Barriers to and Drivers of Responsible Dog Ownership
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Companion Animals".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 30392
Special Issue Editors
Interests: animal behavior; animal welfare; animal health; companion animals; dogs; elephants; rabbits; cats
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: animal ethics; applied animal behavior; animal welfare; cats; dogs; international and sustainable development in animal management; shelter behaviour; societal representation of animals
Special Issue Information
The domestic dog is one of the most popular companion animal species worldwide, generating significant scientific interest in a broad range of topics, such as genetics, cognition, welfare, and the human–animal bond. An ever-increasing evidence base has highlighted several areas of concern, including those relating to the impact of responsible dog ownership (e.g., including, but not limited to: meeting the legal requirements of dog ownership, ensuring the dog is sourced ethically, attending to their physical and mental needs according to the Five Domains of animal welfare, preventing harm to others by their dog), or lack thereof, on the physical and behavioural health of dogs. However, despite this, extensive research reports generated by leading animal welfare organisations suggest that substantial welfare concerns still exist, with important dog welfare needs often not being fully met or being threatened by such factors as irresponsible breeding and high demand for puppies, and unethical training and husbandry. In order to facilitate improvements in dog welfare, and safer dog–human interactions, there is a need to promote human behaviour change in how we live with and interact with the dogs in our care.
Effective strategies to promote human behaviour change for improved dog welfare require a solid evidence base. Key knowledge gaps in this field include barriers and drivers for: acquiring dogs from responsible sources; the provision of opportunities to express normal behaviour (such as opportunities for social interactions and olfactory exploration); recognising and addressing early signs of problematic or welfare-related behaviour changes; ensuring appropriate socialisation, habituation and other relevant preventative behavioural husbandry practices, particularly in relation to vet visits and cooperative care handling.
Original manuscripts that address the barriers to and drivers of any of these areas of responsible dog ownership are welcomed for this Special Issue. We would particularly encourage those that explore the development of impactful intervention plans that are likely to be adopted across relevant stakeholder groups, as well as strategies that raise the level of public empathy towards dogs.
Dr. Naomi Harvey
Dr. Jenna Kiddie
Dr. Robert Christley
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- domestic dog
- acquisition
- behaviour
- human–animal interactions
- human behaviour change
- responsible dog ownership
- animal welfare
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