Resilience In Dogs? Lessons From Other Species

Abstract

What are the key factors of psychological resilience in dogs? Why do some individuals recover swiftly from neglect, abuse or several years of harsh kennel environments, while some seem to be permanently traumatized by much milder adverse experiences? Resilience is a concept seldom discussed in canine studies; however, many studies have identified risk factors (both environmental and genetic) for developing anxieties, aggression or other behavioral problems. These studies also indicate several factors that may act as protective agents against life adversities. In this paper, I will present some of the most commonly identified key factors of resilience in other species and discuss what has been found in dogs. This paper is an attempt to raise focus on the positive key factors in a dog’s life that are important for dog welfare, a healthy psychological outcome and are also important building blocks of a happy and well-behaving pet.

Keywords:

• resilience
• dog
• stress

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by smartDOG. I thank Miiu Kujala and Outi Vainio for inviting me to give a talk under this title, which worked as an inspiration for this paper.

Disclosure

The author reports no conflicts of interest in this work.