A clinical trial on dogs with behavioural disorders such as obsessive-compulsive behaviour , anxiety, phobias and aggression. Dogs were treated with Laser acupuncture (MLS)at specific points over several sessions. Results showed some improvement or disappearance of clinical symptoms in 9 out of 10 dogs. However it's worth noting that this case was a clinical case series and not a randomised controlled trial (K, 2019).
Another study on the effectiveness of integrated medical treatment for thunderstorms on 23 dogs was conducted .Treatment included an integrative protocol where behaviour modification, medicine and acupuncture was used. Results showed a 77% behavioural improvement , suggesting acupuncture did help to reduce fear / aversion behaviours. Again randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these findings (McDowell and Shiau, 2022).
Other studies including assessing the efficacy of acupuncture as the sole analgesic for canine chronic pain showed that gold bead implantation a form of permanent acupuncture on pain associated with canine hip dysplasia. Three studies concluded that overall, acupuncture was not efficacious regarding pain reduction or dysfunction improvement compared with placebo treatment (Gong and Thompson, 2024)
Ferro et al (2022) conducted a randomized, blinded clinical trial in dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy. Acupuncture given post operatively produced similar pain outcomes to pre-operative acupuncture and were comparable to using meloxicam in managing post operative pain measure. Acupuncture showed potential as an analgesic alternative.
36 dogs were used in the study and divided into three groups GA (Preemptive acupuncture) GPA (Postoperative acupuncture) and GM (Meloxicam 0.2mg/kg IV preoperatively acupuncture)
Conclusion
Post operative acupuncture was as effective as preoperative acupuncture or meloxicam in female dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy
Further studies including Evaluation of acupuncture for the treatment of pain associated with naturally- occurring osteoarthritis in dogs : a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled blinded clinical trial
The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture on lameness and clinical function in dogs affected by naturally occurring Osteoarthritis.
32 dogs were used in the prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded clinical trial. The dogs were given either a placebo or acupuncture treatment once per week for four weeks in random order, this included a two week wash out period in between treatment phases.
Outcome measures included ground reaction forces (GRF), subjective orthopedic scoring (SOS) activity counts (AC) along with owner completed clinical metrology instruments (CMI).
Evidence of differences between baseline versus acupuncture and placebo treatments was not identified for the measures GRF,AC and SOS.Evidence of differenced was identified for some of the CMI score.
Conclusion- the applied acupuncture protocol did not show improvement in function when using objective outcome measures for osteoarthritis in dogs , however certain CMI Measurements recorded some degree of treatment response (Baker-Meuten et al.,2020)
Another study ‘Effectiveness of electroacupuncture analgesia compared with opioid administration in a dog model : a pilot study.
Opioid analgesics are often used to treat post surgical pain, acupuncture has been demonstrated to relieve pain syndromes.
Conclusion: Results showed some evidence for electroacupuncture as an alternative technique to provide postoperative analgesia in dogs.
Aggression
Other studies have been conducted on the use of acupuncture for aggression , studies indicate that aggression did in fact reduce aggression , it'd believed the treatment promoted calmness and helped regulate the nervous system. However studies varied depending the severity of the aggression
Some studies were also very small sample sizes and possibly bias by owners perception. (Mulloch 2011).
Mulloch (2011) also conducted studies on the effects of acupuncture in the treatment for separation anxiety, again there was a reduction in vocal behaviour and destruction , however did note that it may not resolve separation anxiety completely, it may help in conduction with other treatment and training programms.
Current research indicates that acupuncture can help regulate the nervous system, help reduce anxiety and reduce aggressive behaviours. Studies indicate that is does promote relaxation and help with stress responses. It may be better suited when combined with other methods of training
Further studies on larger samples of dogs are also needed to have more accurate results.
