Play beats training for strengthening dog-owner bonds, study shows
A four-week experiment found that play sessions—not obedience training—significantly deepen emotional closeness between dogs and their owners. The finding has implications for pet care businesses, veterinary practices, and workplace wellness programs exploring human-animal interaction benefits.
Originaltitel: Play interactions improve the dog-owner relationship
Lek mellan hundägare och hund stärker den emotionella närheten mellan dem mer effektivt än träning. Forskare vid Linköpings universitet undersökte sambandet mellan lekaktiviteter och relationen mellan hund och ägare genom två studier. I den första studien (n=2940) identifierades signifikanta samband mellan både lek och träning och alla tre mätdimensioner av hundens relationsscala (p<0,0001). I den andra studien tilldelades 408 deltagare tre grupper under fyra veckor: lek, träning eller kontroll. Endast lekgruppen visade signifikant förbättrad emotionell närhet efter behandlingsperioden (p=0,018), vilket påvisar en kausal effekt. Resultaten tyder på att lek har större påverkan än träning för att stärka relationskvaliteten. För aktörer inom hundhälsa och välfärdsmarknad relevanta detta för produktutveckling och rådgivning — vetenskapligt underlag för att rekommendera lek framför träningsfokus kan öka efterfrågan på lekprodukter och välfärdsprogram baserade på detta fynd.
<p>Dogs often play throughout their lives and readily engage in play with humans. In this study, we hypothesized that human-dog play interactions would influence the quality of the dog-owner relationship, more so than other interactions, such as training. First, an online survey was conducted, incorporating the Monash Dog-Owner Relationship Scale (MDORS) along with additional questions about the participants' typical play and training routines (Study A). To investigate possible causal effects, this was followed by a four-week treatment period (Study B), in which volunteering participants were assigned to one of the three treatment groups: Play, Training or Control group. All participants completed the MDORS survey again following the treatment period. Results from Study A (n = 2940) revealed significant associations between both reported play and training frequencies on all three MDORS subscales: Dog-Owner Interaction, Emotional Closeness and Perceived Costs (p &lt; 0.0001). Following the four-week treatment period in Study B (n = 408), only the Play group showed a significant improvement in Emotional Closeness (p = 0.018), revealing a causal effect of play on the dog-owner relationship. These findings highlight the value of this interspecies play and suggest that play has a greater impact than training on strengthening emotional closeness.</p>