9. health and welfare of working animals

things of concern

1. appropriateness of the animal for the job

2. housing & enrichment 

3. amount of work per day & week

4. conditions in which they are working

5. methods used in training

types of working dogs: agriculture

1. guardian

2. herding

3. detection

types of working dogs: hunting

1. flushing

2. retrieving

3. subduing

types of working dogs: law enforcement and MWD

1. apprehension

2. detection

type of working dog: medical

1. detection

type of working dogs: human support

1. service

2. assistance

3. mobility

4. facility

type of working dogs: search and rescue

1. detection

2. assistance

type of working dogs: conservation

1. detection

type of working dog: carting and mushing & sport

1. self explanatory

species typical behavior: behavior that is _____ for the animal

natural

agency: the capacity to make _____ & _____ _____ over one’s environment & behaviors

1. choices

2. exert control

consent: ability to _____ _____ or _____ of the activity or behavior

opt in or out

physiological measures

1. bloodwork

2. stool and urine analysis

3. heart rate, heart rate variability, respiration

4. temperature

species typical behavior: agriculture and hunting

1. environments

2. work— rest cycle

3. training and equipment

species typical behavior: law enforcement and MWD

1. training

2. equipment

3. environments

4. work— rest cycle

5. consent

6. agency

7. housing

8. handler culture

species typical behavior: service dogs

1. training

2. equipment

3. environments

4. work—- rest cycle

5. can the handler appropriately care for the animal?

6. consent

7. agency

species typical behavior: mobility assistance

1. need to be 45% of handler’s height

2. need to be 65% of handler’s weight

species typical behavior: mushing (sled dogs)

1. training

2. equipment/living conditions

3. environments

4. work—- rest cycle

5. consent

6. agency

7. care

species typical behavior: search and rescue/conservation

1. training

2. equipment

3. environments

4. work—rest cycle

5. consent

6. agency

7. handler pressure to perform

why is agency important for working dogs?

1. since we control everything, we take away a lot of their agency

2. important to offer opportunities of agency 

3. lack of agency - increased stress

parameters used to assess welfare

1. body condition score (BCS)

2. physiological markers - bloodwork, stool & urine, HR, HRV, respiration, & temperature 

3. consent

4. agency

5. opportunity for species-typical behavior

6. individual’s behavioral adaptability