phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at o:4486 DOI 10.3390/ani15131896 Balancing Objectivity and Welfare: Physiological and Behavioural Responses of Guide Dogs During an Independent Certification Protocol Guide dogs are essential in supporting the autonomy of blind and visually impaired individuals. Austria is the first country to implement a legally mandated, two-stage certification protocol for the official recognition of guide dogs, assessed by an independent authority. The first stage includes two evaluation phases: the dog guides its familiar trainer (Phase 1) and then an unfamiliar blind tester (Phase 2). While Phase 2 ensures an objective assessment of guiding performance, it may also introduce stress due to the unfamiliar handler and separation from the trainer that could impact welfare and behaviour. This study aimed to evaluate whether Phase 2 of the Austrian evaluation protocol elicits higher stress than Phase 1 in guide dogs and, hence, needs to be refined in this regard by comparing physiological and behavioural responses between the two test phases. Fourteen guide dogs were assessed during real evaluations. Salivary cortisol was collected before the evaluation day and at several time points on the evaluation day (before and after each phase). Behavioural responses were coded from video recordings of the first 5 and 15 min of each phase, including stress-related behaviours, task-related performance behaviours, and handler behaviours. Cortisol levels did not differ significantly between the phases. Dogs turned around significantly more often in Phase 2, potentially seeking reassurance, but showed a non-significant trend toward fewer stress-related behaviours. Verbal praise occurred more frequently with the unfamiliar tester. These findings suggest that the current evaluation protocol does not induce substantial physiological or behavioural stress when dogs are guided by an unfamiliar tester, supporting its continued use as a welfare-conscious and objective certification approach that could also potentially serve as a model for other countries. eng Guide Dogs Working Dogs Independent Evaluation Stress Assessment Salivary Cortisol Behaviour Analysis Task Performance Certification Protocols Dog Welfare Blind Handlers 2025-11-03T13:37:13.893Z LOMv1.0 Author BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Faerber-Morak;Viola; FN:Viola Faerber-Morak END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Glenk;Lisa-Maria; FN:Lisa-Maria Glenk END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Weissenbacher;Karl; FN:Karl Weissenbacher X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9199-0170 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Bremhorst;Annika; FN:Annika Bremhorst END:VCARD https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/scheme https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/text Textdokument Text LOMv1.0 yes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 application/pdf 452991 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:4486 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/api/object/o:4486/thumbnail LOMv1.0 discipline