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Current perspectives on attachment and bonding in the dog–human dyad

February 2015
Psychology Research and Behavior Management 8(default):71-9

DOI:10.2147/PRBM.S74972

Source
PubMed

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CC BY-NC 3.0

Authors:

Elyssa Payne

The University of Sydney

Pauleen C Bennett

La Trobe University

Paul McGreevy

University of New England (Australia)

This article reviews recent research concerning dog-human relationships and how attributes that arise from them can be measured. It highlights the influence of human characteristics on dog behavior, and consequently, the dog-human bond. Of particular importance are the influences of human attitudes and personality. These themes have received surprisingly little attention from researchers. Identifying human attributes that contribute to successful dog-human relationships could assist in the development of a behavioral template to ensure dyadic potential is optimized. Additionally, this article reveals how dyadic functionality and working performance may not necessarily be mutually inclusive. Potential underpinnings of various dog-human relationships and how these may influence dogs' perceptions of their handlers are also discussed. The article considers attachment bonds between humans and dogs, how these may potentially clash with or complement each other, and the effects of different bonds on the dog-human dyad as a whole. We review existing tools designed to measure the dog-human bond and offer potential refinements to improve their accuracy. Positive attitudes and affiliative interactions seem to contribute to the enhanced well-being of both species, as reflected in resultant physiological changes. Thus, promoting positive dog-human relationships would capitalize on these benefits, thereby improving animal welfare. Finally, this article proposes future research directions that may assist in disambiguating what constitutes successful bonding between dogs and the humans in their lives.

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A systematic analysis of the qualitative and quantitative evidence on the purpose of animal-assisted therapy in improving patients wellbeing

Preprint

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Aug 2023

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Preprint

Full-text available

Jul 2023

Background The human-animal bond has been recognized as having positive effects on the health and well-being of both humans and pets. The present study aims to explore the influence of attachment on physical activity (PA), lifestyle, and health outcomes of dog owners (DO), highlighting the mutual benefits resulting from the relationship between DO and dogs. Methods Thirty-eight DO and their dogs participated in this study. Socio-demographic data, the Subjective Perceptive Health Scale (SPHS), FANTASTIC lifestyle, and the Lexington Attachment Pet Scale (LAPS) were assessed. PA was measured in both the DO and the dogs, using an ActiGraph GT3X accelerometer in the context of daily routine. Descriptive statistics and Spearman rank correlation analyses were performed to examine the associations between LAPS, PA levels, variables socio-demographic, lifestyle behaviors, and SPHS. Results Significant correlations were found between the DO’s light-level PA and the pets' vigorous level of PA (rho = 0.45). Furthermore, the importance of the pets' health and the LAPS subscales, namely proximity and attachment, were related to taking the pet for a walk. Concerning lifestyle, DO with a healthier lifestyle have a better self-assessment of their health using the SHPS (rho = 0.39, p = 0.02). Moreover, DO with better lifestyles have also exhibited greater concern for their pet's health and had higher levels of PA. Conclusions This study underlines that individuals adopting healthier habits tend to perceive themselves as healthier and exhibit greater concern for their pets' health. The attachment between DO and dogs is important to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors and PA engagement. Our results highlight that the presence of a dog is associated with a higher level of DO’s PA, depending on the strength of the human-animal bond.

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Jul 2023

Introduction Dogs are increasingly being employed for conservation purposes worldwide. In Africa, they work in challenging environments with unique health risks which have not been investigated until now. Methods To understand the health challenges faced by the dogs, semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants from 14 organisations that used working dogs in their conservation programmes. The data was qualitatively analysed by thematic analysis. Results Five themes were generated. Three affective themes influenced how participants responded to the challenges associated with having a successful conservation dog programme. A strong handler-dog attachment, proficient handler training, and the acknowledgement of the challenging environment were pivotal to maintaining dog health. Two themes related to the difficulties in managing these programmes and how veterinary support interacts with the management choices being made. Discussion To have healthy conservation dogs, current and future programmes should focus on fostering the handler-dog relationship and provide continuous handler training. The management of conservation dogs’ health should adopt an evidence-based approach. Future research should focus on areas where the evidence base is lacking, particularly in the areas of prevention and treatment of African canine trypanosomiasis. Programmes should develop a good working relationship with a veterinarian that has access to evidence-based veterinary medical information.

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Jul 2023

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Sep 2023

As companion dogs spend most of their lives with humans, the human–dog relationship and owner temperament may affect the dog behavior. In this study (n = 440), we investigated the relationship between the dog owner temperament (ATQ-R), owner-perceived dog–owner relationship (MDORS) and the dog behavior in three behavioral tests: the object-choice test, the unsolvable task, and the cylinder test. Dog owner temperament influenced the dog–owner relationship. Owners with high negative affectivity showed higher emotional closeness and perceived costs of their dog, whereas owners with high effortful control showed lower emotional closeness and perceived costs. Higher dog activity during the behavioral tests was also connected with owner-perceived lower emotional closeness. Furthermore, dog breed group modulated the connection between the owner temperament and dog behavior. Owner’s high negative affectivity correlated with herding dogs’ lower scores in the object choice test, while the behavior of primitive type dogs was unaffected by the owner temperament. Our results confirm that human characteristics are associated with the owner-reported dog–owner relationship, and owner temperament may have a modulatory effect on the dog social and cognitive behavior depending on the dog breed group, which should be investigated further.

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Throughout history animals have been used to assist humans in work and play or simply to satisfy our curiosity. Several paintings from Ancient Egypt demonstrate that we have been charming, cajoling and exploiting animals for many thousands of years. One example depicts men hand-feeding hyenas that are shown lying on their backs, a feature that strongly suggests that they were tame. There is evidence from the same source that gazelles, ibex and oryx were equally relaxed in human company. In view of the enormous investment of time required for the gentling of non-domesticated species, it is fascinating to speculate about the jobs these animals performed in Ancient Egypt. Some of the uses to which animals have been put in the past may seem unacceptable by modern ethical standards. For example, the Romans tied songbirds to bushes in their gardens and even used animals to torture and execute their enemies. 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These excellent equestrians used their horses as sources of milk and meat when they were not exploiting their fleetness of foot for lightning raids on unmounted victims. The training of horses to perform specific behaviours useful in warfare eventually gave rise to the emergence of military riding academies. The haute-ecole dressage movements that the Lippizaner stallions of Vienna now perform in their displays were first developed some four hundred years ago to vanquish enemies in face-to-face combat. Training and riding skills contributed to the success of armies and the survival of individuals. Horses are not the only species to have been conscripted into human conflicts. Dogs and pigeons were used to carry messages during the trench warfare of the World War I. In World War II the Russians used carefully selected dogs as anti-tank operatives, while the U.S. Navy trained dolphins to place explosive devices on the hulls of ships. 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Domestic dogs have proved to be extremely successful in finding hidden food following a series of human social cues such as pointing (an extended hand and index finger indicating the location of the reward), or body position, among many other variants. There is controversy about the mechanisms responsible for these communicative skills in dogs. On the one hand, a hypothesis states that dogs have complex cognitive processes such as a theory of mind, which allow them to attribute intent to the human pointing gesture. A second, more parsimonious, hypothesis proposes that these skills depend on associative learning processes. The purpose of this paper is to provide data that may shed some light on the discussion by looking into two learning processes by using an object choice task: the effect of interference between stimuli on the preference for human social cues and the effect of generalization of the response to novel human social stimuli. The first study revealed that previous training using a physical cue (container location) may hamper the learning of a novel human social cue (distal cross-pointing). The results of the second study indicated stimulus generalization. Dogs learnt a novel cue (distal cross-pointing) faster due to previous experience with a similar cue (proximal pointing), as compared to dogs confronted by a less similar cue (body position) or dogs with no previous experience. In sum, these findings support the hypothesis about the important role of associative learning in interspecific communication mechanisms of domestic dogs.

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Article

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The aim of our study was to examine the influence of dyadic attachment, owner and dog personality, and owner gender on stress hormone dynamics in owner–dog dyads. We hypothesized that owner personality modulates dyadic relationships and, hence, would affect the cortisol levels resulting from acute and chronic stressors. Data were collected during three meetings with 10 male and 12 female owners aged 23–68 years, with their medium-to-large, intact male dogs aged 1.5–6.0 years. These owner-dog dyads were observed and video-taped during different tasks. The NEO-FFI (Five-Factor Inventory) was used to determine owner personality, and questionnaires covering owner–dog relationship and attachment were employed. Salivary cortisol levels were measured from samples collected during the dyads' daily routine and after experimental challenges. It was found that our experimental tasks had little effect on the salivary cortisol levels of either dog or owner except that dogs and male owners showed elevated levels during the first 20 minutes of our visit to their homes. However, owners who scaled high in neuroticism (NEO-FFI dimension 1) or low in conscientiousness (NEO-FFI dimension 5) showed high morning salivary cortisol values, in contrast to their dogs, which were low in morning salivary cortisol. In general, dogs of owners who considered them as being “social partners” and “meaningful companions” showed low morning salivary cortisol values. We conclude that the main individual and dyadic factors for stress coping in owner–dog dyads are owner personality, relationship with the dog, and attachment to the dog, and that relationship had generally a greater effect on dog cortisol levels than our experimental tasks.

Current perspectives on attachment and bonding in the dog–human dyad

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