Applied Animal Behaviour Science 146 (2013) 96106

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Applied Animal Behaviour Science

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/applanim

Exploring the dog park: Relationships between social

behaviours, personality and cortisol in companion dogs
Lydia Ottenheimer Carrier, Amanda Cyr, Rita E. Anderson, Carolyn J. Walsh
Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. Johns, NL, A1B 3X9, Canada

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Accepted 2 April 2013
Available online 28 April 2013
Keywords:
Domestic dog (Canis familiaris)
Cortisol
Personality
Social behaviour
Dog park

a b s t r a c t
The relationships between behaviour, owner-rated personality, and cortisol were examined in companion dogs that visited a local off-leash dog park. In Study 1, salivary cortisol
increased signicantly from baseline levels following 20 min in the dog park (P = 0.013),
but not in the same dogs following a 20 min on-leash walk. In Study 2, cortisol was correlated with dog park visit frequency, such that dogs which visited the park least often
had higher cortisol levels (r = 0.34, P = 0.013). Hunched posture in dogs was associated
with higher cortisol, even after the effect of park visit frequency was removed. Cortisol
appeared to be independent of all other measured behaviours and signals indicative of play,
stress, agonism, and mounting, as well as dog time budgets. Nor was cortisol related to dog
personality scores as measured by the Monash Canine Personality Questionnaire-Revised
(MCPQ-R). Scores on the Extraversion, Amicability, and Neuroticism scales predicted some
observations in the park: more extraverted dogs showed higher activity (measured as
time budget state changes; R2 = 0.21, P < 0.001) and spent more time in conspecic dyads
(R2 = 0.083, P = 0.033), more amicable dogs showed more behaviours indicative of play
(R2 = 0.10, P = 0.014), and more neurotic dogs showed higher frequencies of hunched posture (R2 = 0.10, P = 0.008). Time budget states correlated with specic behaviours, e.g., focal
dogs time spent in dyads correlated highly with total play signals/behaviours in the session
(r = 0.69, P < 0.001). Thus, in a social context such as an off-leash dog park, changes in cortisol may be largely independent of social behaviour/signalling (with the possible exception
of postural changes), and personality scores may predict some social behaviours, but not
necessarily changes in cortisol. Given that this dog park sample contains dogs which appear
to score higher than average for Extraversion, additional relationships between personality, behaviour and cortisol may be detected in broader dog populations and/or other social
contexts. As the popularity of off-leash dog parks is increasing in North America, understanding factors related to individual dogs experiences in such parks may be important for
welfare reasons.
2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The relationships between the stress-related hormone
cortisol, social behaviours, and personality traits in nonhuman animals have rarely been considered together.

Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 709 864 4738; fax: +1 709 864 2430.
E-mail address: carolynw@mun.ca (C.J. Walsh).
0168-1591/$ see front matter 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2013.04.002

Studies in various species have examined two-way components of these relationships: i.e., behaviour and cortisol
(e.g., birds, Garamszegi et al., 2012; baboons, Sapolsky and
Ray, 1989; dogs, Hiby et al., 2006 and Blackwell et al.,
2010), behaviour and personality (e.g., horses, Lloyd et al.,
2007; langur monkeys, Konecn et al., 2008), and personality and cortisol (e.g., rhesus macaques, Capitanio et al.,
2004). However, these three factors likely inuence one
another in specic contexts, particularly in highly arousing

L. Ottenheimer Carrier et al. / Applied Animal Behaviour Science 146 (2013) 96106

social situations with conspecics, such as is found among

dogs at off-leash dog parks. With the increasing popularity
of such parks in North America (cited in Lee et al., 2009),
greater numbers of companion dogs are being exposed to
dog parks. Knowing how dog personality, stress responses,
and social behaviour interact in this setting may have implications for the welfare of pet dogs which visit dog parks, as
individual dogs may have highly variable experiences in
such parks. To date, dog behaviour at dog parks, and the
factors that may inuence this behaviour, has been largely
ignored by researchers (cf. Shyan et al., 2003).
Cortisol is a glucocorticoid hormone that is released by
the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in response
to external and internal stimuli (Nelson, 1995). It can be
measured non-invasively via saliva (Dreschel and Granger,
2005, 2009). In dogs, research on the relationship between
cortisol and behaviour has primarily focused on individuals
in kennel settings (Coppola et al., 2006; Rooney et al., 2007)
and on working or assistance dogs in work situations that
may be stressful (e.g., Haverbeke et al., 2008; King et al.,
2011). In these contexts, there appears to be an overall
lack of relationship between the hormone and behaviours,
even when a change in cortisol has been demonstrated (e.g.,
Beerda et al., 1998; Dreschel and Granger, 2005; Hennessy
et al., 2001; Rooney et al., 2007).
In non-humans, the relationships between cortisol and
personality have emerged mainly in the context of coping styles, dened as individual differences in temporally
consistent responses to physiological and behavioural
stressors associated with particular neuroendocrine proles (Koolhaas et al., 1999). For example, police dogs
characterized behaviourally as having an ambivalent coping style showed more signs of acute stress (e.g., low body
posture, snout-licking, and paw-lifting) and demonstrated
a cortisol surge in response to a threatening stimulus
(Horvth et al., 2007). In broad terms, personality is dened
similarly to coping style, e.g., the characteristics of individuals that describe consistent patterns of behaviour over
time and across situations (Gosling, 2008). In contrast to
coping styles that are derived from direct behavioural
observations and analyses, many personality scales developed for non-humans are based on cluster analyses of
personality traits or adjectives (e.g., exploration, boldness,
fearfulness, aggression; Gosling and Harley, 2009) that are
rated for specic animals by experts or individuals knowledgeable with the animals behaviour. In dogs, several
personality scales have been developed (e.g., Goodloe and
Borchelt, 1998; Hsu and Serpell, 2003; Ley et al., 2008;
Svartberg and Forkman, 2002), but there is not yet consensus on the dimensions that comprise dog personality
(reviewed in Jones and Gosling, 2005). A recent metaanalysis of data from 31 studies determined that there is
moderately high temporal consistency (R = 0.43) in dog personality scores, with no differences in consistency between
personality scores based on behavioural ratings versus
behavioural coding (Fratkin et al., 2013). However, only
a few attempts have been made to evaluate the degree
to which proposed canine personality dimensions predict
observed behaviour of individuals in contexts different
from those in which they were developed (Gosling et al.,
2003; Svartberg and Forkman, 2002; Svartberg et al., 2005).

97

The Monash Canine Personality Questionnaire-Revised

(MCPQ-R) is an owner-based survey that uses a rating
scale for 26 traits that cluster into ve broad personality dimensions: Extraversion, Motivation, Training Focus,
Amicability, and Neuroticism (Ley et al., 2008). Some of
these dimensions appear to be shared by many species (e.g.,
Extraversion, Amicability, and Neuroticism), while others
(Motivation and Training Focus) may be unique to domestic dogs (Ley et al., 2008). The MCPQ-R has been shown to
have both inter-rater and testretest reliability (Ley et al.,
2009b) and validity across purebred dog breed groups (Ley
et al., 2009a). Given that the MCPQ-R has been tested for
construct validity and is easy to administer, it was preferred
over other canine personality scales for this study.
In the current study, the relationships between cortisol,
personality, and specic behaviours and postural changes
indicative of play, agonism, and stress were explored in
dogs living as companion animals, while they interacted
freely in a conspecic social setting, i.e., the dog park.
Social signals reect the internal motivational or emotional
states of the individual producing the signals, and, in turn,
may inuence conspecics (Kelley, 1981). Play signals, for
example, are used to initiate and continue interactions with
conspecics (Bekoff, 1995; Horowitz, 2009). In this paper,
we assess both play signals and attention-getting signals
used in the context of play (Horowitz, 2009) generated by
focal dogs in the dog park. We also assess behaviours and
postural changes that indicate stress (Beerda et al., 1999a,b;
Mariti et al., 2012) and those that indicate agonism (Scott
and Fuller, 1965). Finally, we examine the incidence of
mounting behaviour, as it is a behaviour often observed
in dog parks for which owners appear to have low tolerance (Walsh et al., 2011). Despite the lack of empirical
work on the relationships between cortisol, personality and
behaviours, we expected to detect: (1) an increase in cortisol levels in dogs at the dog park, given the potentially
arousing social setting, and (2) relationships between personality and behaviours/signals that are related to cortisol
levels in the dog park, e.g., dogs scoring high on Neuroticism would be expected to show higher cortisol levels
and higher frequencies of stress-related behaviours than
dogs with lower scores. We also investigated the potential
impacts of other demographic and environmental factors
on the variables measured.

2. Materials and methods

Two studies were performed. In the rst, a small number of dogs was examined to determine whether saliva
sampling of dogs in a dog park setting was a viable methodology, and whether dogs showed a difference in cortisol
after a dog park visit compared to after a walk with their
owner. In the second study, a larger sample of dogs was
examined to investigate relationships between cortisol
levels, social behaviours or signals, and personality dimensions exhibited in the dog park. Both studies were carried
out under the ethical approval of Memorial Universitys
Institutional Animal Care Committee (#11-01-CW) and the
Interdisciplinary Committee on Ethics in Human Research
(# 2010/11-045-SC; #2010/11-151-SC).

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L. Ottenheimer Carrier et al. / Applied Animal Behaviour Science 146 (2013) 96106

2.1. Study 1
2.1.1. Subjects
Eleven owners and dogs (ve female) were recruited
from the community. Dog ages ranged from 8 months to 11
years (4.49 3.83 years; mean SD); most dogs (73%) were
spayed or neutered. Three owners reported that they visited the dog park more than three times per month, while
the remaining owners reported less frequent visits to the
park.
2.1.2. Procedure
Owners were provided with a saliva sampling kit and
were asked to perform two separate activities with their
dogs: one 2030 min on-leash walk in their usual neighbourhood and one 20-min visit to the Quidi Vidi Dog Park,
a local off-leash enclosed park measuring 45 m 65 m. This
dog park was enclosed by wire fencing, enabling dogs
to see activity occurring outside the park, and contained
several benches at which dog owners invariably congregated. The park also contained a water fountain for the
dogs and two re hydrants on which dogs frequently urinated. The park substrate was composed of ne gravel and
grass.
Owners were informed that they would be required to
take four saliva samples from their dog: (1) 30 min prior to
engaging in a walk (pre-walk), (2) immediately following a
2030 min walk (post-walk), (3) 30 min prior to leaving for
the dog park session (pre-park), and (4) 20 min after arrival
in the dog park (post-park). While time of day has not been
shown to inuence canine cortisol levels (e.g., Beerda et al.,
1998), we asked owners do these activities from late morning to early evening, and to perform the walk and the dog
park visit at approximately the same time on a different
day. In all but one case, the walk event occurred before the
park visit, as it was convenient for owners to deliver their
walk saliva samples to the researcher at the dog park.
Written instructions for saliva sampling were included
in the kit, and owners were asked to view a short
on-line video demonstrating how to take a saliva sample (http://youtu.be/9QdJLm9Udro). All saliva samples
were taken with Salimetrics Childrens Swabs inert polymer sponges, measuring 8 mm 125 mm (Salimetrics
LLC., Pennsylvania, USA) and subsequently analysed, as
described below. For each sample, owners were asked to
keep the swab in the dogs mouth for 4560 s, then to place
it immediately in the polypropylene cryovial (Swab Storage Tubes, Salimetrics LLC., Pennsylvania, USA) and freeze
the sample immediately. Pre-walk and post-walk samples
were brought to scheduled dog park visits. At the dog park,
saliva samples were immediately placed on ice, and all
samples were frozen at 20 C within 2 h. The researcher
(A.C.) met the owner and dog at the dog park and assisted
in taking the post-park sample only if the owner requested.
Dog park sessions were video recorded in high denition using a Sanyo VPC-HD1010 digital camera (Sanyo
Electric Co. Ltd., Osaka, Japan) at 60 frames per s, and videos
were saved in .mp4 format. Logger.app ( A. Earle, Memorial University) was used as the behavioural event recorder
to code specic behaviours from these video les. These
videos were used as pilot data to rene the behavioural

measures extracted from the videos in Study 2; thus,

behavioural data for Study 1 are not reported.
2.1.3. Cortisol analyses
Saliva samples were sent to Salimetrics LLC, where
analyses were carried out (for detailed procedural details,
see Dreschel and Granger, 2009). In brief, samples were
assayed using a standard enzyme immunoassay kit for cortisol with a sensitivity of <0.003 g/dL (Salimetrics LLC,
Pennsylvania, USA). The samples were measured in duplicate when a sufcient amount of saliva was available, and
the average cortisol value was used.
2.2. Study 2
2.2.1. Subjects
Sixty companion dogs (36 males) of various ages (range
6 months15.5 years, 3.17 3.07 years, mean SD) and
breeds (34 purebred, 26 mixed) were recruited from Quidi
Vidi Dog Park in St. Johns, Newfoundland. The majority
of dogs (67%) were the only dog at home. The participating owners had owned their dogs for an average of 2.54
years, and 81% of the dogs were spayed or neutered. Most
dog owners (70%) reported visiting the dog park more than
three times per month. This dog park is recommended for
dogs that weigh more than 12 kg, so all focal dogs (with
one exception) were medium or large in size. The four
most common breeds and breed mixes representing half of
the focal dogs were Labrador Retriever (17%), Husky (13%),
Boxer (10%), and Beagle (10%).
2.2.2. Materials and procedure
The dog park was visited by researchers between
12:0017:00 h to control for any effects that time of day
may have on either cortisol or behaviour. Focal dogs were
chosen by randomly approaching the owners of the rst
dog to enter the dog park after the video equipment was
available (upon set up or following cessation of the previous dogs taping). The owner was told about the research
project and was asked for permission to videotape the dog,
provided the dog was at least 6 months old. Dog owners
who agreed to participate signed a consent form and provided basic information about the dog, including name,
age, sex, breed, spay/neuter status, how many dogs lived
in the household, how many times a week the dog visited
the dog park, when the dog had last visited the park, and
whether there were other familiar dogs present (i.e., dogs
with which the focal dog had interacted on a prior visit).
After consenting, owners completed the MCPQ-R, which
consists of 26 adjectives to be rated on a 6-point scale from
1 (really does not describe my dog) to 6 (really describes my
dog) (Ley et al., 2009a). The dogs activities were videotaped
(using the same equipment described for Study 1, Section
2.1.2) for 20 min by a second researcher, who remained
relatively stationary at one end of the park. At the end of
the taping session, a sample of the dogs saliva was taken
by inserting the swab into the dogs mouth (as per Section 2.1.2) for approximately 1 min. Owners were given the
choice to either perform the sampling themselves (overseen by the researcher) or have the researcher carry it out.
Once the swab was soaked, it was placed into a cryovial,

L. Ottenheimer Carrier et al. / Applied Animal Behaviour Science 146 (2013) 96106

stored in a portable cooler containing ice packs, and frozen

at 20 C, with no more than 3 h between sample acquisition and freezer storage. A maximum of three focal dogs
were videotaped during each park visit.
2.2.3. Cortisol analyses
Cortisol analyses were carried out as described for Study
1.
2.2.4. Time budget and behavioural coding
The general activity and behaviours of the focal dogs
in the dog park were coded from the video recordings.
Time budgets for each focal dog were quantied via the
frequency and duration of ve mutually exclusive states:
time alone, time in dyad (with one conspecic), time in dog
group (with two or more conspecics), time with humans,
and time in mixed groups (with dogs and humans). The
time budget state of the focal dog was determined by the
distance between it and any surrounding conspecics or
humans. Specically, the focal dog was viewed as being
in a dyad, conspecic group, mixed group, or with humans
when it was judged to be within one to one and a half of the
length for an average Labrador Retriever (approximately
1.01.5 m) of the appropriate social stimulus. Greater distance indicated that the focal dog was alone at that point
in time. The only exception to this distance rule was when
the dog was engaged in a game of fetch and moved beyond
1.5 m from the person, but was obviously still interacting with the person. Total frequency of behavioural state
changes was quantied by adding the number of times a
dog switched from one time budget state to another. This
measure served as a proxy index of overall activity in the
park.
The frequency of mounting, and behaviours or signals
indicative of play, agonism and stress were quantied using
the operational denitions in Table 1. These behaviours and
signals were assessed for the entire 20 min session for each
focal dog, without restricting the behaviour coding to bouts
of any type of activity (e.g., play or aggression).
2.2.5. MCPQ-R scoring
Personality scores on the ve MCPQ-R dimensions
were calculated either by an independent researcher or
after videotape coding was completed to ensure that
behavioural coders were blind to the MCPQ-R scores of each
dog. As per Ley et al. (2009a), raw scores for each adjective
within each personality dimension subscale were summed
and divided by the maximum score possible for the subscale. The result was converted to a percentage, thereby
creating a percent score for each of ve personality dimensions for every focal dog.
2.2.6. Statistical analyses
All statistics were conducted using the program PASW
Statistics 18. Since cortisol levels are positively skewed
and not normally distributed (Dreschel and Granger,
2005), log-transformed values of cortisol data were used
for all statistical analyses involving the hormone. Logarithmic transformations were also used for personality
(percent) scores. Behavioural events (frequency data)
and focal dog time budgets (proportional data) were

99

square-root transformed. If data transformations did not

normalize the distribution for a given variable, conrmed
by one-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests (as was the
case for mounting and agonistic behaviour), nonparametric test equivalents (e.g., Spearmans rho, rs ) were
conducted on non-transformed data. Transformed data
are presented in gures, and back-transformed means
are reported in the text and in tables, where appropriate, to allow for biologically-meaningful interpretation. In
Study 1, a repeated measures ANOVA (pre/post-activity
sample activity type) was used to examine changes in
cortisol. In Study 2, multiple regression and correlational
analyses were conducted. All probabilities are reported
as two-tailed, and alpha level was set at 0.05. Bonferroni corrections to probability values were not applied, as
we wished to explore the potential relationships among
the variables of interest. Given the number of comparisons made (e.g., time budget states social behaviours),
the Bonferroni correction was considered too conservative
for this study (Bender and Lange, 2001).
2.2.7. Inter-rater reliability
To assess the inter-rater reliability of each of the
four categories coded and listed in Table 1, a second
trained observer assessed 12 (20% of sample) randomlyselected videos. As the data were continuous, intra-class
correlations (ICCs) were calculated for each category to
assess inter-rater reliability (Rousson et al., 2002). Due
the non-ambiguity and rarity of agonistic behaviours and
mounting, there was absolute agreement between the
raters for these categories (ICC = 1). For frequency of play
behaviours/signals, intraclass correlation was 0.99, indicating almost perfect agreement among the two raters.
However, for stress-related behaviours, there was substantially lower agreement, with an initial intraclass correlation
of 0.42. Because of this poor agreement among raters who
agreed well in other behavioural categories, the second
rater re-coded the remaining 48 videos for stress-related
behaviours only. Upon completion, the rst rater examined
the les for instances in which the two raters agreed and
disagreed upon behaviours. The videos were re-watched
to assess those instances of disagreement, and a consensus decision was made as to whether the particular
behaviour was or was not present. Thus, for all stressrelated behaviours, the frequencies reported reect this
consensus process.
3. Results
3.1. Study 1
Six of the 44 samples had insufcient saliva for hormone
analysis (two post-walk, one pre-park, and three post-park
samples). In total, six of 11 dogs had cortisol measures at
each of the four saliva sampling times.
Cortisol levels increased signicantly after 20 min in
the dog park, relative to the pre-park cortisol measurements for the same dogs (F1,5 = 14.34, P < 0.013; Fig. 1).
Cortisol changed an average of 0.06 g/dL (from prepark mean = 0.14 g/dL to post-park mean = 0.20 g/dL;

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L. Ottenheimer Carrier et al. / Applied Animal Behaviour Science 146 (2013) 96106

Table 1
Categories of behavioural activities and denitions for specic behaviours and signals. Play signal denitions are modied from Horowitz (2009); ps = play
signal, att = attention-getting signal.
Behaviour
Play/attention
Exaggerated approach (ps)
Exaggerated retreat (att)
Play bow (ps)
Chase-me (ps)

Description

Open-mouth (ps)
Bow head (ps)
Play slap (ps)
Leap-on (ps)
Bump (att)
Nose (att)
Bite (att)
Bite-at (att)
Paw (att)

Slow, running approach in sightline of partner; loose, rolling nature to run.

Backwards leap; head up towards partner.
Forelimbs down; hind legs raised; tail erect or wagging.
Withdraw with looks backward; at a reduced pace or with loping stride; new instance of behaviour when it persisted
for 5 s.
Frontal display with teeth and lips showing; no biting.
Nod head below shoulder level; maintain or nod up.
Usually simultaneous slap of ground with two forelimbs, occurs in play bow position.
On hind legs, with front paws around partners head; tail up.
Use part of body to knock into partner.
Put nose and closed mouth to other; non-investigatory.
Make rm mouth contact (of scruff, rump, face, or body); force is tempered.
Can have no clear object; biting at air in the direction of, but not touching, partner; can be partial or repeated.
Paw at others face or body.

Agonism
Growl
Bare teeth
Snap
Bite
Lunge
Chase

A low frequency but audible rumbling produced in the throat.

Lips curled upward, possible exposure of teeth.
Sudden biting motion in direction of a conspecic.
Firm mouth contact where mouth and teeth have rm grip on conspecic.
Sudden angular leap towards conspecic.
Driving away conspecic.

Stress
Tucked tail
Hunched posture
Paw lift
Snout lick
Run away
Yawn
Pull away

Tail positioned between the back legs; new instance when tail remained tucked for 5 s.
Back curved upward, body and head lower to the ground; new instance when back stayed curved for 5 s.
One front paw is lifted off the ground and slightly bent.
Tongue runs over top of snout, usually going over the nose.
Removing or attempting to remove oneself from altercation with conspecic; new instance counted when dog had
chance to interact with other dog (stopping, looking back), but removed itself.
Mouth open wide with large intake of breath.
Removing or attempting to remove oneself from physical interaction with human.

Mounting

Attempting to clasp or successfully clasping front legs around conspecics body and performing pelvic thrusts.

back-transformed means). Post-walk cortisol levels were

not signicantly different from pre-walk levels.
3.2. Study 2
3.2.1. Time budget and behaviour
In ve instances, focal dogs were either alone in the dog
park or only one other dog was present for more than half

Fig. 1. Salivary cortisol measures for dogs (N = 6) taken prior to and after a
20 min walk and prior to and after a 20 min dog park visit. Dogs showed a
signicant increase in cortisol between pre-park and post-park measurements (transformed mean sem).

of the session and, hence, these focal dogs did not have
an opportunity to interact with two or more dogs simultaneously. Data from these ve dogs were removed from
all analyses of time budgets (remaining N = 55). The number of dogs in the park for each session was relatively low,
with approximately 7 (3; mean SD) dogs present. On
average, dogs were alone for approximately one-third of
their time in the dog park, and spent 23% of their time
with other dogs exclusively (i.e., in dyads and groups combined). Perhaps due to the physical parameters of the park,
more than 40% of focal dogs time budget was spent in the
vicinity of humans, either solely with humans, or in mixed
human-dog groups (Fig. 2).
Frequency of activity state changes was related to
several time budget states. As shown in Table 2, state
change frequency was positively correlated with proportion of time in dyads (r = 0.43, P < 0.001) and in conspecic
groups (r = 0.58, P = 0.001), and negatively correlated with
time with humans (r = 0.36, P = 0.007). Regression analysis showed an age sex interaction; young males spent
a larger proportion of their time budget in dyads than
females of all ages (F2,53 = 3.50, R2 = 0.12, P = 0.038).
As shown in Table 2, the frequencies of mounting and
play behaviour/signals were positively correlated (rs = 0.38,
P = 0.003). Dogs that displayed more agonistic behaviours
tended to exhibit more stress-related behaviours (rs = 0.26,
P = 0.052), and total number of stress-related behaviours

L. Ottenheimer Carrier et al. / Applied Animal Behaviour Science 146 (2013) 96106

101

Table 2
Correlations between (a) focal dogs time budget states, frequency of specic social behaviours/signals, (b) Monash Canine Personality QuestionnaireRevised (MCPQ-R) personality dimension scores, and (c) activity level (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001).
Time budget

(a) Behaviour
Total Play
Total stress-related
Hunched posture
Total agonism
Mounting

Alone

Dyad

Group

Human

Mixed

0.23
0.13
0.11
0.03
0.24

0.69***
0.09
0.06
0.02
0.41**

0.43**
0.07
0.03
0.38**
0.34*

0.40**
0.10
0.03
0.07
0.29*

0.01
0.24
0.16
0.11
0.16

0.29*
0.05
0.14
0.24
0.13

0.19
0.11
0.08
0.03
0.04

0.22
0.17
0.09
0.03
0.03

0.34*
0.01
0.16
0.06
0.14

0.36**

0.01

(b) MCPQ-R Dimensions

0.23
Extraversion
Motivation
0.11
0.18
Training focus
0.16
Amicability
0.06
Neuroticism
(c) Frequency of
state changes

Behaviours

0.05

0.43**

0.58***

shown was correlated signicantly with the frequency of

hunched posture (r = 0.62, P < 0.001). Within the category of
stress-related behaviours, the frequency of hunched posture correlated highly with tucked tail (r = 0.78, P < 0.001),
and run away behaviours (r = 0.75, P < 0.001), while tucked
tail and run away also correlated signicantly (r = 0.54,
P < 0.001). Not surprisingly, most of the coded play
behaviours/signals correlated signicantly with each other
(data not shown). A notable exception to this was the relatively common behaviour exaggerated approach, which
correlated only with play bow (r = 0.38, P < 0.004).
Relationships
were
also
found
between
behaviours/signals and time budget, as shown in Table 2.
Total play frequency positively correlated with the proportion of time dogs spent in dyads (r = 0.69, P < 0.001) and
dog groups (r = 0.43, P = 0.001), and negatively correlated
with time spent with humans (r = 0.40, P = 0.003). Play
frequency also correlated positively with the frequency of
time budget state changes (r = 0.29, P = 0.037). Agonistic
behaviour frequency positively correlated with time spent
in dog groups (r = 0.38, P = 0.005). Mounting was positively
correlated with the amount of time dogs spent in dyads
(r = 0.41, P = 0.002) and in dog groups (r = 0.34, P = 0.012)

Fig. 2. Proportion of time dogs (N = 55) were engaged in various time

budget states in the dog park (mean sd).

Total Play
Signals

0.25
0.04
0.12
0.32*
0.12
0.29*

Total Stressrelated

Hunched
Posture

Total
Agonism

Mounting

0.05

0.05
0.62***

0.01
0.26
0.13

0.38**
0.06
0.02
0.02

0.13
0.01
0.002
0.16
0.09

0.05
0.21
0.09
0.09
0.32**

0.01
0.16
0.20
0.09
0.09

0.03
0.07
0.08
0.06
0.04

0.03

0.06

0.17

0.10

and negatively correlated with time spent with humans

(r = 0.29, P = 0.033).
Younger dogs displayed play signals more frequently
(rs = 0.36, P = 0.006). Older dogs were found to be generally less active (age and state change frequency: r = 0.37,
P = 0.006). The only sex difference in the coded behaviours
was mounting; only males mounted and of the seven males
that did so, three were sexually intact.
Overall, 98% of dogs displayed at least one stress-related
behaviour, 83% displayed play behaviours or signals,
Table 3
Percentage of focal dogs (N = 55) exhibiting total and specic
play/attention-getting signals and stress-related behaviours, and
total agonistic behaviours and mounting. The back-transformed mean
frequency of focal dogs specic play signals and stress-related behaviours
over the 20 min session is reported.

Total play
Bump
Play bow
Exaggerated approach
Chase-me
Exaggerated retreat
Bite-at
Paw
Leap-on
Open mouth
Nose
Bite
Play slap
Bow head
Total stress
Snout lick
Paw lift
Hunched posture
Run away
Tucked tail
Yawn
Pull away
Total agonism
Total mounting

Percent Focal dogs

Mean Frequency

83%
54%
51%
49%
49%
40%
33%
32%
28%
26%
21%
19%
7%
0%
98%
83%
76%
36%
31%
27%
17%
3%
22%
12%

14.91
1.95
1.28
0.58
0.63
0.71
0.50
0.41
0.51
0.26
0.09
0.08
0.01

13.12
5.34
2.09
0.45
0.25
0.37
0.05
0.01
0.33
0.18

The bolded values are for the total behaviours in each category, whereas
the non-bolded numbers indicate the specic behaviours that comprise
the totals. The bolding was used as a way of differentiating the totals.

102

L. Ottenheimer Carrier et al. / Applied Animal Behaviour Science 146 (2013) 96106

Table 4
Descriptive statistics for the ve Monash Canine Personality Questionnaire-Revised (MCPQ-R) personality dimensions measured by owner ratings for focal
dogs in the dog park (N = 59).
MCPQ-R Personality Dimensions

Mean (%)
S.D.
Minimum (%)
Maximum (%)

Extraversion

Motivation

Training Focus

Amicability

Neuroticism

76.11
16.51
25.00
100.00

66.38
14.62
33.33
90.00

76.89
12.75
43.30
100.00

80.90
11.44
53.30
100.00

46.97
14.90
14.70
83.30

22% showed one or more agonistic behaviours, and 12%

mounted at least once (Table 3). The proportion of dogs
which showed the specic behaviours and signals indicative of play and stress, as well as the back-transformed
average frequencies of these behaviours/signals, is shown
in Table 3.
3.2.2. Personality dimensions
The mean (non-transformed) percentages across the
ve personality dimensions were comparable to those
obtained by Ley et al. (2009a) except for Extraversion,
which was 13.1% higher than the scores reported in the
Ley study (Table 4).
Multiple regression analyses showed that both Amicability and Extraversion correlated with time budget
and behavioural frequencies (shown in Table 2). Amicability signicantly predicted the frequency of total
play behaviours/signals (r = 0.32; F1,58 = 6.49; R2 = 0.10,
P = 0.014). Extraversion signicantly predicted the amount
of time dogs spent in dyads (r = 0.29; F1,58 = 4.81; R2 = 0.083,
P = 0.033). Extraversion was negatively correlated with
time in mixed groups (r = 0.34, P = 0.012), likely due to
its positive correlation with time spent in dyads. Dogs
that scored high in Extraversion also had a higher number of state changes (activity level; r = 0.46; F1,58 = 15.25;
R2 = 0.21, P < 0.001). Interestingly, Neuroticism scores
specically predicted the frequency of hunched posture
(r = 0.32; F1,58 = 7.54; R2 = 0.10, P = 0.008), but not the frequency of total stress-related behaviours.
The dimensions Training Focus and Motivation did not
correlate with any behavioural measures or time budget
states.
3.2.3. Cortisol
Two of the 60 saliva samples had insufcient saliva for
testing. The cortisol levels for two dogs were outliers, as
the values exceeded the mean by two standard deviations;
data from these dogs were removed from all cortisol analyses, as it is possible that these high values resulted from
contamination by blood in the dogs mouths (e.g., Granger
et al., 2007). The average back-transformed cortisol level
was 0.22 g/dL (N = 56), slightly higher than the post-park
value obtained in Study 1 (0.20 g/dL).
Cortisol levels were negatively correlated with the number of times a dog visited the park in the past 365 days
(r = 0.34, P = 0.013; Fig. 3). Five dogs in the 10th percentile
of park visits (i.e., the least frequent visitors with fewer
than four visits in the last year) were responsible for this
pattern, as the relationship between cortisol and park visit
frequency become statistically non-signicant when these

ve dogs were removed from the sample. Cortisol and

the frequency of hunched posture correlated signicantly
(r = 0.31, P = 0.023), even after the effect of dog park visit
frequency was removed via partial correlation (r = 0.29,
P = 0.04).
The number of days since a dog last visited the park
signicantly correlated with the frequency of total stressrelated behaviours (r = 0.30, P = 0.024), but was unrelated
to cortisol levels. Specically, focal dogs that had last visited the park within 7 days (N = 30) had signicantly fewer
stress-related behaviours than those dogs that had been in
the park 7 or more days ago (N = 23; t51 = 2.15, P = 0.04).
These groups did not show a signicant difference in cortisol levels.

3.2.4. Other variables

Other possible relationships between each of cortisol,
personality, behaviour, and time budgets, and other measured variables, specically the number of dogs in the park,
familiarity of conspecics, focal dog reproductive status,
length of time focal dog lived with owner, whether the focal
dog lived in a single dog or multi-dog household, focal dog
age, or focal dog sex, were examined and none were found
to be signicant. For example, 57% of the dogs in the sample
were unfamiliar with any of the other dogs present in the
park at the time of their visit, as reported by their owners.
Dogs who were familiar with other dogs in the park compared to dogs who were unfamiliar with their conspecics
showed no signicant differences in cortisol, time budgets,
the frequency of any behaviours measured, or personality
scores.

Fig. 3. Salivary cortisol levels negatively correlated with dog park visit
frequency in the past year (N = 56).

L. Ottenheimer Carrier et al. / Applied Animal Behaviour Science 146 (2013) 96106

4. Discussion
In Study 1, cortisol increased signicantly in dogs after
20 min in the dog park, but not following an on-leash walk
with owners. In Study 2, dogs cortisol levels after 20 min in
the dog park were similar to the post-park levels in Study 1,
and cortisol was independent of all behavioural activities
measured in that time frame, with the singular exception of
hunched or lowered posture. Despite also examining multiple demographic and other factors that might inuence
cortisol levels in the dogs (e.g., age, sex, density of conspecics in the park, presence of familiar dogs, etc.), cortisol
was only negatively related to the number of times dogs
visited the park in the last year. This relationship may be
due to the fact that infrequent park visitors experience the
dog park as a physically and socially novel environment,
since when dogs that were the most infrequent visitors
were removed from the data, the relationship between
cortisol and frequency of park visits disappeared. Comparable results have been found in previous research involving
dogs exposed to novelty, in which cortisol levels became
substantially lower between early and later exposures to
stress (e.g., Hennessy et al., 2001; Rooney et al., 2007). The
number of days since focal dogs last visited the park was
unrelated to cortisol levels, but did inuence the frequency
of total stress-related behaviours; dogs that had visited the
park within 1 week of the test session showed signicantly
fewer behavioural indicators of stress than those which had
visited more than a week prior to the session.
The expectation that cortisol would be related to
behaviours shown by dogs in the park was partially supported, in that low or hunched posture correlated with
cortisol levels. Low posture in dogs is indicative of stress
(Beerda et al., 1998, 1999b; Haverbeke et al., 2008; Schilder
and van der Borg, 2004; van den Berg et al., 2003) and can be
a social signal of deference to conspecics of higher social
status (e.g., Bonanni et al., 2010; Handleman, 2008). Interestingly, postural changes in humans have been shown
to inuence both testosterone and cortisol levels (Carney
et al., 2010). Participants instructed to maintain a high
power pose showed increased testosterone and decreased
cortisol relative to baseline levels, while maintaining a lowpowered position resulted in decreased testosterone and
increased cortisol levels (Carney et al., 2010). It is likely
that postural changes are reliable signals of the internal
state of many species; in the dog park context, this may
be reected by a relationship between lowered posture
and cortisol. Additionally, dogs that scored higher in the
personality dimension Neuroticism showed signicantly
more frequent hunched posture, despite no relationship
between Neuroticism scores and either cortisol levels or
the frequency of total stress-related behaviours.
Taken together, these data suggest that the increase in
cortisol seen in dogs in the dog park is caused by at least two
processes: rst, most dogs are likely emotionally and physiologically aroused by the presence of conspecics, both
familiar and unfamiliar, and by the dog parks physical environment, resulting in increased cortisol; second, dogs who
are not frequent or recent visitors are likely additionally
aroused, or stressed, by the novelty of the dog park setting, thereby contributing to higher cortisol levels (in dogs

103

that visit rarely), or to higher stress-related behaviour frequencies (in dogs which are not rare visitors, but which had
not visited the park within the past week). An additional
reason for increased cortisol in some dogs in the dog park
may be related to their underlying predisposition towards
fearfulness. In this study, dogs which scored high in the
MCPQ-R Neuroticism dimension showed higher frequencies of hunched posture, but not higher levels of cortisol.
This may be due to the fact that less fearful/low neurotic dogs in this setting show arousal-induced increases
in cortisol that may mask any relationship between neuroticism and cortisol. Those dogs showing hunched posture
are arguably the most stressed dogs in the park, as the frequency of hunched posture also correlated highly with the
frequency of total stress behaviours, and more specically,
with the behaviours of tucked tail and run away.
The failure to nd relationships between cortisol and
other behaviours measured (e.g., frequency of mounting,
play behaviours, stress-related behaviours, and agonistic behaviours), or the dogs time budgets in the park,
is not completely surprising. In fact, results from other
studies examining cortisol and its relationship to specic behaviours have been equivocal. Many studies have
reported an overall lack of relationship between the hormone and behaviours in dogs, even when a change in
cortisol has been demonstrated (Dreschel and Granger,
2005; Hennessy et al., 2001; Rooney et al., 2007). While
Beerda et al. (1999a) found correlations between cortisol and three behaviours in chronically stressed dogs
(subjected to social and spatial restriction), they failed
to observe a correlation between cortisol and the typical behavioural expressions of chronic housing stress. Batt
et al. (2009) found that young guide dogs ability to settle in a new kennel environment was the only behavioural
measure associated with cortisol. Horvth et al. (2007),
however, showed that the coping styles of police dogs, as
assessed from their behavioural responses to a threatening
stimulus, did signicantly correlate with cortisol changes.
Similarly, in dogs that recently entered a re-homing shelter,
time-dependent changes in urinary cortisol/creatine ratios
correlated with dog activity/locomotion, but relationship
patterns differed in direction when examined between
dogs vs. within the same individuals (Hiby et al., 2006).
Hekman et al. (2012) investigated the relationship of three
behaviours- head resting, panting, and lip licking- to salivary cortisol in dogs hospitalized for elective veterinary
procedures. These behaviours signicantly correlated with
cortisol in their Study 1 dogs, but not in a second group
of dogs (Study 2). In primates and various bird species,
cortisol has been shown to predict some social behaviours
(e.g., capuchins, Byrne and Suomi, 2002; baboons, Sapolsky
and Ray, 1989; grey-lag geese, Kralj-Fiser et al., 2010) and
is related to coping styles in birds (e.g., great tits, Stwe
et al., 2010). However, a lack of clear relationships between
behaviour and cortisol has been reported in other animals
(e.g. collared ycatchers, Garamszegi et al., 2012; Senegalese sole, Silva et al., 2010).
It is likely that the relationships between cortisol and
behaviour in any species are mediated by the context
under which testing is carried out and by the particular
behaviours measured. It could be that certain behaviours

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L. Ottenheimer Carrier et al. / Applied Animal Behaviour Science 146 (2013) 96106

are reliable measures of arousal or stress in specic contexts only (e.g., settling in a new kennel situation, Batt
et al., 2009). Alternatively, the relationships between cortisol and behaviours may be only reliably discerned at
the level of coping styles, in which clusters of specic
behaviours that dene a coping style are associated with
changes in the hormone (e.g., Horvth et al., 2007; Koolhaas
et al., 1999). In addition, dogs past experiences with potentially fear- or stress-inducing stimuli or environments will
likely impact their physiological and behavioural responses
to the stimuli. Hydbring-Sandberg et al. (2004) demonstrated that exposure to gunshot noise caused a drastic
increase in plasma cortisol in collies that had been identied as fearful of gunshots, but not in collies described
as fearless. In that same study, collies which were afraid
of oors did not respond to the stressor with an increase
in cortisol, although other physiological responses to the
stressor differed between oor-fearful and non-fearful
dogs. We did not systematically collect information concerning the types of past experiences that the focal dogs
may have had in dog parks. Of course, the lack of strong
cortisol-behaviour relationships in the present study may
be because the particular behaviours examined were unrelated to cortisol (e.g., Garamszegi et al., 2012), at least in
this dog park context. As well, an increase in cortisol in a
dog park setting may not be related to most stress-related
behaviours in many dogs, because the increase may reect
arousal or excitement induced by the conspecic social
environment, or anticipation of social interaction with conspecics. In sled dogs, cortisol levels increased signicantly
after dogs had been harnessed for pulling, presumably in
anticipation of the activity (Angle et al., 2009).
Dog time budgets in the park were inuenced by sex and
age. Younger males spent the most time in dyads and older
dogs showed less frequent changes in states (e.g., from
alone to dyad, dyad to group, etc.). Changes in time budget
states may be a useful proxy measure of overall dog-dog
social activity in the park, as higher state change frequencies were associated with higher frequency of total play
signals, a greater proportion of time spent in both dyads
and conspecic groups, and a lower proportion of time
spent near humans. Age was related to some behaviours;
older dogs played less and showed fewer stress-related
behaviours. Mirk et al. (2012) similarly reported that
dog activity level was negatively related to dog age. In
most species, play is associated with juveniles (Bekoff and
Byers, 1998); however, adult wolves (Canis lupus) as well
as domestic dogs are known to play (e.g., Bauer and Smuts,
2007; Cordoni, 2009). Decreased play activity in older dogs
may be the result of decreased interest, motivation, or
physical ability.
Positive correlations between the time spent in dyads
and in conspecic groups with both the frequency of total
play behaviours/signals and of mounting are not surprising; these behaviours must occur in a conspecic social
context. Dogs that showed mounting behaviour also had
high levels of play behaviour. The co-occurrence of play and
mounting in these dogs may be a product of the heightened
physical and emotional arousal, which is elicited by the dog
park setting or by play itself. It is also possible that mounting is an element of play, as it is in juvenile male macaques

(Leca et al., 2012). Play is composed of many behaviours,

some of which are agonistic in other contexts, such as
biting, barking, chasing and growling (Bekoff, 1995). As
there were no sexually receptive females (the appropriate
stimulus) in the dog park during the times that mounting
behaviour was recorded, mounting occurred outside of a
sexual context.
Of the ve personality dimensions assessed by the
MCPQ-R, Extraversion, Amicability, and Neuroticism predicted some behaviours and time budget states in the
dog park. Dogs which were assessed by their owners as
high in Extraversion were more active and spent signicantly greater proportions of time in dyads. In other canine
personality scales, dimensions similar to the MCPQ-Rs
Extraversion are also highly associated with activity and
energy level (Energy, Gosling et al., 2003; Activity, Jones
and Gosling, 2005; Activity, Mirk et al., 2012; ChaseProneness and Playfulness, Svartberg and Forkman, 2002).
The fact that owner-reported ratings for Extraversion relate
positively to observed activity level in the park suggests
that scores on this dimension accurately describe this facet
of dog behaviour. Personality models in other species have
also found traits related to activity and sociability to t
under their respective Extraversion dimensions (langur
monkeys, Konecn et al., 2008; humans, Svartberg and
Forkman, 2002).
Based the MCPQ-R results, the local dog park in this
study may attract a distinct group of dogs. Dogs sampled exclusively from the dog park scored 13.1% higher in
Extraversion than the Ley et al. (2009a) community-based
sample, likely a more heterogeneous population. Our ratings for the four other personality dimensions were similar
to those originally reported. This may imply that the dogs
in our sample represent a subset of the dog population,
i.e., highly extraverted dogs, which are described by their
owners as highly active, energetic, excitable, hyperactive,
lively and restless (Ley et al., 2009a). It is possible that the
owners of such dogs are more likely to bring their dogs to an
off-leash park than are owners of less active dogs to provide
them with opportunities to socialize and exercise. Alternatively, dogs that attend the dog park may become more
extraverted through that process, as they have opportunities to be physically active and to socialize. A prospective
study on the factors that relate to dog park attendance patterns and behaviour outcomes is warranted.
Highly amicable dogs showed more behaviours indicating play compared to dogs which were rated lower
in this dimension. The dimension of Amicability encompasses the overall level of friendliness and sociability in
dogs, and parallels a social interaction component that
has been described in previous dog personality studies
(Ley et al., 2008; Svartberg, 2002). As the play signals and
behaviours measured in this study encompassed social
play, this relationship between MCPQ-R Amicability ratings
and independently scored behaviours and signals supports
the validity of this dimension. The MCPQ-R Neuroticism
ratings given to dogs by their owners correlated with the
frequency of lowered or hunched posture exhibited in the
dog park. The adjectives used in the MCPQ-R to represent this dimension are fearful, nervous, submissive, and
timid (Ley et al., 2009a). Again, owner perception of their

L. Ottenheimer Carrier et al. / Applied Animal Behaviour Science 146 (2013) 96106

dogs personality and independent observation of the dogs

behaviour correlated. It is possible that owner perception of
the dogs level of extraversion, amicability, or neuroticism
was inuenced by their observations of their dogs in the
dog park; however, dog behaviour was scored over 20 min,
while owners completed the MCPQ-R within the rst half
of the session. It is more likely that the MCPQ-R assesses
underlying dog personality dimensions that owners can
accurately identify, and which specic behaviours in the
dog park reect.
In a practical sense, this study demonstrates that the dog
park is a highly arousing environment for many dogs, and
almost all dogs showed some stress-related behaviours in
the park (e.g., snout lick and paw lift), with a high percentage also displaying play behaviours. Agonistic behaviours
were fairly rare, and mounting behaviour, when it occurred,
appeared mainly in the context of play. The most reliable
behavioural indicator of moderate-to-high level stress in
the dog park may be lowered or hunched posture, as it
was associated with both high cortisol and other stressrelated behaviours. Dogs reported by owners to be highly
neurotic showed higher frequencies of hunched postures.
Thus, while stress-related behaviours are ubiquitous in the
dog park, postural changes may be an honest indicator of
impaired welfare of a dog in this setting. Owners of dogs
showing lowered posture in the dog park might be advised
to reconsider exposing their dog to this setting for welfare reasons. Most dogs, however, especially those which
owners rate as physically active and friendly, appear to
have overall positive experiences in the dog park, and likely
benet from the physical activity and social interactions
that such a setting provides.
5. Conclusion
Relationships between cortisol, social behaviours and
signals, and personality in dogs can be detected in a dog
park setting, although it is likely that these relationships
are inuenced by the physical and social parameters of the
particular dog park studied, such as the park dimensions
and the behaviours of other dogs present. For example, individual differences in response to another dogs
social behaviours may be related to personality scores
and hormonal proles. More research on how individual
dogs inuence one anothers social behaviours and cortisol responses in a social context is needed. Other factors,
such as how breed and dog size inuences specic social
interactions (e.g., between dyads) in the dog park, should
be further examined. As well, because the dogs in Study 2
were recruited in the dog park, it is possible that our results
reect patterns for dogs that score high in Extraversion.
Different relationships between personality, cortisol and
social behaviour may be found in contexts other than dog
parks, and/or with more general dog populations.
Acknowledgments
This study was funded by a NSERC Discovery Grant
to CJW. The authors appreciate the assistance of Keenan
Croucher, Christina Hamlyn, and Jenelle Penney.

105

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