The Canine Cuteness Effect: Owner-Perceived Cuteness as a Predictor of Human–Dog Relationship Quality

ABSTRACT

The modern domestic dog's primary function is as a human companion. A strong human–dog relationship may be beneficial to both parties but not all relationships are successful. There is currently no consensus on why some dog–owner relationships flourish and others fail, but relationship quality may be partly influenced by canine characteristics. The extent to which canine cuteness and canine personality factors predict human–dog relationship quality was examined. In study 1, 668 dog owners completed two relationship-quality surveys, rated their dog's personality and physical cuteness, and were invited to submit a photograph of their dog. Personality measures and cuteness ratings predicted each measure of relationship quality, with cuteness being the strongest unique predictor in three of seven standard multiple regression models (all p<0.001). In study 2, 873 independent participants were presented with one of 42 images selected from those provided in study 1. Participants rated the dog's cuteness and its likely personality attributes. Strangers (M=6.69, SD=0.83) typically rated each dog as being less cute than did the owner (M=8.93, SD=1.80; t(41₎=7.39, p<0.001, two tailed), and how cute they perceived the dog to be influenced their ratings of some aspects of its likely personality. Measures of relationship quality provided by owners were not significantly associated with stranger cuteness ratings or with the degree of difference between owner and stranger cuteness ratings. These results suggest a bi-directional relationship between perceived cuteness and other attributes: cute dogs are perceived to have more desirable personality traits, but having a strong relationship with a dog may also inflate its perceived cuteness. These findings have implications for those involved in dog breeding, selection, and training, as well as shelter management.     

Living with Wild Dogs: Personality Dimensions in Captive Dingoes (Canis dingo) and Implications for Ownership

Despite the commonly held belief that wild canines do not make “good” household companions, many people choose to live with them. The aim of the present study was to investigate owner-rated personality in a population of dingoes living as companion animals. Owners recruited from a registered dingo organization assessed the personality of 40 dingoes using the Monash Canine Personality Questionnaire- Revised (MCPQ-R). The dingoes (22 female; 18 male) ranged in age from 6 months to 11 years (M = 3.6 years, SD = 2.4); weighed an average of 19.07 kg (SD = 3.41); were mostly entire (i.e., not de-sexed or spayed or neutered; 62.5%) and lived in multiple dingo households (72.5%). Results show that dingoes were rated significantly higher than domestic dogs (n = 455; various breeds from a previous Australian study) for the dimension Motivation/Self-Assuredness (p < 0.001), and significantly lower than dogs for Training Focus (p < 0.001). Many of the personality traits of dingoes reside outside what is considered “ideal” characteristics important for a successful and rewarding dog–owner relationship. It is possible that dingo personality rests within the realms of what is “acceptable” pet canine behavior, at least for some owners, and that they may have adjusted their perception and attitudes to meet their expectations of the species. Motivations for dingo ownership and the applicability of using a domestic dog personality questionnaire on wild canids are discussed.     

The Influence of Companion Animals on Owner Perception: Gender and Species Effects

ABSTRACT

There is some evidence that the presence of a companion animal influences perceptions of the psychological attributes of its owner. The present study investigated how these effects vary by pet species and owner gender. A sample of 542 students rated slides of a man or woman accompanied by a cat, a dog or alone using 36 adjectives. These adjectives were subsequently grouped into four clusters labelled ‘Nice’, ‘Nasty’, ‘Style’ and ‘Action’. Statistical analyses revealed that the female target person was rated as significantly nicer, more stylish and more active with the dog than with the cat. The male target person was rated as nicer, more stylish and more active with the cat than the dog. This pattern was contrary to that hypothesized, which was based on traditional gender and human-pet stereotypes. Discussion focuses on the changing nature of gender stereotypes and the resulting complexity of owner-pet perceptions.     

Companion-Animals’ Effectiveness in Managing Chronic Pain in Adult Community Members

ABSTRACT

Therapy animals have been found to alleviate pain in healthcare settings, but companion-animal owners report greater discomfort and use more analgesics than people who do not own one or more companion animals. To investigate this anomaly, 173 adults completed an online survey that included questions about themselves and any companion animal they owned, the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales, the Numeric Pain Rating Scale, and a modified version of the Chronic Pain Coping Inventory-42. Participants were also invited to contact the researchers to expand on their responses in a semi-structured interview, to which seven owners responded. There was no significant difference between reported pain levels in owners versus non-owners. However, companion-animal owners who reported actively using human–animal interactions to manage their pain rated this as moderately helpful and reported lower pain levels than other owners. There were also no significant differences between owners’ and non-owners’ anxiety or stress levels. Companion-animal owners reported more depressive symptoms than non-owners, but owners with animals perceived as more friendly reported fewer depressive symptoms. Dog owners comprised most of the sample and, for these participants, there was a negative association between perceived dog friendliness and levels of depression and anxiety. Those with more disobedient dogs also experienced greater stress. Interviewees reported that their companion animals helped them cope with pain in many ways, including provision of social and emotional support and by providing a sense of purpose in life. These findings indicate that some, but not all, companion animals may be beneficial for participants with chronic pain. Since the benefits appear to be associated with the species and personality of the animal, and with whether the person actively uses human–animal interactions as a pain-coping mechanism, care should be taken before recommending companion-animal ownership to persons suffering from chronic pain.     

Canine genetics comes of age

The dog, as human's favored companion, is unique among animal species in providing new insights into human genetic disease. In this review, we will discuss both the breed and the population structure of dogs and why that makes canines amenable to genetic studies. We will review the current state of the map and discuss the particular disease states in which canines stand to make the greatest contribution to medical genetics.     

Social Dimensions of the Human–Avian Bond: Parrots and Their Persons

Though birds are among the most popular companion animals in the United States, little scholarly research has focused on the human– companion parrot relationship. This study uses an ethnographic approach and qualitative analysis to examine the parrot–pet owner relationship. Two and onehalf weeks of ethnographic fieldwork were carried out in a veterinary clinic specializing in avian and exotic medicine. These observations complement the results of quantitative data and qualitative analysis of texts from questionnaires completed by 100 parrot owners outside the clinic. Both textual analysis and observations in the veterinary clinic revealed some interesting insights into the social dimensions of the human–companion parrot relationship, which was rated superior to that of cats and dogs by some bird owners. Various patterns of human–avian interactions emerged from the data, including childhood experience with birds, affection and physical contact with birds, birds as family members and the nature of the human–parrot bond, infantilization (delayed weaning and parrot as child surrogate), anthropomorphism (celebration of holidays, diet, death and spirituality, and misinterpretation of bird behavior), intersubjectivity and cognition, and anthropocentrism (bird as object). Misinterpretation of bird behavior and failure to recognize the unique physiological and social needs of their species may lead to impaired welfare. On the other hand, according the bird a social status as cherished family member, may enhance their welfare. In addition, other factors are considered that may enhance or detract from the welfare of companion parrots. In a discussion of hypotheses regarding the human–pet bond, it is concluded that the data presented by this study best support the social support hypothesis.     

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.     

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.     

Camel Robert Irwin

ABSTRACT

This study investigated a question related to people's perceptions of dog personality. We examined whether people attribute personality characteristics to dogs based on physical features of the dog, specifically, coat color and ear shape. In order to address this question, we presented participants with photographs of dogs in which a single physical characteristic of the dog, either coat color (black vs. yellow) or ear shape (pointy ears vs. floppy ears) had been manipulated. Participants (n = 124) completed an online survey in which they rated the personality of the dogs (one black, one yellow, one with pointy ears, and one with floppy ears) while viewing these photographs. Participants rated dog personality using a brief inventory of the Big Five personality dimensions (the Ten-Item Personality Inventory). Participants rated the yellow dog significantly higher than the black dog on the personality dimensions of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability. The floppy-eared dog was rated significantly higher than the pointyeared dog on Agreeableness and Emotional Stability and significantly lower on Extraversion. These results indicate that people attribute different personality characteristics to dogs based solely on physical characteristics of the dog. These results have implications for how people judge personality variables in dogs, particularly during brief encounters where physical attributes of the animal are likely to be highly salient.     

The Emotional Lives of Companion Animals: Attachment and Subjective Claims by Owners of Cats and Dogs

There is a growing body of scientific evidence supporting the existence of emotions in nonhuman animals. Companion-animal owners show a strong connection and attachment to their animals and readily assign emotions to them. In this paper we present information on how the attachment level of companion-animal owners correlates with their attribution of emotions to their companion cat or dog and their attribution of mirrored emotions. The results of an online questionnaire, completed by 1,023 Dutch-speaking cat and/or dog owners (mainly in the Netherlands and Belgium), suggest that owners attribute several emotions to their pets. Respondents attributed all posited basic (anger, joy [happiness], fear, surprise, disgust, and sadness) and complex (shame, jealousy, disappointment, and compassion) emotions to their companion animals, with a general trend toward basic emotions (with the exception of sadness) being more commonly attributed than complex emotions. All pet owners showed strong attachment to their companion animal(s), with the degree of attachment (of both cat and dog owners) varying significantly with education level and gender. Owners who ascribed human characteristics to their dog or cat also scored higher on the Pet Bonding Scale (PBS). Finally, owners who found it pleasant to pet their dog or cat had a higher average PBS score than those who did not like to do so. The relationship between owners’ attributions of mirrored emotions and the degree of attachment to dogs was significant for all emotions, whilst for cats this relationship was significant only for joy, sadness, surprise, shame, disappointment, and compassion.     

Pet Ownership,Type of Pet and Socio-Emotional Development of School Children

ABSTRACT

The current study was designed to compare the socio-emotional characteristics of school children pet owners and children without pets and to examine whether the type of pet is a variable which can differentiate the socio-emotional development of their owners. The subjects, 425 girls and 401 boys, were students of fourth (n=265), sixth (n=295) and eighth (n=266) grade of elementary schools from the metropolitan area of Zagreb, Croatia. Socio-emotional variables assessed in the study were: child attachment to pet, child prosocial orientation, empathy, loneliness, perception of family climate and social anxiety. The data showed that 54.4% of children in the sample were pet owners (26.2% of children in the study had a dog, 9.2% had a cat, and 19.0% had some other pet). In order to answer the main research question, several analyses of variance (gender by grade by pet ownership) were computed for each criterion of socio-emotional development. Significant main effects were obtained for empathy, prosocial orientation and pet attachment, with dog owners being more empathic and prosocially oriented than non-owners, and dog owners and cat owners being more attached to their pets than owners of other kinds of pets. Additional analyses of variance were computed in order to examine the role of attachment in the socio-emotional functioning of the children. Subjects were divided in three sub-groups: non-owners, lower then average attached owners, and higher than average attached owners. Children who scored higher than average on the attachment to pets scale showed significantly higher scores on the empathy and prosocial orientation scales than non-owners and children who scored lower than average on the attachment to pets scale. It was also found that children with higher levels of attachment to pets rated their family climate significantly better than children who had lower attachment to pets.     

The Use of Positive Reinforcement in Training Zebra Sharks (Stegostoma fasciatum)

Few studies have examined how personality traits may be related to the amounts and types of attachments humans have toward companion animals (pets). In this study, 1,098 companion animal guardians (owners) completed a survey that included the Big Five Inventory, the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale, and the Pet Attachment Questionnaire. Each participant chose whether he or she identified as a Cat Person, Dog Person, Both, or Neither. Results indicated that neuroticism, conscientiousness, choosing a dog as a favorite pet, and identifying as a Cat Person, Dog Person, or Both predicted affection for a pet. Conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness decreased avoidant attachment to pets, and neuroticism increased anxious attachment to pets. Both dogs and cats could benefit from pet owners who are conscientious, and there may be some benefits of neuroticism in pet owners. The findings of this study will advance understanding of the human–animal bond. As this understanding increases, measurements of human attachment and personality may be useful for the development of tools that could assist shelter employees and veterinarians in counseling people about pet ownership.     

A quantitative electron-microscopic analysis of the axons at the apex of the canine tooth pulp in the dog

The morphology of the dog intradental nerves has not been studied in detail, although dogs have been increasingly used in electrophysiological experiments on pulp nerve function. In this investigation electron microscopy and morphometric analysis were used to study the number and dimensions of the axons at the apex of the dog canine tooth. Two upper and two lower canines, each taken from a different animal, were used. The average number of axons entering a tooth was 2,089 (range: 1,241-3,034), 74.3% (range: 62.2-77.9%) of which were unmyelinated. The mean circumference of the myelinated and unmyelinated axons ranged from 11.1 to 13.9 microns and from 1.3 to 1.7 micron, respectively. Of the myelinated axons 13.7% had a circumference over 19 microns, which is considered to be the upper limit of the A delta-class. Of the unmyelinated axons 13.8% showed apposition to each other and 20% were partly exposed to the extracellular space; these features could, in part, offer the morphological basis for the extreme pain sensitivity of the tooth. The findings of the present study were considered in general to be comparable to the results of earlier histological and electrophysiological studies on pulp nerves of different species. Thus, it seems that the dog tooth is an adequate model for studying the pulp nerve function and morphology.     

Exotic Animal Companions and the Personality of Their Owners

ABSTRACT

The present study explored sex-specific differences in the Big Five factors of personality between different pet ownership groups, in order to understand individual differences in the choice of companion animals. A total of 250 pet owners completed a German version of the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). For the first analysis, participants were divided into four broad groups: those owning traditional pets (e.g., cats, dogs), those owning cold-blooded exotic pets, those owning warm-blooded exotic pets, and those not owning animals. For the second analysis, participants were subdivided into nine groups, based on species of animal owned: cats, dogs, birds, fish, reptiles, spider/insect, small mammals, owners of many different animals, and non-owners. In both analyses, separate analyses of variance were applied to the scores of the NEO-FFI scales. Interaction effects between sex and several ownership groups on the traits Openness to Experience and Agreeableness were found in both analyses. Female owners of traditional pets scored, for example, significantly lower on openness to experience than female owners of cold-blooded exotic pets as well as male owners of traditional pets. Furthermore, female owners of cold-blooded exotic pets scored significantly higher on openness to experience than their male counterparts. Regarding agreeableness, male owners of cold-blooded exotic pets scored significantly lower than their female counterparts as well as male owners of traditional pets. These and other results indicate that personality may affect choice of pets—but in different directions for the two sexes.     

Canine Length in Wild Male Baboons: Maturation,Aging and Social Dominance Rank

Canines represent an essential component of the dentition for any heterodont mammal. In primates, like many other mammals, canines are frequently used as weapons. Hence, tooth size and wear may have significant implications for fighting ability, and consequently for social dominance rank, reproductive success, and fitness. We evaluated sources of variance in canine growth and length in a well-studied wild primate population because of the potential importance of canines for male reproductive success in many primates. Specifically, we measured maxillary canine length in 80 wild male baboons (aged 5.04–20.45 years) from the Amboseli ecosystem in southern Kenya, and examined its relationship with maturation, age, and social dominance rank. In our analysis of maturation, we compared food-enhanced baboons (those that fed part time at a refuse pit associated with a tourist lodge) with wild-feeding males, and found that food-enhanced males achieved long canines earlier than wild-feeding males. Among adult males, canine length decreased with age because of tooth wear. We found some evidence that, after controlling for age, longer canines were associated with higher adult dominance rank (accounting for 9% of the variance in rank), but only among relatively high-ranking males. This result supports the idea that social rank, and thus reproductive success and fitness, may depend in part on fighting ability mediated by canine size.     

Passive case detection for canine visceral leishmaniasis control in urban Brazil: Determinants of population uptake

BackgroundIn Brazil, the transmission of Leishmania infantum in urban settings is closely related to infection among dogs, with occasional transmission to humans. Serological screening of dogs for Leishmania spp. infection on requests of their owners (passive case detection) represents a frequent, but little studied, practice within the scope of Brazilian public health. This study identified factors associated with canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) diagnosis-seeking behavior of dog owners in Rondonópolis (236,000 inhabitants), a municipality in Central-Western Brazil where VL is endemic. Also, we evaluated the profile of dog owners and their animals screened on free demand.Methodology/Principal findingsUsing mixed effects negative binomial regression, we modelled the number of dogs screened for Leishmania infection on free demand per neighborhood from 2011 to 2016 as a function of time-dependent predictors (current or recent canine seropositivity and human VL incidence), distance to the screening site, and demographic variables. We assessed potential delays in the effect of time-dependent predictors on the outcome. Among 12,536 dogs screened for Leishmania infection, 64.2% were tested during serosurveys and 35.8% were tested on free demand. Of these, 63.9% were positive. Uptake of screening under free demand was strongly associated with higher levels of canine seropositivity in the neighborhood (current or recent) and decreasing distance to the screening site. A subsample of dog owners (n = 93) who sought CVL screening between 2016 and 2017 were interviewed in more detail. Owners with better socioeconomic status and dogs with apparent CVL clinical manifestations prevailed among them.Conclusions/SignificanceTo support timely CVL management, passive case detection along with awareness activities aimed at dog owners should be encouraged in endemic areas. Screening sites should be prioritized in accessible zones, as well as in socio-economically disadvantage areas. In parallel, CVL active case detection should be continued as a surveillance tool to guide control actions.