0.001; 8W: r_s=0.39, P < 0.001), escape attempt duration (4W: r_s=0.26, P = 0.002; 8W: r_s=0.31, P < 0.001), frequency of stress behaviors (4W: r_s=0.22, P = 0.01; 8W: r_s=0.40, P < 0.001), vocalization (4W: r_s=0.18, p=0.04; 8W: r_s=0.20, P = 0.02), and fecal IgA (4W: r_s=0.24, P = 0.05). Stationary behavior was negatively correlated with escape attempt duration (4W: r_s=-0.37, P < 0.001; 8W: r_s=-0.43, P < 0.001), frequency of stress behaviors (4W: r_s=-0.22, P = 0.01; 8W: r_s=-0.32, P < 0.001), and physiologic metrics (4W: fecal IgA r_s=-0.25, P = 0.04; 8W: FGM r_s=-0.23, P = 0.01). Results suggest that, in response to social isolation, 4W and 8W old puppies exhibit one of two coping styles, proactive or passive, and the latter is associated with lower activation of the immune and stress response. The outcomes of this study will inform future research exploring maternal risk factors, including behavioral and physiologic stressors, affecting puppy developmental welfare in CB kennels.