Real-time non-invasive measurement of heart rate in working dogs: a technique with potential applications in the objective assessment of welfare problems.

The Polar Sport Tester (Polar Electro OY) is a telemetric heart rate monitor designed for use in humans. Its usefulness as a monitor during training of guide dogs is assessed in this paper. Heart rates from six representative dogs at a similar stage of early training were recorded at 5-s intervals during a 15-20 min work session. The dogs were F1 Labrador Retriever x Golden Retrievers. They were chosen if their behaviour could be clearly categorized by their experienced trainers as either 'calm/non-stress prone' (Type A) or 'excitable/stress prone' (Type B) during work. Verbal recordings were made of environmental cues and behavioural responses in each dog. Variability in heart rate was significantly related to a subject's described temperament.