What are the expectations of a person who adopt a dog? A survey among Italian residents for promoting the adoption of shelter dogs

Introduction Prevailing feeling of Italians towards animals is positive and based on respect, and 20% of Italians own at least one dog1. Reasons to adopt a pet are not utilitarian but rather related to a process of interrelationship, which Marchesini2 classified in 6 macro-areas: Affective, Recreational, Hedonic, Social, Epistemic, and Affiliative. However, each year more than 100000 dogs enter shelter in Italy3, and a number of these animals return after adoption. This results in high public costs and compromised dogs’ welfare. Dog’s behavioural problems and lack of owner fulfilment are cause of relinquishment and abandonment4. Identification of “ideal dog” can be the first step to link people's expectations and shelter dogs to increase adoptions and reduce relinquishments. Aim The aim was to identify characteristics important to the Italian residents in their ideal dog. Materials and Methods Two sections (C and E) of a questionnaire developed by King et al.4 were administered to 770 volunteers residents in Italy, aged 18-64 years. Most of the participants were women (74%) and dog owners (66%). In addition to demographic data, participants were asked to indicate 5 characteristics important in their ideal dog with an open-ended question. Answers were classified in macro-areas according to the relational dimensions proposed by Marchesini2. Data were analysed by Mann-Whitney or Kruskal-Wallis test. Conclusions The highest number of desirable characteristics were included in Affiliative (33%) and Affective macro-area (27%), like “loving”, “looking for me”, "obedient", and "faithful". People want from their dog mainly an interchange similar to a parental relationship, based on loyalty and constant presence, reciprocal protection and reassurance. Previous researches4,6 indicated that training courses emphasize these desired traits increasing obedience, sociability, owner-dog attachment and reducing behavioural problems. Conversely, answers included in Epistemic motivations, like “communicative”, were poorly represented (5%). In Epistemic area, human see the pet as “cognitive activator”2, implying empathy and knowledge. Lack of understanding of dog behaviour can contribute to relationship breakdowns7 while, in our opinion, knowledge of canine communication and physiology can help owners to establish a better-balanced bond with their dogs. Finally, our study confirms the gender difference in the attitude to animals: women most indicated Affective (P < 0.01), Social (P < 0.001), and Affiliative features (P < 0.05) while men preferred Hedonistic (P < 0.05) and Epistemic (P < 0.001) traits. A pre-adoption education for owners and housetraining of the dog, proved to reduce the gap between ideal and real dog, improving owner satisfaction then reducing relinquishment of shelter dogs. In Umbria, the RandAgiamo project8 is successfully implementing these aspects, increasing shelter dog’s adoption rates and post-adoption owner fulfilment. References 1) Eurispes 2011, www.eurispes.eu. 2) Marchesini 2000, Lineamenti di Zooantropologia. 3) Ministero della Salute 2011, www.salute.gov.it. 4) Mondelli et al. 2004, J Appl Anim Welf Sci 7:253-66. 5) King et al. 2009, Appl Anim Behavior Sci 120:84-93. 6) Bennettet al. 2007, Appl Anim Behavior Sci 102:65-84. 7) Payne et al. 2015, Psychol Res Behav Manag 8:71-9. 8) Diverio et al. 2013, Proceedings IAHAIO 150th International Conference–AVMA.