December 31, 2019

Audience: Executive Leadership, Foster Caregivers, Public, Shelter/Rescue Staff & Volunteers, Veterinary Team

Organization: Oregon State University
Investigator(s): Monique Udell, PhD
Grant Amount: $26,652.00
Project Type: Phase 1
Project Status: Research Complete

Project Summary

This Oregon State University study examined attachment relationships between adoptable dogs and foster volunteers caring for them. Dogs in foster care showed similar patterns of attachment to their caretakers when compared with pet dogs in prior studies, which was not the case for dogs living in the shelter. Furthermore, the study examined attachment styles in relation to cognitive, behavioral and survey measures. Foster dogs with secure attachments displayed higher levels of persistence and performance on cognitive tasks compared to foster dogs with insecure attachments. The survey given to foster and shelter volunteers found that securely attached dogs were rated as less neurotic than insecurely attached dogs for both foster and shelter groups.

Objective(s)

The objective of the project was: to evaluate if the development of a secure attachment base is beneficial to foster dogs and is associated with better long-term outcomes.

Methods

Twenty-one foster dogs and 31 shelter dogs participated in the study. Foster participants included 20 foster parent volunteers. Shelter participants included 20 shelter volunteers who interacted with dogs regularly as part of their volunteer duties.

The investigators used several validated tests (including Canine Behavioral Assessment & Research Questionnaire, Monash Canine Personality Questionnaire-Revised, spatial discrimination and a pointing task) to assess dogs and their caregivers. Results were examined in relation to a parallel study looking at attachment relationships between dogs living in a shelter and shelter volunteers, as well as previously published data from pet dogs in order to contextualize the findings.

Results

  • Out of ten total trials of a pointing task, foster dogs with secure attachments to a foster volunteer completed a median of 5 trials, compared to dogs with insecure attachments that completed a median of 0, indicating greater task persistence in secure dogs
  • Foster dogs with secure attachments showed higher scores on the pointing task with median percent correct of 50%, compared to insecure foster dogs with median score of 0%
  • Across both shelter and foster dogs, insecure dogs scored significantly higher on the MCPQ-R neuroticism scale, with a mean score of 0.53, than secure dogs with a mean score of 0.34

Conclusions

These results suggest that attachment relationships are associated with important behavioral and cognitive traits in dogs, and that dogs in foster care exhibit attachment patterns more similar to the pet dog population, which could have implications for adoption and well-being.

More research is needed to determine the causal nature of these findings, something that could inform applied work aimed at establishing secure attachments and other positive welfare outcomes. However, these results lend support to the idea that the development of a strong secure bond, between foster/shelter volunteers and dogs in their care, corresponds with positive welfare outcomes.