53 Results Found

Since several modified Strange Situation Procedures (SSP) have been used to investigate dog-to-owner attachment, in this study two different samples of dog-owner dyads underwent two modified versions of the SSP. Dogs’ attachment style to the ow...

Cohabiting family dogs form hierarchies, and there are rank-related differences in certain behaviours even in noncompetitive situations. For companion dogs, the main limited resource could be the owner, but this assumption needs further behavioural t...

To date, the Strange Situation Procedure is the only tool available to investigate the quality of the dog’s attachment bond towards the owner. This study aimed to adapt a parent-report scale, named the Attachment Insecurity Screening Inventory...

A dog’s aggressive behavior is influenced by external and internal factors, including its psychological profile. In this study, dogs’ and owners’ personalities and the owners’ attachment style to their dogs were identified and...

The relationship between humans and their pets has long fascinated researchers, particularly in exploring how attachment varies according to the type of pet. Cats and dogs exhibit unique behavioral and social traits that influence the dynamics of hum...

Numerous scales have been developed to assess pet–owner relationship quality. One commonly used measure is the Monash Dog Owner Relationship Scale (MDORS) and its various derivatives. Since this scale was published in 2006, many social changes...

Attachment theory posits that patterns of interaction derived from the attachment system provide a starting point for understanding how people both receive and provide care. Extending this theory to human-animal interactions provides insights into ho...

This study underscores how perceived social support, loneliness, and mental well-being shape the emotional bonds that Spanish cat and dog owners form with their pets. A total of 298 participants completed an online survey, including 109 cat owners (3...

Globally, most people now own a pet. Scales have been developed to understand the impact of pet ownership on people’s lives and to measure specific aspects of the owner–pet relationship. The Cat-/Dog-Owner Relationship Scale (C/DORS) is a...

Dogs increasingly function as relational beings, shaping their guardians’ emotional well-being and daily routines. Consequently, dog owner education has expanded beyond behaviour-focused training toward integrative approaches that address the e...

Attachment styles have been shown to affect quality of life. Growing interest in the value of companion animals highlights that owning a dog can also affect quality of life, yet little research has explored the role of the attachment bond in affectin...

Background: Companion animals may reduce depression and loneliness in socially isolated homebound older adults. However, whether owning a cat or dog is more beneficial in this population remains unknown. Materials and Methods: Pet attachment and the...

Affective neuroscience studies have demonstrated the impact of social interactions on sleep quality. In humans, trait-like social behaviors, such as attachment, are related to sleep brain activity patterns. Our aim was to investigate associations bet...

This study investigates the impact of empathy on the relationship between human–dog attachment and human quality of life. A survey involving 263 dog owners was conducted to gather data on attachment to dogs, empathy, and human quality of life i...

Important physiological, performance, and relationship differences have been reported between companion and working dogs. This study aimed to investigate how human attachment styles manifest towards dogs, depending on the dog’s role. Seeing Eye...

We evaluated the effect of the dog–owner relationship on dogs’ emotional reactivity, quantified with heart rate variability (HRV), behavioral changes, physical activity and dog owner interpretations. Twenty nine adult dogs encountered fiv...

Family dogs stand out with regard to their special (human-like) attachment behavior towards their owners. This dog–owner attachment bond, analogous to the human infant–mother relationship, has been extensively documented at the behavioral...

The Cat/Dog–Owner Relationship Scale (C/DORS) can be administered to both dog and cat owners. However, the scale as a whole has never been validated on a sample of dog owners. Furthermore, it has never been translated into Italian. The aim of this st...

Understanding the factors that result in people becoming dog owners is key to developing messaging around responsible acquisition and providing appropriate support for prospective owners to ensure a strong dog–owner bond and optimise dog welfare. Thi...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns provided an opportunity to assess what factors, including changes in an owner’s routine and time spent at home, were associated with changes in dog behaviour. We undertook a longitudinal survey over a per...

The aim of the study was to determine if and how emotional attachment to their animal of older-aged (45+) horseback riders affects their physical, psychological and social wellbeing in comparison to dog owners. Overall, 124 individuals 45+ years answ...

It is unclear how pet ownership is related to mental health, with some previous research suggesting pet owners have better mental health, while other research suggests they have worse mental health. Some researchers have suggested that it may be more...

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed people’s lives and increased their vulnerability to physical and mental health hazards. While Korea has avoided nationwide lockdown measures since the COVID-19 outbreak, the prolonged restrictions and social is...

The reported positive outcomes of animal-assisted services have led to an emerging interest in many different aspects of human–animal interactions. The influence of an assistance animal is thought to encompass several psychosocial domains in th...

Veterinary care can be a source of stress for domestic dogs and their owners. If a dog owner is not satisfied with the veterinary experience, this may reduce the frequency of veterinary visits and negatively impact a dog’s health and welfare. A...

Pets, generally, and dogs have become an essential part of families. This situation implies that people consider their dogs when planning family holidays, excluding moving to a second home. This study aims to investigate the perceptions of dog owners...

Individuals working in high-risk occupations (e.g., emergency staff) are exposed to high levels of occupational stress including traumatic events. Correspondingly, several studies report high rates of mental health problems among these occupations. P...

Stay-at-home regulations in response to COVID-19 have put humans at increased risk of loneliness. Some studies support dog ownership as a protection against loneliness, while other studies have suggested the lockdowns can be used to reflect upon the...

Dyadic co-construction, the mutual adaptation that occurs between dogs and their owners, is often discussed in terms of cooperation and participation, yet it remains poorly defined and under-conceptualized in the literature. This review proposed that...

Gazing toward humans is fundamental in dog–human communication. This study aimed to characterize companion dogs based on their gazing behavior and to explore the potential links between gazing, personality (liveliness, confidence, aggressivenes...

Background: The annual rabies vaccination coverage in dogs among 47 prefectures in Japan has been reported to range from 42.3% to 92.4%, and the overall coverage has been steadily declining. Given the presence of unregistered dogs and the small numbe...

This research was aimed at evaluating the impact of canine chronic enteropathies on dogs’ quality of life (QoL), their behavior, and owner–dog relationship. Forty-four dogs suffering from primary chronic enteropathies were assessed on the first visit...

Introduction: While pet ownership (PO) is generally associated with better psychological health, research does not consistently demonstrate this relationship among community living older adults. Pet attachment has been suggested as a mechanism for th...

Assumptions about dogs’ personality are influenced by their appearance, which may lead to differences in ownership styles and subsequent canine welfare. The influence of canine appearance on observers’ emotion attributions to dogs remains...

Scholars have argued that social evaluation, the capacity to evaluate different potential social partners, is an important capacity not just for humans but for all cooperative species. Recent work has explored whether domesticated dogs share a human-...

Oxytocin (OT) is involved in multiple social bonds, from attachment between parents and offspring to “friendships”. Dogs are an interesting species in which to investigate the link between the oxytocinergic system and social bonds since t...

The pandemic associated with the emergence of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is an unprecedented historical event with the potential to significantly impact adolescent loneliness. This study aimed to explore the role of companion animals and attach...

The quality of the attachment bond towards the caregiver may affect the dog’s physiological responses to stressful stimuli. This study aimed to measure chronic and acute physiological parameters of stress in ten securely and ten insecurely atta...

As crossbred dogs gain in popularity, how they express inherited behaviour traits in comparison to their purebred constituent breeds is of interest. We investigated behaviours exhibited by crossbred dogs by focusing on the popular Goldendoodle and La...

Connectedness to nature and nature contact can provide many benefits to humans, like stress reduction, recovery from illness, and increased positive emotions. Likewise, recreational horseback riding is a widespread sports activity with the potential...

Dog parents have a strong attachment to their pets and treat them as children. Similarly to the guilt experienced by the parents of human children, dog parents feel guilty when they have to travel or work long hours and leave their dogs at home alone...

People often develop strong emotional connections with their dogs and consider them to be members of the family. The purpose of this study was to develop a novel validated tool, the Mourning Dog Questionnaire, to recognise and evaluate the mourning p...

The aim of this study is to develop an Italian translation of the 100-item Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ) version and to validate its psychometric properties, in order to facilitate systematic, large-scale studies on...

Companion animal-directed speech (CADS) has previously been investigated in comparison to infant-directed speech and adult-directed speech. To investigate the influence of owner caregiving, attachment pattern, and personality on CADS, we used the Ain...

GeroFit is a gym-based exercise program that promotes health and wellness among older sedentary veterans. The aims of the current study were to determine whether providing a companion dog as an alternative to gym-based exercise would similarly affect...

The attention bias test is an established cognitive method used to evaluate emotional states in farm animals by examining their response to a stimulus under varying emotional conditions. This study adapted this test for dogs, utilizing naturally indu...

The COVID-19 pandemic caused lifestyle changes, with unknown effect on pets’ quality of life (QoL). Between May and July 2020, we distributed an online survey to investigate the role of several factors on feline and canine QoL, including lockdown-rel...

Neurobehavioral comorbidities in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy (IE) are increasingly recognized, yet their phenotypic variability and clinical implications remain poorly understood. This study aimed to identify behavioral changes following seizure on...

As with humans, dogs can suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder-like (ADHD-like) behaviors naturally and exhibit high levels of hyperactivity/impulsivity and attention deficit problems, making the domestic dog a potential animal model f...

Research into the impact of companion animals on well-being has been both extensive and inconclusive, with studies finding both positive and negative relationships. The present research explored three previously unexamined relationship science concep...