Associations between Stress and Quality of Life: Differences between Owners Keeping a Living Dog or Losing a Dog by Euthanasia

Objectives

The loss of a pet may be stressful to the owner. The main objectives of this study were to compare the levels of stress and to explore the correlates of QOL of healthy adults who currently own or who have just lost their dog.

Methods

The study sample contained 110 current, and 103 bereaved dog owners, all females, who lost their dogs due to euthanasia. QOL was assessed with the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire and divided into four major domains–Physical, Psychological, Relationship, and Environmental. Demographic variables, stress, health behaviors, and social support from family, friends, and significant other were included in multivariate analysis.

Results

Stress levels were significantly higher in bereaved owners. QOL in three of the four domains (Physical, Psychological, and Relationship) of current owners were significantly better than among bereaved owners. Stress was significantly associated with these three domains of QOL. Quality of life was found to be positively associated with social support. Age was related directly only to current owners’ QOL.

Conclusions

The results suggest that a loss of a dog is associated with stress for the bereaved owner and reduced physical, psychological, and relationship QOL. Lack of social support in the case of death of a companion animal has a strong effect on owners’ grief reactions.     

Psychological Mechanisms Predicting Wellbeing in Pet Owners: Rogers’ Core Conditions versus Bowlby’s Attachment

While pet ownership may confer physical and psychological health benefits, existing research presents inconsistent findings, and the psychological mechanisms through which health benefits might be conferred are unknown. Exploring human–pet relationships from the perspectives of Bowlby’s attachment theory, namely “attachment-related anxiety” and “attachment-related avoidance,” and Rogers’ core conditions including “unconditional positive regard” and “empathy” may highlight the psychological mechanisms involved. This study compared quality of life (QOL) and psychopathology in pet owners with those without pets. In the pet owners, we additionally assessed pet attachment, and perceived empathy, unconditionality, and congruence in the human–pet relationships. We then compared the relative value of Bowlby’s attachment versus Rogers’ core conditions in human– pet relationships as predictors of wellbeing in pet owners. Overall, pet owners and non-pet owners did not significantly differ in terms of QOL or psychopathology. However, in pet owners, secure pet attachments were associated with lower psychological distress and psychopathology, and those perceiving higher levels of Rogers’ core conditions from their pets had higher QOL. Bowlby’s pet attachment insecurity predicted psychological distress and psychopathology, while Rogers’ total core conditions in pets were significantly predictive of QOL of owners. Differences in wellbeing may not be reliably discernable between pet owners and non-pet owners, as wellbeing is related not to pet ownership alone but to qualities of individual human–pet relationships. The results provide new information about psychological mechanisms through which human–pet interactions are conferred, and support for the applicability of both Bowlby’s and Rogers’ concepts.     

Validation of a Health-related Quality of Life (QoL) Questionnaire for Owners of Dogs with Heart Disease

ABSTRACT

In humans, heart disease is associated with high caregiver burden and stress, which can negatively affect the health-related quality of life (hrQoL) of both patient and caregiver. The effect of a dog’s heart disease on owners’ hrQoL has not been reported. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop and validate a hrQoL questionnaire for owners of dogs with heart disease, with the hypothesis that heart disease would impact the hrQoL of owners. Owners of dogs with degenerative mitral valve disease, dilated cardiomyopathy, and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy were eligible for the study. A 7-item questionnaire was developed, with a possible range of scores from 0–35 (higher scores indicated worse owner hrQoL). The questionnaire was self-administered by owners and results were analyzed to determine validity, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency. The Functional EvaluaTion of Cardiac Health (FETCH) questionnaire was used to assess dogs’ hrQoL. Two hundred and seventeen owners of dogs with heart disease were enrolled. Median owner hrQoL score was 6 (range, 0–31) and median FETCH hrQoL score was 7 (range, 0–70). The owner hrQoL score was correlated with the FETCH score (r = 0.76, p < 0.001) and severity of dogs’ disease (r = 0.53, p < 0.001). Test-retest reliability was high (r = 0.83, p < 0.001). These results suggest that the owner hrQoL questionnaire has good reliability and validity, and that further testing of this questionnaire is warranted to optimize communication with owners regarding the care of dogs with heart disease.     

The Responsible Dog Owner: The Construction of Responsibility

ABSTRACT

Policy and campaigning messages related to dog ownership and welfare center on the concept of responsible ownership. However, the perspectives and experiences of pet owners and how they perceive and perform their responsibilities has not been studied in depth. This qualitative study used conversations about owning and walking dogs in order to elucidate beliefs and views about responsibility in dog ownership. Data comprised 12 in-depth interviews with dog-owning households, 14 short interviews with dog owners while walking their dogs or representing their breed at a dog show, and autoethnography of the first author’s experiences owning and walking dogs. All participants considered themselves responsible dog owners, yet there was great variation in key aspects of their dog-owning behavior. The feelings of responsibility were rooted in the valued unconditional and reciprocal love that owners believed underpinned their human–dog bond. Dogs were described as dependents, similar to, but different from, children. In deciding how to look after their dogs, owners sought to balance their views of dogs as kin, having individual needs to be met, with consideration of the needs of others. Four processes through which issues of irresponsible dog ownership may arise were suggested: owner–dog relationship being too weak or too strong; differences in interpretation of what is best for the dog; difficulties predicting and avoiding situations of conflict; and differences in tolerance of negative impacts of dog ownership. While “responsible dog ownership” has considerable appeal as a concept, how it is perceived and interpreted varies so extensively that simply telling owners that they should “be responsible” is of limited use as a message to promote behavior change. Facilitating “responsible dog ownership” and reducing “irresponsible dog owner” behaviors relies on a detailed understanding of the variables which influence how the dog’s role is constructed within the family and the wider society.     

Self-disclosure with Dogs: Dog Owners’ and Non-dog Owners’ Willingness to Disclose Emotional Topics

Many owners talk to their pets about a wide range of issues, but there is very little research that has considered the content of this, or its impact on owner wellbeing. Verbal disclosure brings a range of potential health benefits, yet a number of factors may prevent individuals from confiding in their partners or friends (confidants). As such, in some circumstances, dogs may provide a more favorable alternative focus for disclosure. In a survey, we assessed dog owners’ (n = 286) and non-dog owners’ (n = 64) self-reported willingness to talk to their dog (dog owners only), their partner and their confidant. We used the Emotional Self Disclosure Scale (ESDS) for non-dog owners, and an adapted version of this for dog owners: Emotional Self Disclosure Scale–Dog Owners (ESDS-DO). Both dog owners and non-dog owners demonstrated a greater willingness to disclose to their partner than a confidant. For dog owners, their dog appeared to play a similar role as their partner, with greater willingness to talk to their dog about depression, jealousy, anxiety, calmness, apathy, and fear-related emotions, compared with a confidant. When talking about jealousy and apathy, dog owners reported greater willingness to talk to their dog than their partner or a confidant, but between-group comparisons (dog owner vs non-dog owner) revealed that dog owners and non-dog owners did not significantly differ in their willingness to talk to their partner or confidant, suggesting human relationships were not negatively affected by confiding to the dog. Participant age and length of relationship with their partner did not affect disclosure patterns for dog owners or non-dog owners. Males and females showed different willingness to disclose to confidants, but not to dogs. The results have implications for considering the value of dogs for human psychological health.     

An Experience Sampling Approach to Investigating Associations between Pet Presence and Indicators of Psychological Wellbeing and Mood in Older Australians

ABSTRACT

In this study we examined associations between pet ownership and presence and indicators of psychological wellbeing in older Australians, using an innovative, experience sampling methodology and a community-living sample of 68 adults, including 41 pet owners, all aged over 65 years. In response to randomized prompts the participants provided information about their location, social companions, activities, and mood state six times daily for seven consecutive days. They also completed a number of surveys measuring various aspects of wellbeing. There were no significant differences in our outcome measures between pet owners and those who did not own at least one pet, and few of our pet owners reported engaging in pet-focused human– animal activities, such as walking their dog or playing with their cat. However, frequency of pet presence during activities of daily living was associated with, and statistically predictive of, several measures of wellbeing and mood. From our results we tentatively conclude that more frequent presence of a pet, particularly a dog, may be associated with greater psychological wellbeing in this cohort. More importantly, we confirm that the intensive experience sampling methodology provides a novel means of examining human–pet interactions, enabling a closer analysis of moment-by-moment pet presence than has been possible using alternative approaches.     

Book Review

ABSTRACT

Previous studies conducted in the United States and Venezuela have demonstrated that people can correctly match portraits of unknown purebred dogs with their owners at statistically significant levels, suggesting that the popular belief in dog–owner physical resemblance is empirically valid. We investigated the perceived physical resemblance of dog–owner pairs in Japan, where the owners are racially more homogenous than in the countries in which the previous studies were conducted. In experiment 1, the matching performance by naïve judges was statistically significant, and a supplementary test suggested that perceived dog–owner physical resemblance plays a critical role in this. Experiment 2 presented a new procedure to test the perceived dog–owner physical resemblance and demonstrated that two-thirds of the judges selected a set of 20 real dog–owner pairs over a set of 20 fake dog–owner pairs, irrespective of whether it was an ownership-guessing task or a resemblance-based choice task. The ability to match correct dog–owner pairs (experiment 1) and the sensitivity to differentiate between real and fake dog–owner pairs (experiment 2) were not unique to the characteristics of the judges (e.g., whether or not they were dog lovers) because the task performance was independent of any measured judge-related factor. These results, taken together, provide another piece of positive evidence for the popular belief that there is a physical resemblance between dogs and their owners. Furthermore, the demonstration of dog–owner physical resemblance with racially homogeneous owner samples supports the generality and robustness of this phenomenon. The mechanism underlying this phenomenon (i.e., owners' selection of dogs that look like themselves or the convergence of appearance over time), however, remains to be elucidated by future studies.     

Pets and Happiness: Examining the Association between Pet Ownership and Wellbeing

Are pets associated with happiness in their owners? Some research has demonstrated positive connections between pets and the physical health of their owners, and more recently, research has shown the beneficial effects of pets on the negative aspects of mental health as well. However, much less research has focused on the relation between pets and the positive aspects of mental health, such as happiness. In the current study, 263 American adults completed an online survey using Amazon Mechanical Turk. Results indicate that pet owners were more satisfied with their lives than non-owners, but did not differ on other wellbeing measures, personality measures, emotion regulation, or need satisfaction. Dog owners scored higher on all aspects of wellbeing compared with cat owners, and differed on a number of other measures, including the Big Five personality traits, emotion regulation strategies, and need satisfaction. The relationship between type of pet owned and wellbeing was mediated by the Big Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, specifically), emotion regulation strategy, and need satisfaction. In addition, self-identified “dog people,” relative to “cat people,” showed similar patterns to those of dog owners, but the effects were often smaller and non-significant. Although there may not be many differences between those who own pets and those who do not, clearly owning a dog is associated with beneficial outcomes. Implications and future directions are discussed.     

Dogs and Owners Resemble Each Other in the Eye Region

ABSTRACT

Although several studies have shown perceived facial resemblance between photos of purebred dogs and their owners, none of these studies has clarified which part of the face is critical for such an impression to arise. The series of experiments presented here identified the critical feature underlying the perceived dog–owner facial resemblance. In total, 502 Japanese undergraduate students participated in the study. Two sets of 20 dog–owner photo pairs had been color-printed on a test sheet: the dogs varied in breed and the owners were Japanese males and females in their twenties to sixtieswho were unknown to the participants. One set comprised real pairs, while the other was a fake set (i. e., each dog was paired with another dog's owner). As in a previous study, the majority of participants (from two-thirds to three-quarters) reported that the former set was more similar than the latter. This was also the case even when the mouth regions of the owners' faces were masked by black bars. However, masking the eye regions of either dogs or owners reduced the choice performance to a chance level of around 50%. Furthermore, choice performance was equally good and above the chance level, regardless of whether the entire faces were shown or only the eye regions of the dogs and owners were visible. These results strongly suggest that dogs and owners resemble each other in the eye region. This finding also ruled out the possibility that any nonphysiognomic features (e. g., owners' hairstyles and people's stereotypical concepts about dog ownership) or similarity of obesity are determinate for the perceived dog–owner resemblance.     

An Examination of Adult Women’s Sleep Quality and Sleep Routines in Relation to Pet Ownership and Bedsharing

ABSTRACT

People in many parts of the world commonly share their beds not only with human partners but also with dogs and cats. Self-report and actigraphy data have shown that sleeping with an adult human partner has both positive and negative impacts on human sleep, but there has been little exploration of the impacts that pets have on human sleep quality. We collected survey data online from 962 adult women living in the United States to investigate relationships between pet ownership and human sleep. Fifty-five percent of participants shared their bed with at least one dog and 31% with at least one cat. In addition, 57% of participants shared their bed with a human partner. Our findings did not show a strong relationship between pet ownership status or bedsharing conditions and sleep quality as assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), although according to this measure, a high percentage of study participants did experience sleep quality deficits. It is possible that pet ownership contributed to the high global PSQI scores we observed, especially since all but 7% of participants resided with dogs and/or cats. Other measures included in this study indicate that dogs and cats, and where they sleep, may indeed affect sleep habits and perceptions of sleep quality. Dog owners had earlier bedtimes and wake times than individuals who had cats but no dogs. Compared with human bed partners, dogs who slept in the owner’s bed were perceived to disturb sleep less and were associated with stronger feelings of comfort and security. Conversely, cats who slept in their owner’s bed were reported to be equally as disruptive as human partners, and were associated with weaker feelings of comfort and security than both human and dog bed partners. Follow-up research is necessary to determine if pet owners’ perceptions of pets’ impacts on their sleep align with objective measures of sleep quality.     

Dyadic relationships and operational performance of male and female owners and their male dogs

In the paper we investigate how owner personality, attitude and gender influence dog behavior, dyadic practical functionality and the level of dog salivary cortisol. In three meetings, 12 female and 10 male owners of male dogs answered questionnaires including the Neo-FFI human personality inventory. Their dyadic behavior was video-taped in a number of test situations, and saliva samples were collected. Owners who scored highly in neuroticism (Neo-FFI dimension one) viewed their dogs as social supporters and spent much time with them. Their dogs had low baseline cortisol levels, but such dyads were less successful in the operational task. Owners who scored highly in extroversion (Neo-FFI dimension two) appreciated shared activities with their dogs which had relatively high baseline cortisol values. Dogs that had female owners were less sociable-active (dog personality axis 1) than dogs that had male owners. Therefore, it appears that owner gender and personality influences dyadic interaction style, dog behavior and dyadic practical functionality.     

Two Sides of the City: Dog-keeping Practices in Russian Urban Areas

This article examines dog–owner relations and dog ownership in Omsk, Russia. We describe typical dog-keeping practices and reveal how diverse urban environments can influence these practices. A two-stage survey was conducted in 2014 to determine the numbers and management of dogs owned. In total, some 1,583 households at the first stage of the research and 323 households at the second stage were interviewed face-to-face. About 23% of all households in Omsk owned dogs, but this proportion varied markedly for different parts of the city. In the city's single-story area, 71.5% of households had dogs, while in the multi-story area this was only 10.8%. Dog-keeping practices were different in these areas. Significant differences in these practices were shown for almost all aspects: the selection criteria, dog feeding, veterinary treatment, dog walking, the roles of dogs, and owners’ attitudes toward them. Owners living in the single-story area demonstrated a utilitarian or functional approach to their dogs—influencing the sex, size, and the breed of the animal. Dogs often lived outside the house; they were vaccinated and taken to the veterinarian less often than dogs from the multi-story area. The owners in the multi-story area described more affectionate feelings toward their dogs. This is reflected in both the choice and treatment of the animals. We observed a larger proportion of pedigree dogs, a larger proportion of female animals, more vaccinations, and the owners making a variety of purchases for their dogs.     

Dog ownership during pregnancy, maternal activity, and obesity: a cross-sectional study

The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) is an observational study of 14,273 UK pregnant singleton mothers in 1990/1991. We examined outcomes of self report of strenuous activity (hours per week) at 18 and 32 weeks of gestation, hours spent in leisure-time physical activities and types, and pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI); overweight status was defined as pre-pregnancy BMI≥25 and obesity BMI≥30. Pet ownership and activity data were reported for 11,466 mothers. Twenty-five percent of mothers owned at least one dog. There was a positive relationship between participation in activity at least once a week and dog ownership (at 18 weeks, Odds ratio 1.27, 95% confidence interval 1.11-1.44, P<0.001). Dog owners were 50% more likely to achieve the recommended 3 hours activity per week, equivalent to 30 minutes per day, most days of the week (1.53, 1.35-1.72, P<0.001). Dog owners were also more likely to participate in brisk walking activity than those who did not have a dog (compared to no brisk walking 2-6 hrs per week 1.43, 1.23 to 1.67, P<0.001; 7+ hrs per week 1.80, 1.43 to 2.27, P<0.001). However, no association was found with any other types of activities and there was no association between dog ownership and weight status. During the time period studied, pregnant women who had dogs were more active, through walking, than those who did not own dogs. As walking is a low-risk exercise, participation of pregnant women in dog walking activities may be a useful context to investigate as part of a broader strategy to improve activity levels in pregnant women.     

Adoption of shelter dogs in a Brazilian community: assessing the caretaker profile

A survey in Ibiuna, Sao Paulo, Brazil, of caregivers (owners) who adopted shelter dogs assessed length of ownership, proportion of male and female dogs adopted, and owners' characteristics. It addressed breeding, neutering, vaccination, and veterinary care. It used no testing to provide a good “match ”between dog and future owner. Of adopted dogs, 58% were male. Only 36% of owners were located. Mean ownership length was 14.8 months (95% confidence interval = 12.4 to 17.2 months), estimated through a survival analysis method. Of adopted dogs, 40.9% lived with their owners; 34.9% had died (some had lived on the streets); 15.0% were donated; 4.3% ran away; 3.2% were returned to the city shelter. Of interviewees, 57% reported no difficulties with the adoption; 23.1% cited the animal's illness and death as the main difficulty. For contraception, 87 owners (46.7%) chained dogs to prevent contact with other animals; 56.5% were against neutering. Reasons given were compassion (58.1%), unnecessary procedure (11.4%), cost (9.5%), and behavior change (4.8%). This research motivated a design for Ibiuna shelter dog adoption to improve the proportion of successful adoptions.     

Quality of Life of Medical Students in China: A Study Using the WHOQOL-BREF

Objective

The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life (QOL) of medical students during their medical education and explore the influencing factors of the QOL of students.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2011. The study population was composed of 1686 medical students in years 1 to 5 at China Medical University. The Chinese version of WHOQOL-BREF instrument was used to assess the QOL of medical students. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were assessed by Cronbach’s α coefficient and factor analysis respectively. The relationships between QOL and the factors including gender, academic year level, and specialty were examined using t-test or one-way ANOVA followed by Student-Newman–Keuls test. Statistic analysis was performed by SPSS 13.0.

Results

The overall Cronbach’s α coefficient of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was 0.731. The confirmatory factor analysis provided an acceptable fit to a four-factor model in the medical student sample. The scores of different academic years were significantly different in the psychological health and social relations domains (p<0.05). Third year students had the lowest scores in psychological health and social relations domains. The scores of different specialties had significant differences in psychological health and social relations domains (p<0.05). Students from clinical medicine had the highest scores. Gender, interest in the area of study, confidence in career development, hometown location, and physical exercise were significantly associated with the quality of life of students in some domains (p<0.05).

Conclusions

The WHOQOL-BREF was reliable and valid in the assessment of the QOL of Chinese medical students. In order to cope with the influencing factors of the QOL, medical schools should carry out curriculum innovation and give the necessary support for medical students, especially for 3^rd year students.     

The Relationship between Personality Match and Pet Satisfaction among Dog Owners

ABSTRACT

We investigated the extent to which personality match between dog and owner is related to pet satisfaction. Prior research shows that owners relinquish dogs at a high rate, not only in the United States, but also in other countries. New procedures to match owners to future pets could reduce the problem of homeless pets. These were developed after examining the literature to determine all possible traits in dogs and conducting structured interviews to check for further traits. After doing this, 45 traits were determined, and two surveys were created. One survey assessed the personality traits of the dog, and the other assessed the owner's personality traits. In our study, 88 dog owners were asked to report their satisfaction with their self-selected dog and to describe their dog's personality characteristics, based on eight dimensions. Correlations between dog satisfaction scores and dog–owner personality match revealed four characteristics that were significantly associated with satisfaction: tendency to share possessions, love of running outside, likeliness of being destructive, and ability to get along with others. These results suggest that prospective dog owners may want to consider adopting dogs who match their personality on these characteristics. Matching the personality of dogs and their owners on a few characteristics may predict owner satisfaction. This is important as it may reduce the number of dogs that are relinquished by owners as well as the number of dogs left homeless each year.     

Calling as an ownership convention on pied wagtail territories

Winter feeding territories were more profitable to owners than intruders. Even when intruders landed on a territory undetected they failed to achieve a profitable feeding rate because they fed in areas recently depleted by the owner. For intruders therefore, ownership was a sign of unprofitability. Intruder scalled ‘chis-ick’, apparently to find out if a territory was occupied. Owners replied ‘chee-wee’ and this was usually sufficient to cause the intruder to retreat. Only owners called ‘chee-wee’. Owners reacted more aggressively to tape-recorded broadcasts of the ‘chee-wee’ call played on their territory than to broadcasts of ‘chis-ick’.     

Owner-companion dog interactions: Relationships between demographic variables,potentially problematic behaviours,training engagement and shared activities

Many companion dogs occupy a privileged position in our society, living closely with human caretakers who go to great lengths to provide for their needs and desires. Others fare less well, being abandoned or killed, many because they are believed to exhibit behaviour problems. The aim in this study was to investigate the frequency of potentially problematic behaviours experienced by a convenience sample of companion dog owners and to establish if the presence of these behaviours was associated with demographic variables, involvement in dog training activities and participation in other dog-human interactions. Potentially problematic behaviours were reported to occur by the 413 adult participants only infrequently, but fell into five factors; disobedience, unfriendliness/aggression, nervousness, anxiety/destructiveness and excitability. Each of these factors was associated with a number of owner and dog characteristics. Engagement in training activities was predictive of lower scores being obtained for many of the behaviours, as well as increased involvement in shared activities. Some of the behaviours, particularly the perceived friendliness of the dog, were also predictive of involvement in shared activities. This confirms that strategies designed to increase participation in dog training activities and promote canine sociability may have significant benefits for both companion dog owners and their dogs.