Effects of caregiver-implemented aggression reduction procedure on problem behavior of dogs

Strengthening the procedural fidelity research-to-practice loop in animal behavior

Procedural fidelity is the extent to which components of an intervention are implemented as designed. Procedural fidelity is measured as a dependent variable and manipulated as an independent variable. In research and practice, procedural-fidelity data should be collected, monitored, and reported. Procedural fidelity as an independent variable has been investigated in humans using parametric analyses, and the current article summarizes some of the research conducted on the effects of procedural-fidelity errors in behavior-reduction and skill-acquisition interventions. Connections were drawn to applied animal researchers and the work of animal behavior practitioners to produce implications for practice with human and animal clients and suggestions for future research. Further, there are multiple ways to measure procedural fidelity, and different conclusions can be drawn based on the measure and computation method. The current article describes procedural-fidelity measures that are most applicable to animal behavior researchers and professionals.

Using Principles from Applied Behaviour Analysis to Address an Undesired Behaviour: Functional Analysis and Treatment of Jumping Up in Companion Dogs

The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of procedures successfully used in human related applied behaviour analysis practices to the field of clinical animal behaviour. Experiment 1 involved functional analyses to identify the reinforcement contingencies maintaining jumping up behaviour in five dogs. Experiment 2 comprised teaching dog owners a noncontingent reinforcement intervention (i.e., time-based reinforcement) via behavioural skills training. Single-case experimental methods were implemented in both experiments. The results of Experiment 1 showed that access to a tangible (dogs D01, D02, D03, and D04) and owner attention (dog D05) were reliably maintaining the jumping up behaviour. Experiment 2 demonstrated that noncontingent reinforcement effectively reduced jumping in three out of four dogs (Tau -0.59, CI 90% [-1-0.15], p = 0.026, Tau -1, CI 90% [-1--0.55], p = 0.0003, and Tau -0.32, CI 90% [-0.76-0.11], p = 0.22 for dyads D01, D02, and D05, respectively), and that behavioural skills training was successful in teaching owners to perform a dog training intervention with high fidelity. Although the results are promising, more canine-related research into functional analysis and noncontingent reinforcement, as well as implementation of behavioural skills training with animal caregivers, is needed.

We Don't Train in Vain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Human and Canine Caregiver Training

The present review assessed the current knowledge regarding caregiver- training effectiveness for human and human-canine dyads. Most canine-related sources (66%; n = 19) were case studies reporting a decrease of learner undesired behavior when using oral instruction (21%; n = 6). Most human-related research used single-case designs (57%; n = 26) reporting an increase in desired learner behavior (22%; n = 10) when caregivers received multi-component training packages (17%, n = 8). The meta-analysis (n = 18) revealed that interventions had a large effect (Hedges' g = 0.88, 95%CI [0.68-1.07]), with packages yielding a slightly larger moderate effect (Hedges' g = 0.76, 95%CI [0.60-0.91]) than oral instruction alone (Hedges' g = 0.74, 95%CI [0.32-1,15]). Although the effectiveness of caregiver training is promising, the results should be interpreted cautiously. Due to the preponderance of case studies within canine literature and the insufficient reporting of data across sources, only few studies could be included in the meta-analysis. Overall, more systematic and comparative research regarding the efficacy of caregivers in behavior change programs across species is needed.