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Ryan Gonzales
Professor Lynda Haas
Writing 39C
26 April 2015

Fixed Organization/Coherence
Fixed Grammar or Formatting
Added Examples

Dogs and how they Positively Affect their Owners: A Review of the Scientific Literature

According to the American Pet Products Association (APPA), about thirty-seven percent
to forty-seven percent of all households in the United States own a dog, which is
approximately seventy to eighty million. This settles the dog as the third most popular pet in
America behind the freshwater fish and the cat (Figure 1). Leslie Irvine, sociologist and
professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, suggest that "several biological and behavioral
factors predisposed dogs to fit easily within human groups" in her book, If You Tame Me:
Understanding Our Connection with Animals (15).

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Figure 1. Pet Ownership in US. www.theatlantic.com

With a vast amount of pet dogs spanning across numerous households and having an
incomparable relationship with humans, it is undeniable that these dogs will have some great
effect on their owners. Dr. James Serpell, professor and researcher of Animal Ethics and Welfare
at the University of Pennsylvania, augments Irvine's examination in his book, The Domestic
Dog: Its Evolution, Behavior, and Interactions with People, by presenting the results of a
scientific study that tested to see who represented the participant's most significant relationship
through a technique called the "Family Life Space Diagram". The experiment's outcome came to
many of the surveyed individuals putting their dogs closer to them than any of their family
members (163). The majority of scientific research in this area concludes that, the most evident
effect on humans who have canine relationships is owner responsibility and companionship. I
will be using findings from scholars Leslie Irvine, James Serpell, Vanessa May, Randall
Lockwood, Frank R. Ascione, Lynette A. Hart, Gail Clark, and William Boyer to describe these
effects. All of these scholars are established in the field of animal research due to their profound

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discoveries.

In their entitled "The effects of dog obedience training and behavioral counseling upon
the human-canine relationship," canine-human relationship researchers at Colorado State
University, animal behaviorist Gail Clark and psychologist William Boyer, observed thirty dogowning participants, ages twenty-one to sixty-nine; these participants were separated into three
groups: The obedience group, the time instructed group, and the no instruction group. The
obedience group was given specific training and instructions of how to take care of their dog, the
time instructed group was told to spend twenty minutes a day with their dog, and the no
instruction group was given no tasks. The experiment resulted in the obedience group having the
most obedient dogs and having the closest relationship. However, both the time and non
instructed groups had mediocre results with sub-par relationships and obedience with their dogs.
The most interesting detail to note of this experiment is the specific care the obedience owners
had to give their dog. Therefore, canines have to be given constant care and training in order to
build compliance with their owner (147). James Serpell agrees with this conclusion; in his own
research, he found dogs "tend to be active during the daytime when people are active and, with
appropriate training, they refer to us as dominant social partners" (164).

Clark's and Boyer's experiment, along with Serpell's findings, also reference the specific
affect dogs have on their owners' behavior: responsibility. Dogs require special care from
humans in order for them to build a strong bond; their affection does not simply come
unconditionally as many people may think. In Cruelty to Animals and Interpersonal Violence:
Readings in Research and Application, by animal ethics researcher and sociologist Randall

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Lockwood, and professor at the University of Denver and animal abuse researcher, Frank
Ascione, they summarize numerous cases and studies of animal abuse from owners and families.
In these cases, there was one result that constantly recurred: if owners abused the dogs or did not
show proper affection, the dogs were afraid of their owners (110). If one were to leave their dog
alone for two weeks in their home, the dog would most likely have issues caring for itself. In her
book, Sociology of a Personal Life, sociologist at the University of Manchester, Vanessa May,
states, "Others argue that seeing pets simply as furry babies means that owners may fail to care
appropriately for their pets, since animals needs (for social interaction, stimulation, exercise and
food) can be very different to those of humans" (90). Humans have to take great care of their
pets in order to form such a strong bond. However, how exactly does having the responsibility of
a pet effect the owners?

Figure 2. Average annual expenditures on pets by household composition. www.bls.gov

Figure two shows the amount, in millions, specific household compositions spend on
their pets. What matters from this chart is not necessarily the compositions, but rather the amount
spent. This shows that many owners feel responsible for their pets and are willing to buy the
necessary items to care for their pet. This idea can be explained by veterinary population health
researcher at the University of California, Davis, Lynette A. Hart's findings. The book, The
Waltham Book of Human-animal Interaction: Benefits of Pet Ownership, contains Hart's essay,

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"The Role of Pets in Enhancing Human Well-being: Effects for Older People." Hart states, "The
widespread ownership of pets among people of various ages and the effort and money spent on
behalf of pets suggests that a majority of owners derive a significant benefit from their
companionship" (19). The significance of Hart's findings is that it shows a correlation between
responsibility and companionship. As owners develop a greater bond with their pet, they begin to
feel more responsible for them. Leslie Irvine brings up a common theory on pet-human
relationship called "The Deficiency Argument" that helps augments Hart's findings. "One
explanation of the appeal of dogs and cats maintains that our relationships with them are
surrogates for the relationships that we should have with other people (see Shepard 1978, 1996).
In this view, humananimal relationships are distorted and deficient substitutes for human
human relationships. I call this the deficiency argument, because it assumes that people who
enjoy the company of animals lack the qualities or skills that would allow them to enjoy human
company" (Irvine 17-18). The main correlation between Irvine's explanation and Hart's
observation is the matter of the incomparable bond humans and pet dogs share. Many owners
will unquestionably buy expensive necessities for their dogs due to their uniquely felt
responsibility. Owners having this responsibility eventually build stronger relationships and
effects them in a stronger way: companionship.

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Figure 3 It's a Pet's Life. www.pinterest.com

Figure three shows results of a survey from numerous pet owners. This infographic
shows concern for pet owners obsessing over their pets. One of the questions include: "Do you
feel you put your pet's needs above your family?". As Irvine, Clark, and Boyer explains, it seems
that, when properly cared for, pets give a form of love and affection that no other human can
give. James Serpell's explains this further, "A further important asset of dogs, although it is one
they share in common with other pets, is that they lack the power of speech and are therefore
unable to offer advice, judgment or criticism. Nevertheless, they are affectionate and empathic
so their friendship tends to be seen as sincere, reliable, and trustworthy, while at the same time
lacking many of the threats associated with human friendships (Serpell, 1986a)" (Serpell 164).
What's quite intriguing is how Lockwood's and Ascione's findings augment Serpell's findings.
They found that when an individual was lonely and untrustworthy to other humans, many would
turn straight to their pet dogs to vent or tell secrets and feelings to (Lockwood and Ascione

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117). Though an extreme example, Lockwood and Ascione referenced to people in jail and
patients in asylums. Many of these jailers and patients admitted that they were loners, indifferent,
or insecure when they were younger. They were afraid to vent out their feelings to family or
other human beings. Their reasoning for holding everything in was due to their fear of judgment
from anyone else. This led to many of these jailers and patients to adopt a dog in their life. They
were able to tell their dog anything and still feel loved. It gave them an outlet that made them
feel happier. The significance of Lockwood's and Ascione's observation is that it shows that pet
dogs can give their owners a non-judging, friendly, and trustworthy companion. Their
observation greatly ties in with Serpell's findings, proving how pet dogs can indeed provide a
source of companionship without the fear of betrayal or appraisal.

Figure 4. A new type of companionship. www.dailymail.co.uk

What can be taken from this research is that dog owners are effected by dog ownership in
terms of finding a new, incomparable companionship and responsibility in their lives. An

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example is that, for humans, kisses are reserved for the ones that are truly loved and respected.
As seen in figure four, it is not uncommon to see the owner kiss their dog. This emotional bond
is something far more unique compared to that of standard human relationships. The
findings Leslie Irvine, James Serpell, Vanessa May, Randall Lockwood, Frank R. Ascione,
Lynette A. Hart, Gail Clark, and William Boyer all show pet dog's positive effects on their
owners. Though dogs are not the most owned pet in America, they are the most popular for being
known as man's best friend. From all the information found from these studies, it can be said that
dog owners can actually "love" their pet.

Works Cited

- Clark, Gail I., and William N. Boyer. "The Effects of Dog Obedience Training and

Behavioural Counselling upon the Human-Canine Relationship 'http://www.sciencedirect.com/.

Elsevier B.V., 2 Oct. 2003. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

- Frank R. Ascione and Lockwood, Randall. Cruelty to Animals and Interpersonal

Violence: Readings in Research and Application.

- Irvine, Leslie. If You Tame Me: Understanding Our Connection with

Animals. Philadelphia: Temple UP,2004. 12-32.

- May, Vanessa, and Wendy Bottero. Sociology of Personal Life. Houndmills, Basingstoke,

Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print.

- Serpell, James. The Domestic Dog: Its Evolution, Behavior, and Interactions with People.

Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995. Print.

-Robinson, I. The Waltham Book of Human-animal Interaction: Benefits of Pet Ownership.

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New York: Pergamon, 1995. Print.