Behavioral Disorders
Anxiolytic interventions (nutraceuticals, foods and drugs) can be assessed in dogs with novel laboratory based
models such as the Fear of Strangers Model and the Fear of Noise Model.
Additional anxiety models we have developed include:
- Feline anxiety models
- Canine models of separation and confinement anxiety
- Fear of conspecifics
Fear of Strangers
Fear of strangers is a natural type of anxiety that is very resistant to change. It can be measured experimentally
in the human interaction test. Furthermore, a true anxiolytic agent can reduce the intensity of the fearful
response.
The human interaction task can be used to differentiate fearful from non-fearful dogs.
The human interaction task can be used to test the effectiveness of anxiolytics.
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Fear of Noise
Before presentation of the thunderstorm recording dogs show little inactivity. During the presentation
inactivity increases and it increases further after the recording stops.
Diazepam (0.5-2 mg/kg) reduces inactivity during all three phases.
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