Immediate behavioural outcomes of owner-delivered support during novel object exposure in dogs

Fearfulness is one of the most common behavioural concerns in domestic dogs, which can be observed in response to a wide range of stimuli, including sudden noises and novel objects. Because fear responses can adversely affect welfare, identifying effective ways to reduce fear is important. Given that dogs are highly responsive to human social cues, owner behaviour in the presence of a stressor may influence dogs’ responses. This study investigated the effects of typical owner-delivered support strategies on dogs’ behaviour and stress levels during exposure to a novel object. A survey was first conducted to identify the strategies that owners perceived as most useful and reported using most frequently. Subsequently, 48 dog–owner dyads were quasi-randomly allocated to one of four conditions: calming (petting the dog and speaking in a soothing voice), approach (approaching the object and verbally encouraging the dog), treats (offering food), or control (remaining passive). First, owners applied the assigned strategy during a 1 min presentation of a remote-controlled car (Phase 1). To assess maintenance effects, the car was presented again, but all owners remained passive (Phase 2). Measures included stress-related body language, holistic stress scores, affiliative behaviours, and object-directed behaviours. Exploring the object and encouraging the dog to do the same was rated as useful by the highest proportion of owners, while the lowest proportion of owners considered ignoring the dog as a useful strategy. During the in-person experiment dogs in all experimental conditions gazed at the owner more than controls. Dogs in the approach group spent more time in proximity to the object and showed higher holistic stress scores in the first phase than in the second phase. None of the owner-delivered strategies reliably reduced stress-related behaviour versus passive control in this setting. Owner actions mainly influenced the dogs’ social behaviours and proximity to the object. Given the mild stressor and brief exposure, future experiments using repeated pairings may be needed to clarify the effectiveness of these techniques.