Perception biases for problematic behaviors in dogs due to owners’ attributes

The abnormal or undesirable behaviors of owned dogs are not always considered problematic; it depends on the perception bias of their owners. To demonstrate the perception bias in dog owners’ attributes, 133 dog owners in Aomori (rural) and Tokyo (urban) were surveyed through questionnaires distributed via seven animal hospitals regarding the frequency of potentially problematic behaviors and their perceived difficulty with them. The interaction effects of the lived location (urban, rural), age (20s–50s, 60s or later), and sex (male, female) of the owners were evaluated through a hierarchical multiple regression model. The analyses of 115 responses demonstrated that the tendency of perception regarding the five major behaviors under consideration varied with these attributes. Our results indicated that owners living in Aomori undervalued destruction behaviors of their dogs both when family members were and were not at home, while they overvalued jumping on people. Senior owners tended to undervalue nuisance barking when family members were at home along with uncontrollable hyperactivity. Male owners also undervalued destructive behavior when family members were not home. The study concludes that perception bias due to dog owners’ attributes should be taken into account in epidemiological surveys and during medical interviews by veterinarians or other behavioral specialists. Further exhaustive investigation and exploration of the cultural background of these perception differences should be conducted.