Was your dog more difficult to train during the epidemic? Science says that you are not alone

The lock during the roaming epidemic was difficult for everyone, including our dogs. New research today indicates that dogs were more difficult to train in the years after 2020, but they have become more education with ease of restrictions.

A study published on Wednesday in the magazine Plos one The reported behavioral data for the owner has been analyzed for more than 47,000 accompanying dogs during and between PandeMic Covid-19 directly. Those looking for trends in fear, attention, aggression and training searched, they found that the average score of training was higher among dogs in 2020 but less in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Especially, those degrees began to decline more than 2020 in 2023, indicating that dogs and owners were recently receiving training routines on the will.

Pandemim PuPies to blame?

This trend may partially reflect An increase in adoption Early the epidemic, when the newly adopted puppies and dogs require more intense training as they adapt to their new homes. This increase is mainly supported by stories instead of data. The national database reports of shelter animals show that the national adoption rate is actually Decline 17 % from 2019 to 2020 and Remain Below levels 2019 in 2021.

Courtney Sixon, the author, who participates in the study, a post -PhD college at the Veterinary Medicine Faculty of Virginia Maryland, indicates that most of the dogs listed in the study were adults or elderly people with experience in training. Instead of directing the finger to friendly puppies, she suggested another possible interpretation: “Maybe it had turned that the routine had turned, life was more difficult, and the dog was responding to stress in your environment, and things were just complicated.”

Transform in the behavior of the dog or the positions of the owners?

It is interesting that training was the only behavioral feature that showed an important direction in one direction or another. Consider the changes in the environment and the dogs that I experienced during the epidemic, “It was a little strange,” said Sexston. For her, this talks about the fact that the owners of pets and their dogs faced unique challenges from 2020 to 2023.

“We have all seen this big thing, but we are all going through our own ways,” she said.

Wiping data comes from Dog aging projectA longitudinal study aims to track the health of accompanying dogs over a period of 10 years to investigate the effects of aging. Participants are filling out extensive annual surveys on the health and behavior of their dogs, as more than 50,000 dogs have been registered since the project began collecting data in 2019.

Sexton noticed that the data used in its study is based on the perceptions of the owners of their dog behavior, which may have deviated due to the conditions of the epidemic. Malcon may be more impatient with their pets due to isolation and stress during the lock, which led them to report low degrees in training.

“The dog’s behavior often responds to human behavior,” she added. It is also possible that their owners’ frustration with their dogs is also separated, making them less education and more vulnerable to bad behavior.

“They are really, in many ways, they reflect ourselves, and we find it more and more,” Sixon said. “By paying attention to them and our relationships with them, I think we can only know more.” She and her colleagues will use the results they reached as a starting point to continue following behavioral changes in these dog groups as they have age.