Evaluating the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) to assess the bond between dogs and humans.

ABSTRACT: The Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) is increasingly being used to study attachment between dogs and humans. It has been developed from the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure, which is used extensively to investigate attachment between children and their parents. In this experiment, 12 female beagle dogs were tested in two treatments to identify possible order effects in the test, a potential weakness in the SSP. In one treatment (FS), dogs participated together with a 'familiar person' and a 'stranger'. In a control treatment (SS), the same dogs participated together with two unfamiliar people, 'stranger A' and 'stranger B'. Comparisons were made between episodes within as well as between treatments. As predicted in FS, dogs explored more in the presence of the familiar person than th

SUBMITTER: Rehn T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3577677 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature