Why Do People Choose a Particular Dog? A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Factors Owners Consider Important When Acquiring a Dog, on a Convenience Sample of Austrian Pet Dog Owners.

ABSTRACT: Selecting a dog that is incompatible with the owner's expectations can negatively impact both parties. Previous studies on dog acquisition have primarily focused on shelter environments, using closed-ended questions to assess hypothetical preferences. In contrast, our study employed open-ended questions with a convenience sample of Austrian dog owners (N = 1077) to retrospectively explore why the owners chose their dogs. We also examined consistency in owners' responses and the influence of owner characteristics (age, education, household composition, previous dog experience, purpose of acquisition) on their reasons. Content analysis revealed 24 codes; the frequency of codes was 2.4/response. The most frequent codes were breed-based choice (29%), choosing on a whim, without careful conside

SUBMITTER: Udvarhelyi-Toth KM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11428747 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature