Showing posts with label study on dog owner attachment and dog behavior. Show all posts
Showing posts with label study on dog owner attachment and dog behavior. Show all posts
Saturday, September 6, 2014

How Attached Are Your To Your Dog?

A Study conducted with coordination between Canisius College, University of Chicago, and University of Pennsylvania, questioned 60 dog owning families, with both parents and children. The purpose of the study was to look at the human-animal attachment.  The participants were asked not only about how attached they felt to their dog, but also their level of responsibility for the pet (feeding, walking, and general care) plus how they rated their pet's behaviors (trainability, aggression, stranger fear, separation problems and attention seeking actions).

What the study found:
  • Perhaps not surprising, those that had the most positive feelings and had the highest level of attachment, were also the ones that provided the most care taking responsibility  for the dog. 
  • They also found that the more well-behaved and social the pet, regardless of gender and age, the owners had more positive feelings. 
  • Adults also tended to feel more attachment to dogs that demonstrated attention-seeking behavior.  This was not true with children that maintain a high level of attachment regardless.
  • The study did not find any difference between male and female owners and their attachment to their dogs
Based of the study "Man's best friend: What does 'Fido's behavior say about the relationship between you and your dog?"  published June 6, 2014 in ScienceDaily.