Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM)

In the Acoustic startle the dog was walked in a leash by the puppy raiser. Accompanied by the test assistant they walked towards the stimulus consisting of metal buckets or metal chains (depending on the location of the test site) that were dropped or dragged on the floor approximately 2 m from the dog. When the stimulus appeared the puppy raiser was told to let go of the leash and stand still. The dog was not encouraged in any way and therefore acted independently. If the dog did not approach the stimulus by itself after some time, the puppy raiser and the test assistant went halfway towards the stimulus. They did not encourage the dog but were just standing still facing the stimulus. If the dog still had not approached the stimulus, the puppy raiser and test assistant sat down on each side of the stimulus and called for the dog. When the dog had made contact with the stimulus the puppy raiser took the leash and together with the dog walked by the stimulus several times until the dog did not consider the stimulus any more. The test leader decided when it was time to stop.