Style over substance: what can parenting styles tell us about ownership styles and obesity in companion animals?

German, Alexander J.

doi:10.1017/s0007114514002335

Cited by 36 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…making high demands on their children whilst showing little responsiveness to their opinions or wishes) are more likely to be overweight that those who show other styles ( 14 , 15 ) . There are many parallels between how parents care for children and how owners care for their dogs, and a recent review considered how pet ownership styles could be mapped to parenting styles ( 16 ) . If dog-ownership styles exist that are similar to the indulgent and authoritarian parent styles, then similar predispositions might exist for canine obesity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overweight dogs are more likely to display undesirable behaviours: results of a large online survey of dog owners in the UK

et al. 2017

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Much of the global canine population is now overweight, and this can adversely affect health, lifespan and quality of life. Undesirable behaviours are also common in pet dogs, and these can adversely affect welfare, as well as being stressful to owners. However, links between obesity and behavioural disorders have never previously been explored. An online survey was conducted between June and August in 2014, coinciding with the broadcast of a National UK television programme, exploring dog health, welfare and behaviour. Information gathered included signalment, overweight status and the prevalence of a range of undesirable behaviours. Fisher's exact test and OR were used to determine associations between overweight status and owner-reported behaviours. A total of 17 028 responses were received. After data verification, the final dataset comprised 11 154 dogs, 1801 (16·1 %) of which were reported by owners to be overweight. Owners of overweight dogs were more likely to see them as ‘a baby’ (P < 0·0001) and allow them to sleep on their bed (P < 0·0001). Overweight dogs were also more likely to guard food (P < 0·0001) and steal food (P < 0·0001). Other undesirable behaviours more commonly reported in overweight dogs included barking, growling or snapping at strangers (P = 0·0011) and other dogs (P = 0·0015), being fearful of outdoors (P < 0·0001), and not always coming back when called (P = 0·0011). Finally, owners were more likely to report that unsociable behaviours adversely affected their dog's health (P < 0·0001). Overweight status is associated with a number of undesirable behaviours in dogs. Further studies are now required to explore the reasons for these associations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overweight dogs are more likely to display undesirable behaviours: results of a large online survey of dog owners in the UK

et al. 2017

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“…The use of the term was further extended into contexts involving humans and objects, places and non-human animals [28,29]. It was previously suggested that humans can form an attachment to their dogs [30] and that this relationship is comparable to the one between a parent and a child [31], as human behavior towards dogs and children tends to be similar [32,33]. The attachment between two individuals can be secure, defined by comfort with intimacy and trust, or insecure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dogs’ Sociability, Owners’ Neuroticism and Attachment Style to Pets as Predictors of Dog Aggression

Gobbo

Zupan

2020

Animals

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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 associated with owner-reported dog aggression towards humans and animals. Forty Slovenian owners participated with their dogs, of different breeds and aggression history, sorted into three groups (non-aggressive dogs, dogs aggressive towards humans, and dogs aggressive towards animals). The owners filled out three separate questionnaires that assessed dog aggression history towards different targets, owner’s personality and degree of insecure attachment styles to dogs; namely anxious and avoidant attachment. Dog personality was characterized using a standardized dog mentality assessment test, during which the dog was exposed to nine tasks, performed outside, and dogs were scored based on behaviors they exhibited. The results indicated that dogs which were aggressive towards humans were less sociable than non-aggressive dogs and this was associated with the higher neuroticism scores of their owners. We also found that dogs which were aggressive towards strangers had owners with lower scores for anxious attachment and that dogs which were aggressive towards owners had owners with higher scores for avoidant attachment. These results imply that the psychological profiles of both a dog and its owner influence dog aggression towards humans.

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“…At a behavioral level, humans tend to address and handle dogs and children in a similar way (Mitchell, 2001; Prato-Previde et al, 2006; German, 2015). Therefore, based on the attitudes of dog owners it can be assumed that the caretaking behavior of dog owners is similar to human parenting behavior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dog Owners' Interaction Styles: Their Components and Associations with Reactions of Pet Dogs to a Social Threat

et al. 2016

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The bond dogs develop with their owner received increased attention in the last years but no study aimed at characterizing the way in which owners interact with their dogs in their daily life and how this might influence dog behavior. In order to examine how dog owners interact with their dogs, we first analyzed the behavior of 220 dog owners in 8 different standardized situations involving the owner-dog dyad. We extracted 3 behavioral factors related to “Owner Warmth,” “Owner Social Support,” and “Owner Control.” Further, we investigated whether owner personality, gender and age are associated with these three factors. Results indicated that older owners scored lower in “Owner Warmth” and in “Owner Social Support” and higher in “Owner Control” than younger owners. Furthermore, owners scoring high in “Owner Control” scored lower in the personality trait Openness and owners scoring high in “Owner Social Support” scored lower in the personality trait Conscientiousness. Finally, we also analyzed whether the dogs' reaction to an unfamiliar woman's threatening approach was associated with the owners' interaction styles. Results showed that dogs that searched for proximity of their owners during the threatening situation had owners scoring higher in “Owner Warmth,” as compared to dogs that reacted more autonomously, approaching the unfamiliar experimenter. Analogies between dog-owner interaction styles and human parenting styles are discussed considering the implications of the present findings for human social psychology as well as the practical relevance for dog welfare and human safety.

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Style over substance: what can parenting styles tell us about ownership styles and obesity in companion animals?

Cited by 36 publications

References 63 publications

Overweight dogs are more likely to display undesirable behaviours: results of a large online survey of dog owners in the UK

Overweight dogs are more likely to display undesirable behaviours: results of a large online survey of dog owners in the UK

Dogs’ Sociability, Owners’ Neuroticism and Attachment Style to Pets as Predictors of Dog Aggression

Dog Owners' Interaction Styles: Their Components and Associations with Reactions of Pet Dogs to a Social Threat

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