Are hot-spring baths as relaxing for dogs as they are for humans? A research team from a professional training college in Okayama City is looking into the matter.
Dogs unaccustomed to bathing in hot springs do exhibit signs of stress, but appear to relax again as they become more familiar with the activity.
Okayama University of Science Specialized Training College, a vocational training school for animal health technicians, conducted the study at Yubara hot spring in the city of Maniwa, Okayama Prefecture, from May 2010 to October 2011 with help from the Maniwa City government and an association of inns and hotels in the former Yubaracho area, now in Maniwa. The group intends to study better ways for dogs to bathe in hot springs. (Yomiuri)
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