Influencia en el comportamiento canino mediante enriquecimiento ambiental en dos refugios de la ciudad de Guayaquil

Abstract

The present study was carried out with a descriptive non-experimental research design to determine the presence of stress, anxiety and aggressiveness in dogs from two refuges in Guayaquil city, before and after the implementation of environmental enrichment. This method was use for two weeks; it was based on the use of recycled plastic bottles to create homemade sensory toys filled with food and thus improve the mental welfare of the animal. A test was performed to evaluate the canine behavior, before and after the environmental enrichment that was made on 31 patients. In order fulfill the objective of the study; it was created a table in Microsoft Excel and Access that was used to classify the results, positioning them according to the different fixed variables: age, sex and neutering, in addition to the presence of stress, anxiety and aggressiveness. The result obtained indicated that dogs that live in these refuges, before the environmental enrichment, presented 81 % of stress, 16 % of anxiety and 3 % of aggressiveness: after the environmental enrichment, these dogs showed 68 % of relaxation, 16 % stress, 16 % anxiety and the aggressiveness could be eliminated. It is recommended to all refuges owners to implement an environmental enrichment program supervised by an clinical ethologist and according to the installation of the place, so with this way we can improve behavior problems caused by the continuous confinement and maybesomeday one of these dogs can be adopted.