ABSTRACT The use of university-based Animal Visitation Programs (AVPs)—programs aimed at reducing student stress through human–animal interaction (HAI)—has increased. Implementation has expanded despite our limited understanding about program effects on student and animal wellbeing. Moreover, little is known about the nature of interactions between students and animals and how interaction quality might influence effects. The aim of this study was to identify and describe dog and student behaviors that inform the quality, type, and quantity of human–animal interaction during a university-based AVP. Over a period of three semesters, university students (n = 150) and therapy dogs (n = 27) were videorecorded during a 10-minute “meet-and-greet” activity conducted in small group settings. Based on coding 22.9 hours of 135 videos, comparisons of the frequency and duration of dog behavior (e.g., postural state, oral behavior) before and during interactions with students revealed an increase in the frequency of lip licking (Mbefore = 1.23, Mduring = 1.76, Z = –4.651, p < 0.001, r = 0.283) and yawning (Mbefore = 0.08, Mduring = 0.16, Z = –3.051, p = 0.002, r = 0.186) in dogs. Correlations between dog and student greeting behavior (e.g., posture, petting behavior) revealed a positive correlation between the frequency of lip licking and mutual greetings between students and dogs (r(133) = 0.283, p = 0.001). Results suggest dogs experience heightened arousal upon greeting and interacting with students. The absence of severe stress behaviors and continued presence of sustained social approach behaviors suggests that the dogs were not severely stressed during interactions. Implications for the implementation of AVPs are discussed.

中文翻译：

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在基于大学的动物探视计划的见面和问候活动中学生与狗的互动特征

摘要 以大学为基础的动物探视计划 (AVP)——旨在通过人与动物互动 (HAI) 减轻学生压力的计划——的使用有所增加。尽管我们对计划对学生和动物福祉的影响了解有限，但实施范围已扩大。此外，人们对学生与动物之间互动的性质以及互动质量如何影响效果知之甚少。本研究的目的是识别和描述狗和学生的行为，这些行为会在基于大学的 AVP 期间为人与动物互动的质量、类型和数量提供信息。在三个学期的时间里，大学生（n = 150）和治疗犬（n = 27）在小组环境中进行的 10 分钟“见面会”活动中进行了视频录制。基于编码 22.9 小时的 135 个视频，与学生互动之前和期间狗行为（例如，姿势状态、口头行为）的频率和持续时间的比较显示舔唇频率增加（Mbefore = 1.23，Mduring = 1.76，Z = –4.651，p < 0.001 , r = 0.283) 和狗打哈欠（Mbefore = 0.08, Mduring = 0.16, Z = –3.051, p = 0.002, r = 0.186）。狗和学生打招呼行为（例如，姿势、抚摸行为）之间的相关性揭示了舔唇频率与学生和狗之间相互打招呼的频率之间呈正相关（r（133）= 0.283，p = 0.001）。结果表明，狗在与学生打招呼和互动时会感到高度兴奋。没有严重的压力行为和持续的社交接近行为表明狗在互动过程中没有受到严重的压力。