Vet World Vol.16 January-2023 Article-2
Research Article
Veterinary World, 16(1): 12-17
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2023.12-17
Behavioral responses to baited enclosure method that activates habituation in stray dogs
2. The Academy of Science, The Royal Society of Thailand, Dusit, Bangkok 10300, Thailand.
3. Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute, The Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
Background and Aim: The behavioral mechanism of stray dog occurrence is associated with domestication process. This study aimed to investigate the population and demographic relationship of stray dogs from our ecological habitat. We tested whether baited enclosure method could be used as an operant conditioning treatment to activate habituation behavior in stray dogs.
Materials and Methods: The first investigation determined the population and demographic characteristics of stray dogs in the metropolitan city of Bangkok using the mark and recapture procedure. In the second investigation, a large cage equipped with a digital camera was used as the feeding and habituation area. Food was provided at four corners for 2 h. The approach behaviors and eating patterns were recorded during this period for 7 days.
Results: The average number of stray dogs calculated within each cluster was 24 ± 6 dogs. For the natural small habitat, the density of stray dogs was 662 dogs per km2. This indicated that the number of dogs is underestimated using the mark and recapture procedure because of undetected puppies and shifts in the sex ratio in adult dogs. In the second investigation, we demonstrated that food was a potent positive reinforcer for stray dogs. The average onset of cage entry after offering the food was 17 min. The onset of cage entry and the reduction in the first meal duration suggested that the habituation process could be achieved within 1 week.
Conclusion: The results revealed the possibility of using a large cage as a novel enclosure for food offered as the positive reinforcer for TNR program trapping procedures. We suggest that this humane trapping procedure could be used to activate habituation behavior in stray dogs. Keywords: food intake, operant conditioning, population, stray dog, trap, neuter, and release.
Keywords: food intake, operant conditioning, population, stray dog, trap, neuter, and release.
How to cite this article: Thammacharoen S, Semsirmboon S, Chit-Opas V, Tangcharoensin P, Nilkachatarn K, and Chaiyabutr N (2023) Behavioral responses to baited enclosure method that activates habituation in stray dogs, Veterinary World, 16(1): 12–17.
Received: 07-09-2022 Accepted: 21-11-2022 Published online: 04-01-2023
Corresponding author: Sumpun Thammacharoen E-mail: sprueksagorn@hotmail.com
DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2023.12-17
Copyright: Thammacharoen, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.