Contribution to the control of the locomotor activity of the dog.
A measuring arrangement was developed for the quantitative determination of the locomotor activity in the dog. The activity is controlled by installing light barriers in the dog kennel. The light-barrier interruptions are counted at given intervals via an electronic system described in this study and the counts are printed by a printer. This allows an automatic control of the locomotor activity continuously even over long periods. The measuring arrangement was tested for its practicability. The locomotion-increasing effect of amphetamine and the locomotion-inhibitory effect of haloperidol were demonstrated in beagles, and dose-dependent differences could be measured quantitatively. The comparison between the control groups of the two investigations, and the values measured prior to treatment, show good reproducibility of the results.