INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF SHELTER STAY ON THE GUT MICROBIOME OF DOGS

Abstract

The canine gut microbiome has been shown to have a significant impact on dogs' health, behavior, and overall well-being. This is particularly interesting in an animal shelter environment as the dogs are often under severe stress and many show signs of anxiety or aggression. Having healthy gut microbiomes in shelter dogs could lead to dogs that are more easily and quickly able to be adopted reducing the overpopulation in shelters nationwide. This study aimed to determine whether there was a difference in canine gut microbiomes when comparing dogs with and without behavioral concerns. Additionally, it sought to determine if there was a difference in the gut microbiomes of dogs who were new intakes to a local shelter compared to those who had resided in the shelter for 60-90 days continuously. This was studied by collecting fecal samples from 74 dogs in a local animal shelter, Pima Animal Care Center, and extracting the DNA from the samples. The V4-V5 region of the 16S rRNA gene was amplified, sequenced, and analyzed using QIIME2 software. The results found no significant differences in alpha and beta diversity in the comparison of both behavior and duration of shelter stay. However, there were some interesting findings in the taxonomy of the bacteria in the samples which could help with further studies to determine methods to heal canine gut microbiomes in shelter dogs.