拉布拉多犬的母性行为水平对幼犬胆量的影响
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大连医科大学实验动物中心 大连 116044

作者简介:

白静,女,博士研究生;研究方向:动物行为学;E-mail:baijing0526@aliyun.com。

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国家重点研发计划项目(No. 2019YFF0303305);


Effect of Maternal Care Level on Offspring Boldness of Labrador Retrievers
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Laboratory Animal Center, Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116044, China

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    摘要:

    母性行为是动物以维持幼崽的生存及生理健康为主要目的的一种基本行为,母性行为作为重要的早期经历对动物的个体发展有深远影响。动物的行为在时间和环境中具有一致性,多个行为特征的一致性加权被称为气质特征,气质特征的差异是犬(Canis lupus familiaris)能否顺利通过培训成为导盲犬的决定性因素。其中,胆量是决定导盲犬培训成功与否的重要气质特征。本研究以中国导盲犬大连培训基地的拉布拉多种犬及幼犬为研究对象,探究母性行为水平对幼犬胆量的影响。本研究通过视频观察记录拉布拉多犬哺乳期前21 d的母性行为变量时长,对在哺乳区内、身体接触、哺乳和舔舐幼犬4项变量进行主成分分析后将7只实验犬分为母性行为高水平与低水平两组。对两组犬生产的共54只幼犬于6 ~ 8周龄时进行幼犬胆量行为测试,根据胆量行为测试的评分标准对幼犬的行为表现进行评分,统计分析母性行为高水平组与低水平组其幼犬的胆量是否存在差异。本研究结果表明,母性行为低水平组的幼犬在胆量测试中面对陌生环境、突然出现的响声刺激、突然打开的雨伞刺激以及陌生人的游戏邀请时均表现出更大的胆量。在被动测试中,母性行为低水平组幼犬的探索潜伏时长显著短于母性行为高水平组幼犬(P < 0.05),探索范围显著大于母性行为高水平组幼犬(P < 0.05),紧张程度极显著低于母性行为高水平组幼犬(P < 0.01);在金属响声测试中,母性行为低水平组幼犬的惊吓反应(P < 0.01)和紧张程度(P < 0.01)均极显著低于母性行为高水平组幼犬;在雨伞测试中,母性行为低水平组幼犬的紧张程度显著低于母性行为高水平组幼犬(P < 0.05);在玩具测试中,母性行为低水平组幼犬的玩耍兴趣显著高于母性行为高水平组幼犬(P < 0.05),紧张程度显著低于母性行为高水平组幼犬(P < 0.05);在斜坡隧道测试中,母性行为低水平组幼犬的紧张程度显著低于母性行为高水平组幼犬(P < 0.05),通过斜坡的用时短于母性行为高水平组幼犬,但经统计检验无显著差异(P > 0.05)。本研究的结论为低母性行为水平带给幼犬强度适当的早期生活压力,使幼犬面对新环境刺激时表现出更好的适应能力和较大的胆量。本研究为工作犬种犬的筛选提出新的建议:母性行为水平低的种犬对幼犬胆量的发展有更好的影响。

    Abstract:

    [Objectives] The present study aims to test the effect of maternal care level on offspring boldness of Labrador Retrievers. [Methods] Behaviors of seven litters of Labrador Retrievers (total of 54 puppies) and their mothers living in standardized rearing conditions in China Guide Dog Training Centre (Dalian) were studied. Maternal care behavior of seven female dogs was recorded continuously from day 1 to 21 after birth with a surveillance camera, and video files were stored for later scoring and analysis. 90 min (comprised of 6 different periods of 15 min, selected from 7:00﹣8:00, 9:00﹣10:00, 12:00﹣13:00, 15:00﹣16:00, 18:00﹣19:00, and 20:00﹣21:00) video of each day was scoring for maternal behavior variables. The variables recorded were:contact with the puppy, stay in the nursing box, nursing the puppy, and licking the puppy. A principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on the four variables and PC-scores were assigned to each mother. To assess the boldness of puppies, each puppy was subjected puppy tests consisting of passive test, metallic sound test, umbrella test, toy test, ramp and tunnel test at 6﹣8 weeks of age (Fig. 1). The Mann-Whitney U test was conducted to contrast the boldness scores of puppies between high PC-scores group and low PC-scores group, and between genders. [Results] The principal component analysis of the maternal care data revealed that just one factor with eigenvalues greater than one (Table 2). The puppies were divided into two groups based on PC-scores of female dogs:high level of maternal care (n = 24) and low level of maternal care (n = 30) (Table 3). Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the scores of 13 behavioral variables in the puppy test by two raters, and the inter-rater reliability was higher than 0.8 (Table 4). Mann-Whitney U test results showed that there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in scores of other behavioral variables between male and female puppies except for the startle of metallic sound test and tension of metallic sound test. 4 (Table 5), and different maternal levels had significant impacts on 9 behavioral variable scores out of 13 (P < 0.05) (Fig. 2). Among them, the puppies with low level of maternal care had lower tension scores in all the puppy sub-tests than those with high level of maternal care. [Conclusion] In conclusion, low maternal care brings intermittent and appropriate intensity of early life stress to puppies, which makes them show better adaptability and greater boldness when facing new environmental stimulation. There is a new suggestion that breeding dogs with low levels of maternal care have a better influence on the boldness development of offspring. However, how to define the level of maternal care to ensure the physically healthy development of puppies while providing moderate early stress to promote the development of puppies’ boldness still needs more research.

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白静,赵雪榕,宋梦煜,郭怡君,周子娟,王靖宇.2024.拉布拉多犬的母性行为水平对幼犬胆量的影响.动物学杂志,59(2):199-209.

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  • 收稿日期:2022-12-08
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  • 在线发布日期: 2024-04-19
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