Our four -legged friends did not change much during the pandemic. But stress and lack of socialization also extended to dogs, which became harder to train when they lived the beginning of their closed life at home.
A team of investigators from Dog Aging Projecta huge project that accompanies the lives and health of dogs throughout the United States decided to ascertain the effects of pandemic on dogs.
Although, unlike expected, the behavioral differences of these animals were not significant, there was a factor that stood out.
“Interestingly, we find that, over the period of the Covid-19 pandemic There were no substantial changes in general behavioral profiles From dogs from year to year, despite what we could have expected, given the changes in the environment and the routines that many were experiencing at that time, ”Virginia Tech’s main researcher, the main researcher of Virginia Tech tolds.
On the other hand, a discovery stood out: the training capacity From our 4 -legged friends registered in the pandemic years was smaller.
Dogs registered in 2020 obtained higher scores than those added in the following years. The scores fell in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
But the breed and body size also interfered with the results, the authors published in the PLOS One this month – Small dogs were more fearful, more aggressive and less trembling than larger dogs. In addition, the investigators concluded that males were more aggressive and less easy to train than females.
“We have seen that certain factors, such as the dog’s life, sex and size, had some influence on their behavior,” said Sexon.
