To determine whether participation in dog agility has an impact on canine arousal and welfare, this study aimed firstly to identify the effect of the competition context on arousal changes experienced by dogs, as distinct from purely physical participation in agility, and secondly to assess the handlers’ ability to recognize this. Behaviors indicative of changes in arousal were recorded for twenty dogs immediately before completion of both a competition and a training run, whilst the accuracy of handlers’ observations of their dogs’ behavior was examined via questionnaire. Whilst a moderate number of behaviors presented with greater frequency or duration in competition, the total number of different arousal behaviors performed was higher for dogs in competition (p < 0.01). Context had a relatively modest effect on the level of arousal of agility dogs, with a greater number of behaviors indicating increased arousal in competition. Such increased arousal may adversely influence the success of dog-handler partnerships in competition. In both contexts, handlers observed fewer behaviors than their dogs performed and this finding may have implications for dog welfare.

为了确定参加犬敏捷性是否对犬的唤醒和福利有影响，本研究首先旨在确定竞争环境对犬经历的唤醒变化的影响，这与纯粹物理参与敏捷性不同，其次是评估处理人员认识到这一点的能力。在比赛和训练结束之前，立即记录了二十只狗的觉醒变化行为，同时通过问卷调查了操作员观察其狗行为的准确性。尽管有中等数量的行为在比赛中表现出更高的频率或持续时间，但在比赛中，狗表现出的不同唤醒行为的总数更高（p <0.01）。情境对敏捷犬唤醒的影响相对较小，更多的行为表明竞争中唤醒的增加。这种增加的唤醒可能会不利地影响犬只/犬只伙伴关系在竞争中的成功。在这两种情况下，操作人员观察到的行为均少于其狗的行为，这一发现可能对狗的福利产生影响。