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Animals
Special Issues
Ethological Approach to Emotional Lives of Companion Animals
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Ethological Approach to Emotional Lives of Companion Animals

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Companion Animals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (26 June 2023) | Viewed by 4546

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Marcello Siniscalchi

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Guest Editor
Animal Physiology and Behavior Unit, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70121 Bari, Italy
Interests: animal physiology; behavioral neuroscience; brain lateralization; emotion; animal communication; human–animal relationship
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Serenella D'Ingeo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Animal Physiology and Behavior Unit, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70121 Bari, Italy
Interests: neuroscience; behavior and cognitive science; emotion; animal communication; human–animal relationship
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The study of emotions in companion animals poses significant challenges due to the inaccessibility of the conscious subjective component of emotions. However, the understanding of the emotional functioning of animals is a key element for the improvement of their welfare. The assessment of animal emotions is mainly based on the outcomes of affective states reflected on changes of animal behavior, physiology and cognition. The analysis of animal behavior, which represents a fast adaptive response to environmental and social changes, could provide a simple and objective measure of animal affective states. We invite original research articles, critical reviews, and commentaries regarding the use of ethological parameters to study animal emotions, as well as the identification of novel ethological methodologies and measures for the assessment of affective states in companion animals. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: stress-related behaviors, the human–animal relationship, conspecific interactions, management and welfare of shelters, and free-ranging and working animals (including animal-assisted interventions).

Prof. Dr. Marcello Siniscalchi
Dr. Serenella D'Ingeo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • emotions
  • animal behavior
  • ethological parameters
  • human–animal relationship
  • animal welfare
  • companion animals

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

12 pages, 1591 KiB  
Article
How Do Dogs Behave When Presented with Situations of Different Emotional Valences?
by Paulo Souza, Kun Guo, Daniel S. Mills, Briseida Resende and Natalia Albuquerque
Animals 2023, 13(6), 1027; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13061027 - 11 Mar 2023
Viewed by 4047
Abstract
Dogs are good models for studying behaviour and cognition as they have complex social capabilities. In the current study, we observed how human emotional valences (positive, neutral and negative) affected aspects of dogs’ behaviour. We expected that dogs would exhibit more approaching behaviours [...] Read more.
Dogs are good models for studying behaviour and cognition as they have complex social capabilities. In the current study, we observed how human emotional valences (positive, neutral and negative) affected aspects of dogs’ behaviour. We expected that dogs would exhibit more approaching behaviours in the positive condition and more signs of avoidance in the negative one. We analysed videos of 70 adult pet dogs of various breeds taken from an experiment in which one of two actors expressed an emotion and dogs could freely explore the environment for 30 s. Our results show that dogs exhibit differential behaviour when presented with different emotional valences. Two behaviours arose that might be linked to a reciprocal positive emotional state in dogs: tail raised between 90° and 180° and physical contact during sniffing. These behaviours are associated with an active search for information. In the positive conditions, dogs were more willing to explore the social environment and gather information from the actors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ethological Approach to Emotional Lives of Companion Animals)
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