Evaluación de problemas de conducta pospandemia en dos poblaciones de perros mediante el test C-BARQ en dos veterinarias en el cantón Samborondón.

Abstract

During the year 2020, Ecuadorians lived in a period of stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that forced them to go on lockdown. This scenario did not only affect humans, but puppies born during that period as well, since they grew up with little or no external stimulus and only knew their family. The first weeks of life of a puppy are crucial as they developed skills for an adequate socialization, thus a bad adaptation during this period can trigger behavior problems in the future (aggression, fear, anxiety, among others.). In the following investigation behavioral problems of two populations of dogs were assessed, one that had its socialization period during the pandemic and the other before 2020, the context in which the “pandemic puppies” grew up and the perceived emotional closeness were also evaluated. There were 111 dogs assessed using the questionnaire C-BARQ, through statistics the validity and reliability of the instruments were confirmed using the Content Validity Ratio and Cronbach’s Alpha. Chi-square test was also applied to relate the behavioral problems in both populations. Results showed that the puppies that lived their socialization period during the pandemic presented a higher rate of the following behaviors: dog-directed aggression, dog-directed fear, attachment and attention-seeking, chasing, and separation-related behavior. Nevertheless, no relationship was found between perceived emotional closeness and the two populations. In conclusion, puppies born during lockdown are more prone to developed behavioral problems.