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. 2020 Feb 5;10(2):254.
doi: 10.3390/ani10020254.

Is there a Profile of Spontaneous Seizure-Alert Pet Dogs? A Survey of French People with Epilepsy

Amélie Catala  1   2 , Patrick Latour  3 , Hugo Cousillas  1 , Martine Hausberger  1 , Marine Grandgeorge  1
Affiliations

Is there a Profile of Spontaneous Seizure-Alert Pet Dogs? A Survey of French People with Epilepsy

Amélie Catala et al. Animals (Basel). .

Erratum in

Abstract

Despite controversies and the lack of research, dogs are empirically selected and trained to perform as service dogs, in relation to the dogs' and future owners' characteristics. We assessed the characteristics of both humans and dogs in an unbiased population (not selected or trained) of spontaneous seizure-alert by pet dogs and investigated whether we could replicate previous findings. We addressed a self-reporting questionnaire to French people with epilepsy. We analyzed the general characteristics of the humans and pet dogs and their behaviors that could alert their owner before a seizure. In addition, we used the Monash Canine Personality Questionnaire refined to evaluate pet dogs' personality through five different traits, and the Monash Dog-Owner Relationship scale to assess human-dog relationships. In line with previous reports, we found no particular factor, either pet-, people- or epilepsy-related that could be associated with the presence or absence of alert behaviors. Alert behaviors and circumstances were explored and three different alert patterns emerged. In terms of personality, seizure-alert pet dogs scored significantly higher than non-alerting dogs for the traits "Motivation" and "Training Focus" and lower for "Neuroticism". The owner-dog bond score was significantly higher for seizure-alert dogs than for non-alerting dogs.

Keywords: dog personality; epilepsy; human–dog relationship; seizure detection; seizure-alert dog; service-dog.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Dogs’ alerting behaviors (in percent).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Behavioral profile of seizure-alert dogs. Score differences between behavioral items for seizure-alert dogs were assessed with a Kruskall–Wallis test, *** < 0.0001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Personality dimensions: Representation of seizure-alert dogs (SAD) and non-alerting dogs (NAD) on the five dimensions of the Monash Canine Personality Questionnaire-Revised (MCPQ-R).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Dendrogram plot generated from the hierarchical cluster analysis of alert behaviors of the population study: Clusters distribution.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Behavioral profiles of seizure-alert pet dogs of (A) group 1 (B) group 2 and (C) group 3 obtained after a cluster analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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