Dogkeeping practices as reported by readers of an Australian dog enthusiast magazine

Masters, AM; McGreevy, Paul D.

doi:10.1111/j.1751-0813.2007.00248.x

Cited by 22 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…If smaller dogs are more likely to be kept indoors, these attributes may reflect the post-inhibitory rebound indoor dogs show when their owners return home or result from insufficient exercise emerging from an underestimation of the amount of off-lead exercise small dogs need [17]. Again, these possibilities could be tested.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dog Behavior Co-Varies with Height, Bodyweight and Skull Shape

et al. 2013

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Dogs offer unique opportunities to study correlations between morphology and behavior because skull shapes and body shape are so diverse among breeds. Several studies have shown relationships between canine cephalic index (CI: the ratio of skull width to skull length) and neural architecture. Data on the CI of adult, show-quality dogs (six males and six females) were sourced in Australia along with existing data on the breeds' height, bodyweight and related to data on 36 behavioral traits of companion dogs (n = 8,301) of various common breeds (n = 49) collected internationally using the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ). Stepwise backward elimination regressions revealed that, across the breeds, 33 behavioral traits all but one of which are undesirable in companion animals correlated with either height alone (n = 14), bodyweight alone (n = 5), CI alone (n = 3), bodyweight-and-skull shape combined (n = 2), height-and-skull shape combined (n = 3) or height-and-bodyweight combined (n = 6). For example, breed average height showed strongly significant inverse relationships (p<0.001) with mounting persons or objects, touch sensitivity, urination when left alone, dog-directed fear, separation-related problems, non-social fear, defecation when left alone, owner-directed aggression, begging for food, urine marking and attachment/attention-seeking, while bodyweight showed strongly significant inverse relationships (p<0.001) with excitability and being reported as hyperactive. Apart from trainability, all regression coefficients with height were negative indicating that, across the breeds, behavior becomes more problematic as height decreases. Allogrooming increased strongly (p<0.001) with CI and inversely with height. CI alone showed a strong significant positive relationship with self-grooming (p<0.001) but a negative relationship with chasing (p = 0.020). The current study demonstrates how aspects of CI (and therefore brain shape), bodyweight and height co-vary with behavior. The biological basis for, and significance of, these associations remain to be determined.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dog Behavior Co-Varies with Height, Bodyweight and Skull Shape

et al. 2013

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“…Owning multiple dogs has also been found to be a barrier to regular walking in some studies [ 20 , 32 ] but not in others [ 14 , 15 , 21 , 27 ]. Plausibly multiple dogs might be harder to manage on a walk or there may be less incentive as they have each other to play with.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with daily walking of dogs

2015

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BackgroundRegular physical activity is beneficial to the health of both people and animals. The role of regular exercise undertaken together, such as dog walking, is a public health interest of mutual benefit. Exploration of barriers and incentives to regular dog walking by owners is now required so that effective interventions to promote it can be designed. This study explored a well-characterised cross-sectional dataset of 276 dogs and owners from Cheshire, UK, for evidence of factors associated with the dog being walked once or more per day.ResultsFactors independently associated with daily walking included: number of dogs owned (multiple (vs. single) dogs negatively associated); size (medium and possibly large dogs (vs. small) positively associated); and number of people in the household (more people negatively associated). Furthermore, a number of factors related to the dog-owner relationship and the dog’s behaviour were associated with daily walking, including: having acquired the dog for a hobby (positively associated); dog lying on furniture (positively associated); dog lying on laps (negatively associated); growling at household members (negatively associated); and playing chase games with the dog (negatively associated).ConclusionsThese findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the strength and nature of the human-dog relationship incentivises dog walking, and that behavioural and demographic factors may affect dog walking via this mechanism. Future studies need to investigate how dog demographic and behavioural factors, plus owner behavioural factors and perceptions of the dog, influence the dog-human relationship in respect to the perceived support and motivation a dog can provide for walking.

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“…Domestic dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris ) are one of the most commonly kept animals in developed countries, so it is important to understand their basic needs. Failure to meet these needs can result in behavioural problems [ 1 ]. Dog behaviour, particularly aggressive, fearful and sociable behaviour, can differ between sexes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Weight gain and resultant lethargy are expected in many gonadectomised dogs [ 28 ] and owners should be counselled on how to prevent these outcomes [ 12 ]. Calorie-restriction may increase the perceived value of rations to gonadectomised dogs and lead to food-guarding [ 12 ], but associations between gonadectomy and food-related aggression have been challenged [ 1 ]. In contrast, male dogs have shown higher levels of separation-related distress (SRD) than females [ 1 , 29 ] and entire dogs have shown more SRD than castrated dogs [ 1 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioural risks in male dogs with minimal lifetime exposure to gonadal hormones may complicate population-control benefits of desexing

et al. 2018

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Castration of dogs is a widespread practise with clear justification in population control and knock-on benefits for animal welfare. Deleterious behavioural consequences of castration are believed to be negligible. Gonadectomy is widely recommended as part of a multi-factorial approach to prevent problems including aggression in dogs. However, the consequences of early castration on health are still being debated. The current study focused on the reported behaviour of 6,235 male dogs castrated before 520 weeks of life for reasons other than behavioural management, and calculated their percentage lifetime exposure to gonadal hormones (PLGH) as a proportion of their age at the time of being reported to the online Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ). Forty behaviors differed between entire and castrated dogs, of which 25 were associated with PLGH and 14 with age-at-castration (AAC). Only 2 behaviours, indoor urine marking and howling when left alone, were significantly more likely in dogs with longer PLGH. In contrast, longer PLGH was associated with significantly reduced reporting of 26 (mostly unwelcome) behaviours. Of these, 8 related to fearfulness and 7 to aggression. The current data suggest that dogs’ tendency to show numerous behaviours can be influenced by the timing of castration. They indicate how dog behaviour matures when gonadal hormones are allowed to have their effect. The differences reported here between undesirable behaviours of castrated and intact dogs were in the range of 5.04% and 12.31%, suggesting that, for some dogs, partial or complete denial of puberty may reduce indoor urine-marking but have many other undesirable consequences. Veterinarians may use these data to discuss unwelcome consequences with owners of male dogs before castration.

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Dogkeeping practices as reported by readers of an Australian dog enthusiast magazine

Cited by 22 publications

References 15 publications

Dog Behavior Co-Varies with Height, Bodyweight and Skull Shape

Dog Behavior Co-Varies with Height, Bodyweight and Skull Shape

Factors associated with daily walking of dogs

Behavioural risks in male dogs with minimal lifetime exposure to gonadal hormones may complicate population-control benefits of desexing

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