Effect of Human Stress Odour on Dogs’ Behaviour and Emotional State
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Effect of exposure to odour from humans during stress and relaxation on untrained dogs’ behaviour and affective state
IRAS ID
315033
Contact name
Nicola Rooney
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
How we smell when stressed subconsciously affects the emotions, behaviours and response to ambiguous cues (judgement bias) of people who smell them. Studies in dogs have found changes in behaviour and heart rate in response to human emotions, and there is evidence this is linked to odour. How this affects their own emotional state and judgement bias is not clear. Understanding this is important when considering the welfare of dogs that spend a lot of time around stressed humans, such as in kennels or during training for working dog roles. \n\nThis study will collect odour samples from human volunteers during stressful and relaxing conditions. These odours will be presented to dogs during cognitive bias tests designed to measure judgement bias and emotional state. During this test, the dogs’ behaviour, heart rate, heart rate variability and delay to approach an ambiguous cue will be recorded and measured. We predict dogs exposed to stress odours will show an increase in stress-related behaviours and a pessimistic judgement of ambiguous cues. Odour samples will be analysed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to determine if odour profiles differ between stress and relaxation and identify potential stress markers. The relationship between odours, dog behaviour and performance in cognitive bias tests will also be assessed. \n \nParticipants will be adults who voluntarily respond to recruitment adverts sent via the University of Bristol email. Data collection will take place over two 1-hour in-person sessions, 1 week apart at Bristol Veterinary School. Each session will include either a 20-minute psychological stress test or a 20-minute period of relaxation. Participants will collect sweat and breath samples (for odour), saliva samples (for cortisol measurement), complete an anxiety questionnaire and wear a heart rate monitor. Analysis of salivary samples for cortisol and sweat and breath for VOCs will take place at Cardiff University.
REC name
South West - Central Bristol Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/SW/0134
Date of REC Opinion
8 Sep 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion