The aim of the study is to understand how a child’s responsibility of care for a family pet affects the attachment and relationship between the child and dog. Attachment has been defined as a bond between two individuals that promotes both proximity-seeking and independent activity (Udell and Brubaker, 2016). Responsibility...
Human-animal relationships, emerging as an aftermath of human-animal interactions, have been increasingly investigated in recent years. It is possible to see the results of the effects of these relationships on both human and animal welfare. This study predicted that caretakers with hands-on contact with their zoo animals would have significantly...
Domesticated dogs can form attachment bonds with their owners and use them as a secure base to receive comfort during distress and confidence to explore novel environments. Owners often adopt multiple dog in hopes they will have ameliorative effects during periods of absence from their owner. The purpose of this...
This study aimed to explore the relationship between urinary cortisol levels and proximity-seeking behavior in shelter cats and the impact of socialization programs on these two factors. A Spearman’s correlation test found no correlation between cortisol levels and proximity-seeking behavior in shelter cats. Fisher’s 2x2 tests confirmed that the changes...
Gazing behavior is a vital part of nonverbal communication, as it can provide information about attentional state, subtext, environment, and point of view. Both dogs and cats have previously been shown to display gazing behavior when presented with an unsolvable task, as well as follow nonverbal directional ques given by...
In this study, we compared the behavior of bottle fed lambs verses mother fed lambs in three testing scenarios; the sociability test, the paired attachment test, and the mismatch attachment test. The tests sought to determine if a familiar human can serve as a secure base for lambs in a...
Domestic cats have been shown to form secure attachment bonds with humans, allowing them to use their owners as a secure base and giving them comfort and confidence when exploring an unfamiliar environment. Many cat owners believe that cohabitation with other cats is beneficial for their pets, and that cohabitant...
It has been demonstrated that dogs form attachment bonds to their owners and that these attachments can be classified and described in ways that are analogous to attachments found between human infants and their mothers. While a secure attachment to a parent has been shown to improve problem-solving abilities in...
Approximately one in six children in the United States has a developmental disability (CDC, 2018). Among a wide variety of interventions that have been developed to support the health, wellbeing, and development of youth with disabilities, Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI) have become increasingly prevalent. Some AAI involve youth participating with their...
Although it is widely accepted that dogs and humans form attachment relationships, characterizing attachment styles in dogs has only recently received attention in the literature. Previous research has shown that pet dogs display patterns of behavior in an attachment test that can be classified into secure and insecure attachment styles,...