BEHAVIORAL COMPLAINTS AND OWNERS’ SATISFACTION IN RABBITS, MUSTELIDS AND RODENTS KEPT AS PETS

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of behavioral complaints in rabbits, mustelids, and rodents that were kept as pets, to help veterinary practitioners while counseling prospective owners toward an informed and responsible choice of a pet. A total of 193 owners participated in the study, filling in a questionnaire, for a total of 371 pets (184 rabbits, 59 mustelids, 128 rodents). The prevalence reported by owners of behavioral complaints was 31.3% (29.3%, 52.5%, and 20.3% for rabbits, mustelids, and rodents, respectively; chisquare = 19.6; P = 0.001). Aggression toward people was reported in 13.2% of the sample (13.0%, 30.5%, and 5.5% for rabbits, mustelids, and rodents, respectively; chisquare = 9.4; P = 0.009). Stereotypic behavioral patterns were reported by owners in 26.4% of the cases (28.3%, 16.9%, and 28.1% for rabbits, mustelids, and rodents, respectively). The owners reported that the prevalence of stereotypies was higher in pets housed more restrictively (Fisher’s exact test; P = 0.001). The overall level of satisfaction was quite high (i.e., 8.6 ± 1.84 points out of 10), but was lower in pets declared to have unwanted behavioral patterns (P = 0.05)

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TRAINER'S GAZE IN HORSE TRAINING

New training methods which rely on the ethological characteristics of the horse are spreading in the horse world. Some of them highlight the importance of trainer-horse eye contact during training in the round pen. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of eye contact with the trainer on the behaviour of saddle horses during training. Ten horses, aged 4 to 17 years, were subjected to two training sessions in the round pen, one in which the trainer was wearing very dark sunglasses, the other in which the trainer was wearing normal transparent glasses. The latency of some behaviour patterns which are deemed to be representative of the horse\u2019s attention towards the trainer and acceptance of the trainer as a social leader, were measured. The results show that horses oriented the inner ear towards the trainer, sham-chewed, lowered the head, stopped, approached and followed the trainer sooner (p<0.01) when the trainer was wearing transparent rather than dark glasses