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Animal. --- Animals. --- Enrichment. --- Environmental enrichment. --- Number of animals. --- Variation.

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The provision of a socialisation and training programme for dogs can lead to an improvement in the quality of the data that are produced from scientific procedures, and also to an improvement in animal welfare. A reduction in the number of animals needed to produce statistically significant data can result from decreasing the variability of the experimental data. The effects of a dog's behaviour can be a major source of random variability. A well socialised, habituated and trained dog should be calm during experimental procedures and, for example, during an ECG measurement, thus providing good quality data. A fearful, poorly socialised dog may also appear to be well-behaved on an examination table, and during an ECG measurement, because of the freezing response. However, there is likely to be a difference in the level of stress that these two individuals experience during the procedures. The stress response can have an impact on vital physiological parameters, such as heart rate. The variability in these parameters and the behaviour exhibited within a group of socialised, habituated and trained dogs that have been well prepared for experimental procedures, should be less than the variability present within a similar group of dogs that have not been prepared for these procedures. This paper describes two socialisation programmes, which were designed in order to compare the heart rates and behaviour of dogs which had received different degrees of socialisation, habituation and training. The behaviour of small groups of dogs from this study was compared with that of dogs on a standard socialisation programme, by using a simple, reproducible behavioural score scheme. The heart rate of the dogs was also measured. The results showed that there was little difference in heart rate between the groups, but that there were significant differences in the scores for key behaviours. There was evidence of a decrease in the variability of the behavioural scores for the groups of

Animal welfare. --- Animal-welfare. --- Animal. --- Animals. --- Behaviour. --- Dog. --- Dogs. --- Ecg. --- Experience. --- Group. --- Habituation. --- Heart rate. --- Heart-rate. --- Level. --- Number of animals. --- Paper. --- Parameters. --- Periods. --- Physiological. --- Provision. --- Quality. --- Reduction. --- Response. --- Socialisation. --- Stress response. --- Stress-response. --- Stress. --- Training. --- Variability. --- Welfare.

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Environmental enrichment strategies are usually regarded as refinement. However, when the welfare of animals is enhanced through successful enrichment programmes, a reduction in the number of animals needed can be expected, because fewer animals might be lost during the course of experiments. Several examples of studies where enrichment can lead to reduction will be presented. They include the beneficial effects of nesting material for laboratory mice, the effects of husbandry procedures on controlling aggressive behaviour in male laboratory mice, and the effects of enrichment on variation in the results of experiments

Aggressive-behavior. --- Aggressive. --- Animal. --- Animals. --- Behaviour. --- Enrichment. --- Environmental enrichment. --- Experiment. --- Experiments. --- Husbandry. --- Laboratory mice. --- Laboratory. --- Male laboratory mice. --- Male. --- Mice. --- Modulation. --- Nesting material. --- Number of animals. --- Preferences. --- Reduction. --- Refinement. --- Strategies. --- Strategy. --- Time. --- Variation. --- Welfare.

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Enhancing the complexity of the environments of captive animals is often referred to as environmental enrichment and aims to have positive effects on the animals' well-being. Such enrichments may have consequences both for so-called 'normal' behaviour and for the pathophysiology of the animals in question. The effects of a lack of environmental complexity, including social isolation, on home cage behaviour and on pathophysiology in rats is considered in this review. Several preference tests on rats - choice tests and operant tests - indicate a preference for bedding, nesting material and social contact. Contradictory research results concerning the need for gnawing objects per se are more difficult to interpret and it is argued that excessive gnawing may be indicative of primary frustration and hence reduced welfare. One disadvantage of providing environmental enrichment to laboratory animals is a possible increase in subject variability, resulting in the need to use a greater number of test animals. However, this increased variability seems to be inconsistent and is not very well documented It is argued that in cases where the behavioural benefits of environmental enrichment justify the use of more animals, better welfare should be more highly valued than a reduction in the number of animals used

Animal welfare. --- Animal-welfare. --- Animal. --- Animals. --- Assessment. --- Bank voles. --- Bedding. --- Behaviour. --- Cage enrichment. --- Cage. --- Choice test. --- Choice. --- Consequences. --- Contact. --- Demand-functions. --- Enrichment. --- Environment. --- Environmental complexity. --- Environmental enrichment. --- Environments. --- Frustration. --- Housing conditions. --- Housing. --- Increase. --- Increased variability. --- Isolation. --- Laboratory animals. --- Laboratory-animals. --- Laboratory. --- Mice. --- Need. --- Nest-boxes. --- Nesting material. --- Number of animals. --- Object. --- Objects. --- Old. --- Operant. --- Pathophysiology. --- Preference test. --- Preference tests. --- Preference. --- Rat. --- Rats. --- Reduction. --- Research. --- Review. --- Risk assessment. --- Risk. --- Rodent. --- Rodents. --- Social contact. --- Social isolation. --- Social-isolation. --- Social. --- Test. --- Tests. --- Time. --- Variability. --- Welfare implications. --- Welfare. --- Well-being. --- Wistar rats.