THE CHARACTERISTICS OF PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL FEATURES AND WORKING QUALITIES OF SERVICE DOGS WITH DIFFERENT SENSITIVITY TO STRESS
For cynological service, the selection of service dogs that are adapted for training and use in difficult conditions, having increased capabilities and high stress resistance is an urgent issue. The research goal is to study the psychophysiological features and working qualities of service dogs with different stress sensitivity. The studies were conducted at the Cynological Service Center of the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Kurgan Region; German shepherds of the age of 1.5-6 years were studied. Three groups of dogs with known stress sensitivity were formed: stress-susceptible, stress questionable, and stress-resistant; there were six dogs in each group. Stress sensitivity was determined by A.I. Kuznetsov and T.A. Vasilyeva method. The method is based on the principle of local adaptation syndrome (LAS). To determine the psychophysiological features, the method of dog behavior rating for cynological service was used. After evaluating the psychophysiological features of the dogs, their working features were evaluated according to the degree of mastering various courses of training and skills. To evaluate the working qualities, the normative documents on the organization of cynological service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation were used. It has been found that the animals with a low level of stress sensitivity have high psychophysiological features which determine high working qualities. The dogs with medium (questionable) stress sensitivity have the properties by 21.4% lower than those of the stress-resistant dogs; that determines their unsatisfactory working qualities. The dogs with high stress sensitivity have the lowest psychophysiological properties which are by 35.4% lower than those of stress-resistant dogs and by 21.6% lower than those of dogs with a medium (questionable) stress sensitivity. Such properties determine low working qualities in the general course of training and unsatisfactory ones in special training.