Monash University
Researchers Study the Relationship
Between German Shepherds and Their Owners
Andrew
Cuthbertson
(Publicity Officer)
June 2003
A
team of Monash University researchers from the Department of Psychology is currently conducting pioneer field research into the relationship between German Shepherd dogs and their owners. Postgraduate researcher, Julia Fredrickson and her supervisor, Dr. Pauleen Bennett lead the research team and are looking for up to 80 German Shepherds and their owners to participate in the research program. To date arrangements have been made via the GSDCV Management Committee and respective Branch Committees to collect baseline data from volunteers and their dogs at the Eastern, Western, and Malvern branches of the Club.
The research aims to investigate the emotional bond formed between a dog and their owner and establish whether this bond is reciprocal in nature. Previous research has found that different owner’s display varying levels of emotional attachment to their canine companions. While some preliminary research also suggests that dogs form attachments to their owners there has been no investigation of whether there is a relationship between owner and dog attachment levels. It is hoped that this current research will provide information that will fill this gap in knowledge and contribute to a better understanding of the human-canine bond.
The researchers have focused their current research solely on the GSDCV principally because it is one of the few single breed dog clubs with a large enough pool of dogs to collect a meaningful baseline data set from. In addition, by using a people-focused breed such as the German Shepherd that have undergone regular training and socialisation, the dogs will be emotionally and behaviourally well adjusted and unlikely to be stressed by the testing environment, thereby creating the environment for high levels of attachment behaviour to be displayed.
It is anticipated that the baseline data set will be collected in the near future and that the research outcomes will be submitted as a postgraduate thesis to Monash University by the end of this year. The research outcomes will then be submitted for publication to an appropriate scientific journal at a later date.
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