Decision Support System for Selection of Dog
Breeds
Phie Chyan
Department of Informatics
Faculty of Information Technology –
Atma Jaya University of Makassar
Makassar, Indonesia
phie_chyan@lecturer.uajm.ac.id
Abstract—This research has produced a Decision Support
System (DSS) that can assist in decision making with the ability
to analyze the compatibility assessment of dog breeds with
respect to its prospective adopters. This decision support
system uses The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) modeling
which each criterion was based on dog breeds attributes. The
process of using AHP model is a). Make pairwise comparison
matrix, b). Calculate priority value for each criterion, c). Make
pairwise matrix of subcriterion respected to its criterion, d).
Calculate the priority value of each subcriterion and form
calculation using AHP. The combination between criterion,
subcriterion, and intensity based on official dog breeds data
from the FCI (Fédération Cynologique Internationale) as the
World Canine Organization and prospective adopter
preferences will allow the system to produce a ranking for each
dog breed based on compatibility with the adopter’s
preferences. This ranking can be used as a basis of the
recommendation for the decision maker to choose what kind of
breeds that match with their preference and needs.
Keywords—dog breed, Decision Support System (DSS),
expert system, dog adopter, dog kennel
I. INTRODUCTION
Dogs are mammals that have been domesticated from
wolves since 15,000 years ago or may have been since
100,000 years ago based on genetic evidence in the form of
fossil discoveries and many studies involved DNA tests
reveal the history of the domestication of dogs in the many
human culture and civilization. The dog has developed into
hundreds of races with different variations, ranging from the
dog's height a few tens of centimeters as the Chihuahua to
the Irish Wolfhound whose height is more than one meter
[1]. Dog hair color can be varied, ranging from white to
black, also red, gray (often called "blue"), and chocolate. In
addition, dogs have different hair types, ranging from very
short to the length can reach several centimeters. Dog hair
can be straight or curly, and coarse-textured to soft like wool.
The study of matters related to canines or domestic dog is
called cynology (from the Dutch language, kynologie).
Dogs are social animals like humans. The closeness of
the relationship between humans and dogs as pets can be
seen in these animals a variety of roles in society [2]. Certain
species of dogs have their respective roles, among others, are
trained as sniffer dogs to help the task force, which helps
owners of hunting dogs in hunting, helping shepherd dog
breeders in animal herding, guard dog, guide dog up as a pet
to accompany their owners [3]. Selection of dog breed for
various purposes needs knowledge from prospective dog
owner to know the nature and characteristics of the dog
breed. Selection of an incompatible dog breed can cause a
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variety of problems both to the animal itself and to other
living things around it. In addition it is certainly still a lot of
other things that must be considered by prospective dog
owners in choosing the breed type of pet dogs in accordance
with the needs and supporting conditions, among others,
large size dog's body, level of intelligence, the ability to be
trained, the type of care needed, behavioral characteristics,
life span and so on.
The purpose of this study is to build decision support
system using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model to
help solve the unstructured problem like dog breed selection
that suits the needs and preferences of prospective adopter
[4]. The benefits of this research for kennel owners and pet
stores is to help customers who want to adopt a dog. With the
decision support system, the kennel and pet stores can more
easily help the customers to choose the type of breed that is
compatible for adoption based on their preferences.
II. METHODOLOGY
The primary data sources in this study are coming from
the internal and external source. Internal data is data that
comes from official organizations that oversee breeding and
research in dog breeds, namely the Fédération Cynologique
Internationale (FCI) and the American Kennel Club (AKC).
The data is obtained by accessing the literature and website
of the organization which includes data on every purebred of
dog breed that has been recognized and many other attributes
including its physical aspects and personality [5]. External
data is data that comes from surveys conducted on dog
experts, dog lovers community, dog kennel and care shop
owner and experienced dog breeders from dog kennels. The
data obtained include their individual preferences for certain
dog breed and what criteria they use in choosing to maintain
or breed certain breeds of dogs. All data collected then
analyzed to form data structures and then the database
system will be generated, which is also called the database
management system. This database management system is
used to support the decision support systems. This data is
then accumulated and analyzed to be used in determining all
the criteria that are generally used by dog lovers in choosing
dog breed and the data will then be stored in the system as
criteria and sub-criteria in the decision support system for
dog breed selection.
The collected data is used to build a decision support
system. Modeling used in decision support systems as in
Figure 1 with the support of data and model management
with AHP model able to do mathematical calculations so as
to produce outputs that can provide an overview and
consideration to prospective dog adopters in choosing a dog
breed that matches their preferences [6].
 










 

Fig. 1. Decision Support System Model of Dog Breed Selection
III. RESULT
Assesment analysis of the breed selection is done by
classifying dogs variables that determine decision-making,
which in this study based on a purebred dog literature studies
and survey within the observer and dog breeder. Within this
study were obtained and determined 8 criterion and 7
subcriterion used in choosing a breed that consists of:
• Intelligence criteria - how dogs can obey orders and
learn to understand new commands [7]. This criterion has 2
subcriterion which is compliance (obedience) and potentially
to be trained (trainability).
• Hygiene criteria - the frequency of a dog produces
waste that is natural or out of control of itself, namely
shedding and drolling. This criterion has 2 subcriterion
which is loss-free (non-Shedding) and Saliva free (non-
drolling).
• Ease of maintenance criteria - how much need for a
specific dog according to the breed type requires special care
outside of daily care, the special care referred here is
grooming (dog hair care) and nail trimming (dog nail care).
• Friendliness criteria - how much the level of
aggressiveness of a dog naturally have to the subject
(humans and other animals) that it just recognized, the mild
aggressive behavior is characterized by barking to severe
aggressive behavior characterized by the tendency to attack
the subject it just knew.
• Adaptability criteria – how well the level of dog
adaptability to other species and new environment. This
criterion has 2 subcriteria which is the adaptation to humans /
other animal and adaptation to a new environment.
• Popularity criteria - Popularity is rated based on the
ranks of the most popular race dogs issued by FCI / AKC,
this ranking is released and updated annually based on
registration of genealogy and surveys.
• Long life expectancy (longevity) criteria - the long life
expectancy of a breed dog, according to study, every dog has
a life expectancy that varies between 5 years - 15 years
depending on the breed type [8].
• Impression criteria - adopter-oriented criteria that
explain the level of the impression of prospective adopters on
the type of breed to be adopted (usually physically).
Each criterion and subcriterion has the same degree of
intensity which is High, Medium, and Low so that it can be
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modeled in a hierarchical structure using the AHP (Analytic
Hierarchy Process) model used in management model of this
decision support system.
Data is entered into the system through data input form
breed. The data included in the dog breed with the pure breed
and registered in AKC or FCI, currently, there are 175 breed
types recognized by FCI. The results of the entry of dog
breed data are presented in Figure 2.
Fig. 2. List of Dog Breeds
Criterion, subcriterion and intensity data entered via data
input form criteria, sub-criteria, and intensity respectively, in
this research, there are 8 default criteria used for selecting
dog breed. The three criterion have a total of 7 subcriterion
by default, and last, the intensity has 3 default levels as
shown in figure 3. After the system got the default data from
the data entry process by the system administrator, then the
system is ready to be used to assist users in the decision
making process. An example of a case study in a pet shop, a
prospective dog-adopter customer is looking for two of pet
dogs, the first dog is intended to help to herd and guarding
livestock, and the second dog is planned as to be a pet in a
house that is expected to have the clean criteria and friendly
to the owner’s family member and guest and also can
accompany with other pet animals in the house like cat and
rabbit. Based on the analysis carried out on the needs of
prospective dog adopters, the following formula is obtained.
The first dog breed choice that is intended as prospective
herders and cattle keepers, it is necessary to have a dog that
is easily trained, able to live in the open, independent (not
too dependent on humans), and finally has a vigilant nature
and regional domination. Based on these characteristics,
required weight criteria must be set to place the criteria of
intelligence as the highest priority and adaptability as the
second highest priority while the friendliness criteria are not
prioritized (minimum).
The second dog breed choice that is intended as ordinary
pets whose main function is channeling hobbies or playmates
for a prospective adopter, usually prospective adopter choose
a dog based on their impression of the dog (physical beauty)
subjectively, other than that the criteria of cleanliness and
friendliness are also a priority, so based on desirable traits,
we can set the required weight set criteria to place
impression criteria as a criterion with top priority followed
by hygiene criteria and friendliness criteria as the second and
third highest priority respectively.
 










 


Fig. 6. Criterion Priority Rank for Smart Dog Breed

Fig. 3. Default Data of Criterion, Sub-criterion, and Intensity

After recognizing the dog breed criteria desired by the

Fig. 7. Criterion Priority Rank for Hobbies Dog Breed
prospective adopter. System users in this case the pet shop
manager can use decision support system assistance to
The next process after all the criterion’s weight priority,
choose the appropriate dog breed. System users can choose
sub-criteria, and intensity have been obtained in the previous
one from many available preset categories of dog breed on
process are calculating all of these weights to dog breeds
the system. Each preset selected has each weighting set for
alternatives to get the total value and percentage of the dog's
criteria and subcriteria. In figure 4 and figure 5 presented a
compatibility against the certain preference set by user
pairwise criteria matrix for each weighting preset for the
preset. The system will then provide recommendations
smart dog category and the hobbies dog category and then
according to the category preset selected based on the total
along with pairwise matrix from its subcriterion (if any) and
accumulative value of each dog breed and as a result, three
pairwise matrix for intensity, we can get criterion’s priority
dog breed with the highest compatibility score will be
ranking with weighting value for each of criterion as shown
recommended to the user as shown in Figure 8 and Figure 9.
in figure 6 and 7.

Fig. 8. Smart Dog Recommended by the System

Fig. 4. Pairwise Matrix for Smart Dog Preset

Fig. 5. Pairwise Matrix for Hobbies Dog Preset Fig. 9. Hobbies Dog Recommended by the System

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IV. CONCLUSION
This decision support system for dog breed selection is
capable to help prospective dog adopters to be able to choose
the kind of dog breed that is suitable for their preference. But
it should be remembered that the results of the system
recommendations are not final but only as assistance to
decision makers. The final decision remains with the
decision maker with all its considerations. The system is
supported by AHP-based modeling that provides good
results but to get results with a better degree, more complex
modeling can be applied.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author would like to thank DRPM of Indonesian
ministry of research, technology and higher education
(DIKTI) for kindly providing funding through PPT research
grant.
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