Background: There is empirical evidence that the presence of a companion animal can have a positive impact on performance. The available evidence can be viewed in terms of differing hypotheses that attempt to explain the mechanisms behind the positive effects. Little attention has been given to motivation as a potential mode of action with regards to human-animal interactions. First we give an overview of evidence that animals might promote motivation. Second we present a study to examine the effect of a therapy dog on exercise performance in children with obesity.Methods: Twelve children, aged 8–12 years old, were randomly assigned to two groups in a crossover design: dog-group and human confederate group. Several types of physical activities via accelerometer and subjective ratings of wellbeing, satisfaction, and motivation were assessed. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance for repeated measures on one factor.Results: The main effect of condition was significant for all performance variables. There was less passive behavior and more physical activity for all performance variables in the presence of the dog than in that of the human confederate. Between dog- and human- condition there was no difference in the subjective rating of motivation, wellbeing, or satisfaction.Discussion: The results demonstrate that the presence of a therapy dog has the potential to increase physical activity in obese children. Task performance as a declarative measure was increased by the presence of the dog in comparison to a human confederate, but self-report measures of motivation, satisfaction or wellbeing did not differ between the two conditions. Therefore, it stands to reason that a dog could trigger implicit motives which enhance motivation for activity. The results of our study indicate the potentially beneficial effect of incorporating dogs into outpatient training for obese children.

Previous research has suggested that owners’ attitude to their family dogs may contribute to a variety of behaviour problems in the dog, and authors assume that dogs with separation-related disorder (SRD) attach differently to the owner than typical dogs do. Our previous research suggested that these dogs may have an insecure attachment style. In the present study we have investigated whether owners’ attachment style, personality traits and the personality of the dog influence the occurrence of SRD in the dog. In an internet-based survey 1508 (1185 German and 323 Hungarian) dog-owners filled in five questionnaires: Demographic questions, Separation Behaviour Questionnaire (to determine SRD), Human and Dog Big Five Inventory and Adult Attachment Scale. We found that with owners’ higher score on attachment avoidance the occurrence of SRD in the dog increases. Dogs scoring higher on the neuroticism scale were more prone to develop SRD. Our results suggest that owners’ attachment avoidance may facilitate the development of SRD in dogs. We assume that avoidant owners are less responsive to the dog’s needs and do not provide a secure base for the dog when needed. As a result dogs form an insecure attachment and may develop SRD. However, there may be alternative explanations of our findings that we also discuss.

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