Abstract
Dogs need to adapt to a human environment to enhance their welfare and to avoid risks of undesired dog behaviour and relinquishment. Crucial to this adaptation may be how an owner interacts with the dog. Owner–dog interactions may be influenced by the human caregiving system with regard to how care, protection and resources are provided. This narrative review discusses how a consideration of the human caregiving system can benefit owner–dog interactions. Literature suggests that the human caregiving system and parenting styles could influence owner–dog interactions. Owner–dog education may improve these interactions. However, studies on owner–dog education present mixed outcomes for the dog. Also, only a few studies address owner outcomes, indicating a gap that needs filling. It is concluded that, when intervening in owner–dog interactions, more attention should be directed to aspects of human psychology. Dog-directed parenting styles can form one strategy as to improve owner–dog interactions and dog welfare.
1. Introduction
Human–dog interactions started at least ten thousand years ago with the dog’s domestication (Davis & Valla, 1978; Ovodov et al., 2011; Larson et al., 2012). Domestication implies the formation of an animal population “commensal with humans or otherwise generally reliant on a human-modified environment for survival” (Lord et al., 2019, p. 3). With the exception of feral dogs, today’s dogs live mainly with humans or in human-determined environments (Boitani et al., 2007; Fox & Gee, 2019). The owner–dog relationship can be very close, as dogs share their owner’s home and even sometimes their bed (Kienzle et al., 1998; Westgarth et al., 2008). Consequently, the ideal dog is expected ‘to behave well’ by being safe with children, being house trained, coming when called and displaying affection (King et al., 2009; Diverio et al., 2016). However, many dogs develop undesired behaviours that can cause problems for their owners (Kobelt et al., 2003; Bamberger & Houpt, 2006; Martínez et al., 2011; Howell et al., 2016; Salonen et al., 2020). Examples of such behaviours are overexcitement (63% of dogs), jumping up at people (56%), rushing at people or dogs (38%) and barking excessively (32%; Kobelt et al., 2003). Reports of aggressiveness vary depending on the characteristics of the study sample, which is often a clinical sample (Bamberger & Houpt, 2006; Martínez et al., 2011). In a study of dogs of owners who participated in market research (non-clinical sample) 41% of the dogs were said to act aggressively toward adults, children or other animals (Howell et al., 2016). Of this 41%, 25% aggressed rarely, 10% sometimes, 4% quite often and 2% very often (Howell et al., 2016). Aggressiveness directed at humans can result in a health risk for the general human population through human-directed biting incidents (Spiegel, 2000; Quirk, 2012). Furthermore, aggression and other undesired dog behaviours are a risk to dog welfare as these can lead to shelter relinquishment or euthanasia (Coe et al., 2014; Lambert et al., 2015; Boyd et al., 2018). In the USA, an estimated four million animals (27–30%) are relinquished annually, while in Canada it is over 140 000 and in Japan over 500 000 (Patronek & Rowan, 1995; Coe et al., 2014; Lamberts et al., 2015). Unfortunately, global data and numbers specific to dogs seem to be lacking. Such shelter relinquishment restricts the possibilities to perform species-specific behaviours (Taylor & Mills, 2007). Also, cortisol levels rose in dogs placed in shelter situations; an indication of a primary stress response as a sign of a welfare risk (Hennessy et al., 1997; Hennessy, 2013).
To counter undesired dog behaviour and its possible consequences, one route may be through gaining additional insight into owner–dog interactions. Here the term ‘owner–dog interactions’ is used for any caring, guiding, managing and training activity directed from owners to dogs. In turn, dogs will respond to the owners’ activity, including physical or mental effects. Although a definition of owner–dog interactions was not found in literature, the literature does offer examples of how owner–dog interactions associate with dog behaviours, both desired and undesired by their owners. For instance, an association was found between dogs seeking owner proximity during a threatening situation and their owners interacting with them with more ‘warmth’ (Cimarelli et al., 2016). Warmth was operationalised by smiling and speaking with a high-pitched friendly tone of voice. In another study dogs interacted less during play sessions with their owners, if the owners reported to use choke chains or pinch collars, the squirting of water in the dog’s face, the rubbing of the dog’s nose in faeces, yanking the dog back, lifting the dog using the collar, flicking on the dog’s ear, and/or shaking the dog (Rooney & Cowan, 2011). A final example was in 43% of owners reporting their dogs to respond by growling, baring teeth, snapping, lunging or biting if the owners confronted undesired dog behaviour by hitting or kicking (Herron et al., 2009). Similar dog responses were reported at 31% when the owners performed a so-called ‘alpha roll’, forcing their dogs on their backs and at 26% when grabbing their dogs’ jowls or scruffs (Herron et al., 2009).
Dog owners may learn how to interact with dogs through owner–dog education (Pfaller-Sadovsky et al., 2019; Philpotts et al., 2019). There is a vast amount of valuable scientific knowledge available on dog cognition (Bensky et al., 2013). Owner–dog education has potential in helping dog owners to assimilate and use this information. The effectiveness of education increases by paying attention to aspects that underpin the uptake of educational content, as seen in health education (Kok et al., 2004) and parenting education (Sanders et al., 2002). Such underpinning aspects have been studied for education on interactions with animals. This regarded specifically interactions with farm animals (Hemsworth et al., 1994, 2002; Coleman et al., 2000). Addressing underlying beliefs of the animal handlers about animal sensitivity and about the consequences of animal handling changed the handler-animal interactions. Specifically, electric prod use decreased when moving pigs in abattoir situations (Coleman et al., 2003). Also, the use of slaps, pushes and hits decreased when moving cattle and pigs on the farm (Hemsworth, 2007). These examples indicate how interactions with animals and education on this topic can be improved by attending to underpinning psychological aspects. Although these examples were on farm animal handlers, the same may also apply to dog owners. However, the relationship with the dog is somewhat different than with the farm animal. This as dogs are often kept for companionship and regarded as family (Neidhart & Boyd, 2002; Kubinyi et al., 2009; Blackstone, 2014).
With dogs being kept as companion and regarded as family the underpinning aspect of the caregiving system becomes of interest to owner–dog interactions. If the caregiving system underpins owner–dog interactions, it could be addressed to increase the effectiveness of owner–dog education. The human caregiving system is therefore the focus of this narrative review that addresses the research question: ‘Can addressing the human caregiving system benefit owner–dog interactions?’. The review starts with discussing the need to improve owner–dog interactions. Then the outcomes are discussed of owner–dog education, a custom route to improve owner–dog interactions. Next, the manuscript focuses on the human caregiving system, the functioning of the system in general and in relation to dog ownership. Lastly, the new concept of dog-directed parenting styles is presented as one way to address human caregiving tendencies. The ultimate aim is to optimize owner–dog interactions and increase dog welfare.
2. Owner–dog interactions and dog welfare
Dog owning households make up a quarter to a half of the households in Australia, the UK and the USA (Westgarth et al., 2019). How dog owners interact with their dogs today may be different from the past. Dogs are increasingly treated as surrogate family members, when the setting of mother, father and children is not the living situation (Blackstone, 2014). Almost half of the dog owners (48%) regarded their dog as a child or close companion, with the other half (52%) regarding their dog as part of the family (Neidhart & Boyd, 2002). Such a role for dogs may offer their owners advantages in the form of reduced feelings of loneliness in students (Zasloff & Kidd, 1994), improved social functioning (González-Ramírez & Landero-Hernández, 2014) and larger social support networks for the elderly (Knight & Edwards, 2008). However, the reported advantages may depend, at least in part, on the quality of owner–dog interactions. As an example, negative human emotional responses such as anger, fear, frustration, sadness, and stress resulted from undesired dog (and cat) behaviours that affect owner–dog interactions through the dog’s behaviour requesting extra vigilance, training, planning and management (Buller & Ballantyne, 2020).
Not only human welfare aspects, but also the dog’s welfare may depend on owner–dog interactions (Hiby et al., 2004; Serpell, 2019). Dogs may suffer from being misunderstood and consequently interacted with in harsh ways. For example, dogs may be scolded if their owners presume that they can feel and express guilt after behaving in contrast with owner expectations. This, although so far evidence is against dogs ‘feeling guilty’. In fact, in a small-scale experiment on the so-called ‘guilty look’ in dogs, the results indicated that dogs responded to scolding more when they were obedient rather than disobedient (Horowitz, 2009). Generally, if an owner deems the dog has done ‘wrong’ or needs ‘to do better’, corrections can be applied (Van Herwijnen et al., 2018b). Corrections are here defined as actions that the owner deems unpleasant for the dog. Corrections may be verbal, as in the previously mentioned scolding. Corrections may also include force, such as seen in jerking the leash, hitting or kicking the dog. Particularly corrections using force may by themselves lead to stress, pain and/or fear (Schilder & Van der Borg, 2004; Haverbeke et al., 2008; Vieira de Castro et al., 2020) and thus cause welfare issues (Vieira de Castro et al., 2020). Additionally, welfare issues may arise from the dog aggressing in response to the corrections (Herron et al., 2009), resulting in higher relinquishment risk (Coe et al., 2014; Lambert et al., 2015). Not only aggression, but also the dog’s attention-seeking and fear levels related to owner–dog interactions (Blackwell et al., 2008). When owners avoided corrections, their dogs had low mean scores for attention-seeking, and fear (Blackwell et al., 2008). However, not just basing (training) interactions mainly on corrections comes with dog welfare risks. Also, owner–dog interactions characterised by frequent command giving, by inconsistency — that is owners responding to the same behaviour of the dog in different ways — and by a lack of interactions come with such risks. This was seen in frequent owner to dog command giving relating to the dog’s growling, snarling, snapping in response to the approach of a threatening stranger (Cimarelli et al., 2016). It was also seen in inconsistency in the owner–dog interactions relating to lower levels of dog obedience (Arhant et al., 2010). Lesser obedience in turn related to lesser dog ownership satisfaction and higher perceived costs of owning the dog, which may increase chances of dog relinquishment (Van Herwijnen et al., 2018a). Finally, a lack of owner–dog interactions seemed highly worrisome as yard-kept dogs — that were rarely interacted with — were involved relatively often in dog bite fatality cases, with detrimental outcomes for humans and dogs (Patronek et al., 2013).
Hence certain owner–dog interactions or characteristics thereof, may impede dog welfare through both direct and indirect mechanisms, with a likely critical role for undesired dog behaviour and its consequences. However, it is important to note that causal evidence from prospective studies is lacking today, as the described studies are based on associative hypotheses. There is a need for studies based on causal hypotheses. Also, presently few studies seem to address owner–dog interactions outside the setting of the dog’s training. This is surprising as the concept of owner–dog interactions is broad and includes more than training (Rooney & Cowan, 2011), as described in the introduction. It also identifies a gap in current science. We seem to know little on how dog welfare may be affected by owner–dog interactions in day-to-day settings, such as the dog’s guidance in the home or during walks. It is of value to know more on owner–dog interactions — including underpinning psychological aspects — as these may occur in everyday life situations. This may allow for pinpointing those owner–dog interactions that promote desired dog behaviours in everyday life as a prerequisite to prevent and mitigate dog welfare risks.
3. Education on owner–dog interactions
To promote owner–dog interactions that benefit dog welfare, education seems a logical route. Education can be defined as informing activities that aim to influence how a person thinks, feels and/or acts towards a certain topic (Wilkes & Bligh, 1999; Plomp & Nieveen, 2013). Attending classes at dog schools likely is the best-known form of education for dog owners, but these classes vary in their approach to educating dogs and owners (Deldalle & Gaunet, 2014; Vieira de Castro et al., 2020). Although education seems a logical route to influence owner–dog interactions, relatively few systematic evaluations on the effectiveness of owner–dog education have been done (Philpotts et al., 2019). Surprisingly, education on the important topic of preventing dog bites in children is studied rarely (Chapman et al., 2000; Duperrex et al., 2009; Meints & De Keuster, 2009). This although parents indicate interest in the topic (Dixon et al., 2012). On another topic, that of dog waste in public areas, a search of 53 databases and websites revealed no controlled trials or observational studies on educational effectiveness (Atenstaedt & Jones, 2011). In comparison to the study domain of caregiver–child the domain of owner–dog seems to lag behind for studying education and its effect (Pfaller-Sadovsky et al., 2019; Philpotts et al., 2019). Not only is the availability and comparability of studies lower for the domain of owner–dog than for caregiver–child (Pfaller-Sadovsky et al., 2019). Also, the available studies in the owner–dog domain focus on dog outcomes more so than owner outcomes of education (Pfaller-Sadovsky et al., 2019). Dog outcomes of owner–dog education often regard the dog’s levels of (un)desired behaviours and are mainly studied as dog school class attendance outcomes (e.g. Kutsumi et al., 2012; Deldalle & Gaunet, 2014; Kurachi & Irimajiri, 2019). Examples of owner outcomes could regard the owner’s competencies in day-to-day dog guidance, training, recognising the dog’s needs and the willingness to act upon those needs (Philpotts et al., 2019).
Even based on the available — dog outcome focussed — studies we can conclude that there is room for improvement of owner–dog education. This as these studies on dog school class attendance reported mixed results for dog outcomes. Positive outcomes showed as higher command response levels after following six weeks of classes (Kutsumi et al., 2012). Positive outcomes also showed in less undesired behaviours in young dogs that attended classes compared to those that did not (Thompson et al., 2010; Lord et al., 2020), and as lesser fear of fireworks and storms in class attendees (Kurachi & Irimajiri, 2019). However, another study did not find that class attendance significantly affected undesired behaviours (Blackwell et al., 2008). Also, with regard to dog aggressiveness, owners reported lower outcomes than expected after class attendance (Bennett et al., 2007). These mixed results indicate a need for improving owner–dog education.
Improvements may result from addressing not only the dog outcomes, but also the owner outcomes of owner–dog education; and for everyday life situations. One study did investigate owner outcomes, focussing on satisfaction with the training and the training facilities (Bennett et al., 2007). Interestingly, the participants in this study gave the highest importance not to outcomes of the dog’s behaviour (average score of 13 on a scale of 20), but to their own development in owner–dog interactions (score of 16; Bennett et al., 2007). Seemingly, dog owners attend dog schools in anticipation of owner outcomes and this may be in contrast with the apparent focus on dog outcomes.
This rare study on owner outcomes of owner–dog education indicates that there is much to learn about the owner outcomes of owner–dog education, including what owners expect to learn about their interactions with dogs. A recent review confirms that when presently education is offered to dog owners, it seems to lack individualization and underpinning by attending to psychological aspects of for instance the owner’s values, attitudes and beliefs (Philpotts et al., 2019). Taken together with the mixed results on dog outcomes, owner–dog education is therefore an interesting study topic if we aim to improve dog welfare. Studying owner–dog interactions in everyday life situations and addressing owner outcomes of the education may broaden our knowledge. Knowledge that next may contribute to an increased general willingness and ability to provide dogs with the necessary guidance and care and here the human caregiving system may play a role.
4. The dog as care receiver
Before presenting details on how the human caregiving system applies to owner–dog interactions, we need to know what the caregiving system encompasses in general. Caregiving as a behavioural system determines evolutionary success in several species (Bowlby, 1988; George & Solomon, 1999). This evolutionary success increases through young being cared for appropriately as care receivers. Appropriate care regards receiving sufficient resource supply and protection, whilst at the same time being allowed to explore and develop (Bowlby, 1988; George & Solomon, 1999).
In caregiving several hormones are involved. One such hormone is oxytocin, a hypothalamic neuropeptide (Rilling, 2013; Feldman, 2016; Feldman, 2017; Feldman & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2017). In humans, sensitive caregiving — contingent, reciprocating responses from caregiver to child — associates with oxytocin as seen for instance in maternal behaviours relating to nursing-induced oxytocin release and in parenting behaviours relating to plasma and salivary oxytocin levels in mothers and fathers (Rilling, 2013; Feldman & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2017). Dogs can trigger the release of oxytocin in humans (Nagasawa et al., 2009, 2015; Powell et al., 2019). Dog owners who had extended periods of eye contact with their dogs subsequently showed high levels of oxytocin in the urine (Nagasawa et al., 2009), suggesting that these dogs activated their owners’ oxytocin-based mechanisms (Odendaal & Meintjes, 2003; Nagasawa et al., 2015; Powell et al., 2019). When dogs trigger oxytocin release in humans, this may induce pleasant feelings. Pleasant feelings may for instance result from oxytocin affecting dopamine levels in the brain, resulting in reward experience (Rilling, 2013). Thus, providing sensitive care rewards caregivers by making them feel good (Feldman, 2016, 2017). Logically the dogs can benefit as well, through resource supply and protection.
However, paradoxically the caregiving system may backfire for some dogs. For example, owners of brachycephalic (‘flat-faced’)-phenotyped dogs experience high care rewards and this may make them opt for these features, regardless of the fact that brachycephaly is debilitating to dogs (Packer et al., 2017; Serpell, 2019). Owners of brachycephalic dogs such as the French Bulldog reported relatively high emotional closeness and attachment as compared to owners of non-brachycephalic dogs (Sandøe et al., 2017; Packer et al., 2019). Brachycephalic dogs have been claimed to reflect the caregiving eliciting features of the so-called ‘baby schema’ (Steinert et al., 2019). For dogs, this means bigger eyes and a larger space between the eyes, resulting in a flat face (Hecht & Horowitz, 2015). These flat-faced features evoke perceptions of cuteness (Little, 2012) as a possible caregiving elicitor (Borgi & Cirulli, 2016). Baby schema responses are apparently important to humans, as the sensitivity to the baby schema shows an early onset during human development (Borgi et al., 2014). It is likely that through the triggering of the caregiving system, flat-faced dogs make some people feel good. However, the dogs may not benefit as brachycephalic dogs can have severe breathing difficulties (Packer et al., 2012, 2015), become seriously ill and die relatively young (Collins et al., 2010; Nicholas et al., 2010). Such a backfiring potential of the human caregiving system for dog welfare is of interest and raises the question on how this system underpins the relationship in general and owner–dog interactions in particular.
The relevance of the caregiving system to owner–dog interactions has been hinted upon for decades: people view dogs as child-like and the care provided to both has a resemblance (Voith, 1985; Archer, 1997; Prato-Previde et al., 2003, 2006). As an example, several studies indicate how owners used higher pitched voices or so-called ‘infant-directed speech’ when interacting with their dogs (Burnham et al., 2002; Prato-Previde et al., 2006; Gergely et al., 2017). This although dog owners seemingly acknowledge that dogs do not need language tutoring and thus vowel hyper-articulation was not seen in dog-directed speech (Gergely et al., 2017). The similarities in speech directed at children and dogs indicate how the human caregiving system reflects in owner–dog interactions. Consequently, a role for the human caregiving system as a driver of owner–dog interactions seems logical. However, to date studies investigating this role in depth seem lacking. This may hamper early measures when owner–dog interactions lead to undesired dog behaviours and a risk to dog welfare. Therefore, it seems of interest to study how the human caregiving system may form a route to early measures that prevent such risks. Although many questions need answering, these studies could thus benefit the field of clinical ethology. A starting point could be formed by recently established dog-directed parenting styles.
5. Dog-directed parenting styles
Dog-directed parenting styles reflect long-term owner–dog interactions, also in everyday life situations (Van Herwijnen, 2018b). This works along the lines of parenting styles in the parent-child relationship. In this parent-child relationship four to seven different parenting styles are recognised and known to affect the child’s wellbeing and well-behavedness (Baumrind, 1967; Maccoby & Martin, 1983; Darling & Steinberg, 1993; Baumrind et al., 2010; Smetana, 2017). Of the styles, the authoritative parenting style related more so to children that were happy, capable and successful, with better parent-child relationships (Lamborn et al., 1991; Spera, 2005; Wissink et al., 2006; Simons & Conger, 2007; Hoeve et al., 2011; Wing Chan & Koo, 2011; Neel et al., 2018). Hence, this style is regarded as ‘appropriate’ or the ‘optimal’ parenting style (Baumrind et al., 2010). The authoritative parenting style reaches its outcomes by balancing the need for sufficient and appropriate demandingness with responsiveness. Demandingness serves to keep the care dependent safe and to teach it how to behave in a socially adapted manner. Responsiveness serves to provide the care dependent with what it needs and with sufficient developmental space.
Parenting styles alternative to this beneficial style of authoritativeness include the authoritarian and the permissive style (Baumrind, 2013). The authoritarian style is high in demandingness, but lacks responsiveness. The permissive style is its opposite as it is high in responsiveness, but lacking demandingness. When both demandingness and responsiveness are low to absent, the style is labelled as uninvolved (Baumrind, 2013). As alternative to the optimal authoritative parenting style, the other styles are often associated with negative outcomes for the child. For example, uninvolved parenting related directly to delinquency in two longitudinal studies (Hoeve et al., 2008, 2011) and to depression (Aunola et al., 2000). Authoritarian parenting related inversely to self-reliance, social and academic competence, and permissive parenting related inversely to school/work orientation, and directly to school misconduct and substance abuse (Lamborn et al., 1991). Because of these different outcomes, child-directed parenting styles can provide handles to guide people towards appropriate care, as seen in children benefitting from combined high levels of demandingness and responsiveness.
Dogs may likewise benefit from high levels of demandingness and responsiveness in the dog-directed parenting of their owners. With intraspecific care, it is known that guide dog outcomes differ depending on how a dam nursed the guide dog as a puppy (Bray et al., 2017). A nursing style that was demanding as in requiring more efforts of the puppies, related to dogs that were more successful in completing the guide dog program, possibly through these dogs being better problem solvers and less anxious (Bray et al., 2017). If intraspecific care affects dog outcomes, interspecific care may also affect dog outcomes — such as of desired behaviour — but presently studies into this topic seem scarce. If dogs would do better with certain styles of dog-directed parenting, then dog owners could be motivated to adopt these styles as a way to improve owner–dog interactions. Such recently identified dog-directed parenting styles (Van Herwijnen et al., 2018b) need to be studied further, but may be a good way to identify a best mode of caregiving for dog owners. So far, three dog-directed parenting styles were identified in a sample of 518 Dutch dog owners (Van Herwijnen et al., 2018b). The styles resembled the original child-directed parenting styles, but were not identical to these. The resemblance between parenting styles directed at child or dog was greatest for the authoritarian style (rs = 0.6, p < 0.001, N = 518). For the authoritative parenting style the correlation was rs = 0.5 (p < 0.001, N = 518), and for the permissive parenting style rs = 0.4 (p < 0.001, N = 518; for the 32-item parenting style questionnaire; Van Herwijnen et al., 2018b). The differences between child- and dog-directed parenting styles may in part mirror how owners view their dogs (Van Herwijnen et al., 2020a). The authoritarian style was characterized by a focus on correcting the dog’s undesirable behaviours through use of verbal corrections (e.g. shouting) or physical corrections (e.g., a kick or slap; Van Herwijnen et al., 2018b). It was therefore labelled as the authoritarian-correction orientated style. Next to reflecting high demandingness in correcting the dog’s undesirable behaviour, it was characterized by the owner’s need to dominate the dog (Van Herwijnen et al., 2018b, 2020a). Two other dog-directed parenting styles in the study (Van Herwijnen et al., 2018b) were like the original child-directed authoritative parenting style. The authoritative-intrinsic value orientated parenting style of high responsiveness focused on the dog’s emotions and needs, and tended to humanize the dog (Van Herwijnen et al., 2018b, 2020a). The authoritative-training orientated parenting style of high demandingness and high responsiveness focused on teaching the dog how to behave without dominating or humanizing it (Van Herwijnen et al., 2018b, 2020a).
Views related to dominating or humanizing the dog factoring into dog-directed parenting to a higher or lesser degree may not only make the parenting of dogs different from the parenting of children. Such views factoring into dog-directed parenting may also have consequences for owner–dog education. This as generally strong views and beliefs affect information uptake and processing (Rollwage et al., 2020). Information tends to be ignored when it is not in line with one’s views and beliefs (Frey, 1982; Case et al., 2005; Harmon-Jones et al., 2015). This process is known as cognitive dissonance (Frey, 1982; Case et al., 2005; Harmon-Jones et al., 2015). If educational information contrasts a person’s views or beliefs, cognitive dissonance may lower the uptake and processing of the information (Greenebaum, 2010). Such a contrast may be more likely when owners parent the dog to a higher degree correction orientated or emotion/needs orientated. Interestingly, the third authoritative-training orientated style was not seen related to strong views on dogs (Van Herwijnen et al., 2020a). If this training orientated style is indeed unhindered by strong views, owners characterized by it may be less susceptible to cognitive dissonance processes. A question for future studies to address is therefore if directing dog owners towards this parenting style could strengthen the uptake and processing of the information on dogs that is provided during owner–dog education.
6. Discussion
In this narrative review, we discuss how addressing the human caregiving system — for instance through targeting dog-directed parenting styles — may benefit owner–dog interactions. This would follow learnings from child-directed parenting programs, such as the Triple P Positive Parenting Program®, that targets parental knowledge/skills, child behaviour/wellbeing and the parent-child relationship (De Graaf et al., 2008a,b; Nowak & Heinrichs, 2008; Fletcher et al., 2011; Wilson et al., 2012; Tellegen & Sanders, 2013; Sanders et al., 2014). The Triple P Positive Parenting Program® does not target parenting styles directly, but it is embedded in psychological, social learning, behavioural cognition and development theories (Sanders, 1999). The program aims to improve care provision in the parent–child relationship, including the underpinning levels of demandingness and responsiveness. Similar educational programs for dog owners are lacking, even though addressing levels of demandingness and responsiveness is acknowledged as relevant in classes at dog schools. Historically, these classes were orientated towards correctional methods and thus demanding, but in recent years they have begun to focus more on responsiveness towards the dogs (Hiby et al., 2004; Greenebaum, 2010; Ziv, 2017). Assessing dog owners’ parenting styles accords with this development and child-directed parenting programs that have been extensively studied can be used as a starting point for developing and testing new owner–dog education. It could be effective to target both the parenting of child and dog in families where both reside, with education designed, developed and tested by multidisciplinary teams that combine human and dog expertise.
So far, three dog-directed parenting styles were established in a sample of presumed highly engaged dog owners (Van Herwijnen et al., 2018b). Two styles related to an owner’s need to dominate the dog or to humanize the dog, while the third seemed unhindered by such views (Van Herwijnen et al., 2020a). This third style related to the dog’s looking at the owner more (Van Herwijnen et al., 2020b). This is of interest, as the dog’s looking at the owner comes with attentiveness that may facilitate desired behaviours and/or prevent the development of undesired behaviours in the dog (McGreevy et al., 2017; Payne et al., 2017). The study that hinted on the thus beneficial dog-directed parenting style involved 41 owners which were likely highly engaged with their dog ownership (Van Herwijnen et al., 2020b). These owners navigated with their dogs a course with distractions and spent break-time together. The study was based on associative hypotheses. Therefore, studies based on causal hypotheses are warranted for dog-directed parenting styles affecting owner–dog interactions. Also, it remains undetermined to which extent other parenting styles, such as of permissive or uninvolved parenting apply to the owner–dog relationship. Studying the latter, may require the recruitment of less highly engaged dog owners. Lastly, future studies need to investigate if and how dog-directed parenting styles may be effectively addressed in owner–dog education. The ultimate aim is to prevent undesired dog behaviours by improving owner–dog interactions and the education targeting these interactions.
7. Conclusions
There is a great opportunity for helping dog owners to assimilate and use the vast amount of valuable scientific knowledge on dog cognition. The human caregiving system may play a role in the assimilation of such knowledge. Gaining insight into this possible role may present us with new ways to help dog owners become knowledgeable and skilled care providers for the dog. If we succeed, we could counter some of today’s problems with dog ownership, such as undesired dog behaviours and shelter relinquishment. We should care enough about dogs to study in greater depth how to take the best care of them. Dog-directed parenting styles may form an interesting starting point to study how the human caregiving system can affect the interactions between owners and their dogs.
Author’s e-mail address: ineke@hondenbescherming.nl
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