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Research Article

The work of dogs in AAI – the evaluation of welfare and human–dog communication

Magdalena Rogoza , Agnieszka Boruta

Faculty of Animal Science, Animal Breeding and Production Department, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 02–786 Warszawa, Ciszewskiego 8, Poland

1. Acta Sci. Pol. Zootechnica, 17(2), 2018, 15‒22
2. DOI: 10.21005/asp.2018.17.2.02

Abstract. This paper describes the analysis of preserving dog’s welfare and of human-dog communication during Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) in Poland. The analysis has been conducted through a Google Forms questionnaire. The following aspects have been analyzed: dog characteristics, owner/guide characteristics, dog’s work and human-dog communication. The questions posed concerned, among others, the worktime of a dog, the frequency of dog’s work per day and per week, the experience of the guide and guide’s knowledge of calming signals sent by the dog. A statistical analysis was carried out using Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and IBM SPSS Statistics 24. The study involved 64 participants. The results suggest that the subject of dog welfare in AAI is a difficult topic discussed reluctantly by many dog guides. It is necessary to create legal regulations concerning the profession of a kynotherapist, including such aspects as the amount of dog’s worktime considering the division into passive and active activity of the animal; frequency of the dog’s work per day and per week; knowledge of dogs’ behavior (including calming signals, dog’s body language); the age at which the dog commences and terminates its work activity.

Keywords: AAI in Poland, dogs’ welfare, kynotherapy