title: Association of puppies' behavioral reaction at five months of age assessed by questionnaire with their later 'Distraction' at 15 months of age, an important behavioral trait for guide dog qualification.
abstract: Guide dogs help visually impaired persons both physically and psychologically. More than half of all candidate dogs do not qualify, mainly for behavioral reasons. Improved training efficacy is desirable, and earlier prediction of qualification-related traits would be beneficial. In a previous study, we identified 'Distraction', assessed during the training period, as an important behavioral trait for judging the qualification of guide dogs at the Japan Guide Dog Association. As a second step, we aimed to develop an index that can predict during the puppy period. In this study, candidate guide dogs, 5-month-old Labrador retrievers, were assessed by puppy raisers using a newly developed questionnaire that consisted of 20 items. The same dogs were assessed later, at 15 months, by trainers to determine 'Distraction'. In principal components analysis, nine items, including excitability toward strangers, initiative while out for a walk, and exploration, composed the first principal component (PC1). When we compared PC1 points with 'Distraction' points, the two categories were positively correlated (n=110, r(s)=0.31, P=0.0009). Although the accuracy of the questionnaire should be increased, the results of the present study suggest that it may be possible to assess and predict 'Distraction', which is associated with disqualification for guide dogs, early in the puppy-raising period.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, Department of Animal Resource Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
authors.forename: Natsuko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Sayaka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arata
authors.forename: Ai
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: Yui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kohara
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kiyokawa
authors.forename: Yukari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mori
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D004285:Dogs / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013694:Temperament / Q000502:physiology*; D019987:Persons with Visual Disabilities