Dog Stress Levels

       In an article I found on Yahoo, they conducted a study and researched dog stress levels in Japan. The dogs in the study were rescued from the earthquake in 2011 and other dogs not from the disaster that were abandoned.
       Dogs and humans are both obviously very stressed in disaster situations. Dogs that had lived through a disaster such as the earthquake that occurred in Japan were five to ten times more stressed than other dogs that were abandoned in Japan. Stress hormones found in the dogs urine are what gave researchers these findings.
       Fukushima dogs were ultimately found to be less aggressive to strangers than other dogs but they were also found to be less attached to the people who cared for them and training them was more difficult.
       Numbers for the research were very minimal and not extensive by any means which leaves many more variables and possibilities to not be presented. Age of the dogs may also be a factor in the study because the dogs from the disaster tended to be younger than the others who were rescued in 2009 and ’10. Age didn’t seem to have much effect though on abandonment. Stress was linked to less ability to retain and learn in all ages of dogs.
       I think this is an interesting area to research. I haven’t heard of people researching dog stress levels before in disaster and non-disaster areas. I am not exactly sure what this information will do for us because it seems sort of unsurprising to me that stress has a large impact on dog’s lives such as learning ability, attachment, and aggressiveness toward strangers or familiar handlers and caregivers. I suppose someone has to scientifically do it otherwise its unofficial.
       I hope that they can use the information though to create awareness about abandonment even though during the disasters people are sometimes forced to abandon pets.