ArticleAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI2020
Quantitative Behavioral Analysis and Qualitative Classification of Attachment Styles in Domestic Dogs: Are Dogs with a Secure and an Insecure-Avoidant Attachment Different?
Article in Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Rethinking dog stress behaviours: contextual and physiological insights from the attachment framework.The veterinary quarterly · 2026Article
- A Conceptual Framework for the Co-Construction of Human-Dog Dyadic Relationship.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Review
- Human-Chelonian Bond in Italy: An Exploratory Study of Pet Turtle and Tortoise Ownership.Veterinary sciences · 2025Article
- Hierarchy-Dependent Behaviour of Dogs in the Strange Situation Test: High-Ranking Dogs Show Less Stress and Behave Less Friendly with a Stranger in the Presence of Their Owner.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Article
- A Multidimensional Evaluation of the Factors in the Animal Welfare Assessment Grid (AWAG) That Are Associated with, and Predictive of, Behaviour Disorders in Dogs.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- The Power Is in the Word-Do Laypeople Interpret Descriptors of Dog Emotional States Correctly?Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Physiological Indicators of Acute and Chronic Stress in Securely and Insecurely Attached Dogs Undergoing a Strange Situation Procedure (SSP): Preliminary Results.Veterinary sciences · 2022Article
- Development of the Dog Attachment Insecurity Screening Inventory (D-AISI): A Pilot Study on a Sample of Female Owners.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Article
- Anthropomorphism and Its Adverse Effects on the Distress and Welfare of Companion Animals.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Review
- The Impact of Chronic Inflammatory Enteropathy on Dogs' Quality of Life and Dog-Owner Relationship.Veterinary sciences · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Since several modified Strange Situation Procedures (SSP) have been used to investigate dog-to-owner attachment, in this study two different samples of dog-owner dyads underwent two modified versions of the SSP. Dogs' attachment style to the owner was assessed based on a novel adaptation of the attachment pattern classification used for infant-caregivers. Dogs' behavioral data were collected using continuous sampling and, in the second protocol, also with a scoring system for greeting and social play. In both studies, secure and avoidant dogs' behavior was compared using the Mann Whitney test, while differences within each group across episodes were analyzed using the Wilcoxon paired sample test. The classification seemed to be effective at identifying both avoidant and secure attachment patterns in dogs. As expected, differences in key attachment behaviors, such as proximity/contact seeking toward the caregiver, between secure and avoidant dogs were more evident in the final episodes of the test. Differently from secure dogs, avoidant dogs did not show an increase in proximity/contact seeking behavior with the caregiver in any of the procedures. Further studies with larger samples are needed to support the effectiveness of this classification and investigate on the remaining attachment styles.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.