These are some results of our field study about the walks of our dogs. It explains how some behaviours can affect the dog's pulse and reveal some observations we came across during this study.
The study compared walks on a 1.5m leash, a 5m leash and an unleashed walk. The dog's pulse was recorded during all the sessions.
This involves placing our hand (palm facing our dog) between our dog and the object or source of the disturbance. Since our dogs communicate mainly with body language, they learn anything visual very easily. This signal is easy to do and possible to do as often is needed in most situations.
We observed that the hand signal has a dog physiological impact on the dog. It permits the pulse to stan-by or decrease in case of a threatning situation because the hand signal is a neutral, universal language and non invasive gesture you can do towards the dog in different situations.
The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems play an important role in the functioning of the heart rate. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for activating the 'fight or flight' state and increases the heart rate by releasing neurotransmitters such as adrenaline and noradrenaline. This allows the heart to beat faster to provide more oxygen to the muscles and brain during a stressful situation.