Emotional arousal impacts physical health in dogs: a review of factors influencing arousal, with exemplary case and framework
Open accessAbstract
Excessive emotional arousal has been shown to impact physiological health in both veterinary species and human animals. The focus of work in many models of veterinary behavioural medicine has predominantly been associated with reducing activation of the protective emotional systems; in particular, fear-anxiety. The management of the engaging emotional systems of desire-seeking, social play, care and lust has not traditionally been considered in the treatment of physiological health of veterinary species. This article reviews the literature in both veterinary and human fields on the relationship between emotional arousal of both protective and engaging emotional systems and physical health conditions. The current literature describing the regulatory control of sleep on emotional arousal is also discussed. An exemplary case report of a seven month old male entire Cocker Spaniel showing fly-snapping behaviour which had been non-responsive to leviteracetam (Keppra) is presented. The emotional health assessment and treatment of this case is described along with the short and long term (fourteen month follow up) outcomes to demonstrate that some patients presenting in this way can be effectively managed with an appropriate behavioural medicine treatment plan. The authors put forward the argument that an emotional health assessment should be considered an essential component of the work up of all such cases.
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During the walk dogs exhibited a temporary reduction in in-kennel behaviors typically reported to be associated with stress, frustration, and in-kennel excessive arousal as they transition to enhanced activity outside of the kennel.
“These results suggest that during the walk dogs exhibited a temporary reduction in in-kennel behaviors typically reported to be associated with stress, frustration, and in-kennel excessive arousal (11–14) as they transition to enhanced activity outside of the kennel.”
From Combined enrichment and pharmaceutical intervention reduces excessive arousal in shelter dogs in a randomized controlled trial (2026) · cites this paper as [14]
Section 7, “Exemplary Case” (page unavailable), links compulsive behaviors, including pacing, with frustration and excessive emotional arousal. It does not establish that these are in-kennel behaviors or that they temporarily decrease during walks; the reported reduction is the citing authors’ own result. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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- Authors
- Tooley, C., & Heath, S. E.
- Affiliations
- Behavioural Referrals Veterinary Practice, Chester CH2 1RE, UK
- Corresponding author
- Tooley, Carrie
- Venue
- Animals
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2023-01-28
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 465
- ISSN
- 2076-2615 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9913250
- OpenAlex
- W4318483648
- Cited by
- 11
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3
- FWCI
- 0.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Animals (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Veterinary Medicine and Surgery
- Keywords
- emotional arousal, dogs, physical health, sleep regulation, Cocker Spaniel
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