Exploring Myths and Misconceptions About Dog Behavior in a Spanish Population Sample.
Although dogs and humans have been in contact for thousands of years, myths and misconceptions about dog behavior still circulate today and hinder this relationship. This exploratory study aimed to determine the prevalence of certain myths and misconceptions in a Spanish sample and how personal char...
| Publicado en: | Anthrozoös Vol. 37; no. 6; pp. 1217 - 1233 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Dec2024
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=181256758&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 181256758 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 08927936 GZF jtl: Anthrozoös issn: 08927936 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Dec2024 vid: 37 iid: 6 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 181256758 10.1080/08927936.2024.2400783 ppf: 1217 ppct: 16 formats: tig: atl: Exploring Myths and Misconceptions About Dog Behavior in a Spanish Population Sample. aug: au: Menor-Campos, David J. Parreño, Marta Howell, Tiffani Diverio, Silvana affil: Departamento de Medicina y Cirugía Animal, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Australia Laboratory of Ethology and Animal Welfare (LEBA), Department of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italy su: Animal welfare Human-animal relationships Animal behavior Animal aggression Dog parks Puppies sug: subj: Animal welfare Human-animal relationships Animal behavior Animal aggression Dog parks Puppies keyword: Dog behavior dog training dominance hierarchy human–animal interaction veterinary behavior Dog behavior dog training dominance hierarchy human–animal interaction veterinary behavior ab: Although dogs and humans have been in contact for thousands of years, myths and misconceptions about dog behavior still circulate today and hinder this relationship. This exploratory study aimed to determine the prevalence of certain myths and misconceptions in a Spanish sample and how personal characteristics might influence them. Thirty-four statements about dog behavior, generated based on the literature and personal experiences in veterinary practice, were presented in an online questionnaire distributed through social media and veterinary clinics from September to December 2020; 1,186 responses were received. The level of agreement for each statement was analyzed and the percentage of maximum possible (POMP) score was calculated as a summary of the respondents' agreement. Two myths were accepted by more than 50% of participants. These were "dogs need to know who's in charge" and an item about a wagging tail indicating that the dog is happy. Three items had a majority of "agree," including "dog parks are perfect for socializing puppies," "dogs love being hugged," and an item about the "guilty" look (that dogs know when they've done something bad). Finally, four items were rejected by more than 90% of participants, including an item about small dogs not needing to go outside, one about adult dogs being unable to learn to love their owner, one related to punishment as a way to cure fear, and one related to aggression toward children being normal. The mean POMP score was 41.18 (SD = 9.87), with scores ranging from 20 to 91.11 (out of 100). Categorical regression analyses were performed to examine the predictive power of participant variables on the POMPs and found that demographics such as age, population size, occupation, animal-related studies or jobs, dog ownership, cat ownership, and ownership of other pets accounted for 34.5% of the variance (ANOVA F = 2.892, p < 0.001). Other personal characteristics such as gender and educational level were not found to be predictive of POMP scores (p > 0.05). Identifying the most common myths and the factors associated with them could help in the design and focus of educational campaigns on dog behavior and effective animal welfare policies. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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