If they could choose: How would dogs spend their days Activity patterns in four populations of domestic dogs.

@enAlthough free-roaming domestic dogs (FRDD) constitute the majority of the dog population worldwide, many aspects of their ecology across habitats are little known. Activity budgets by these dogs may also inform management decisions for domestic dogs in human hands. Here we collected data on the activity patterns of owned FRDD from Guatemala (n = 58) and Indonesia (n = 37), and of farm dogs (n = 11) and family dogs (n = 20) in Switzerland. The FRDD from the two countries and the Swiss farm dogs shared the similarity that although they had owners, they spent most or all of the day outside without confinement. Conversely, activity in family dogs is largely controlled by their owners. This cross-continental study thus allowed us to tease apart environmental effects on dogs' activity from effects due to different levels of control by humans. Dogs were collared with FitBark activity trackers, which measure 3D acceleration, for 2.4-7 days. Activity for each dog was defined as the sum of BarkPoints (a continuous activity metric recorded by the FitBark tracker), calculated for each hour in the 24-hour cycle. The proportion of time resting, in 'moderate' and 'high' activity (defined by fixed thresholds of BarkPoints) over 24 h was calculated for each dog. The activity patterns of all dogs that (partly) roam freely, i.e. owned FRDD in Guatemala and Indonesia and Swiss farm dogs, showed two peaks over 24 h during 5:00-7:00 h and, less pronounced, 16:00-19:00 h. Such a bimodal activity pattern, which is also observed in other canine species, could only be detected in 45% of the family dogs. Their activity is more dependent on the owners' daily routines and predominantly showed one high mid-day peak that often changes from day to day. Swiss dogs spent significantly more time resting and less time with 'moderate' activity than the owned FRDD. However, family dogs were significantly more often highly active than all other dog groups and compensated with longer resting periods. Activity decreased significantly with age, neutering and increased body condition score, whereas sex did not have any significant influence on activity. Within this study, similarities, but also differences of the activity pattern between owned FRDD and pet dogs could be revealed. Although overall activity levels of the pet dog sample fall in the range of those observed in the less controlled FRDD, it would be of interest to investigate the potential benefit of a more structured daily schedule on pet dogs in future studies.