A pilot study on assessment of dog owners' attitude towards their dogs

It is known that having both theoretical and practical knowledge about main and further needs and training of dogs as well as communication with them have critical importance for dog owners in order to maintain a good dog-human relationship. In Turkey, dogs have taken the lead in pet population which has been showing an over increase in recent years. Although in foreign countries studies evaluating dog-owner relationship have been drawn growing attention in recent years, in our country any study on those issues have not yet been conducted. Present study is a pilot study aimed to assess the knowledge of the owners about their pets as well as the general attitude of them towards their dogs via a questionnaire which was directed to 85 dog owners who were clients of a private pet hospital in Ankara. The results of the questionnaire reflect a lack of practical and theoretical knowledge in dog owners about dog training, socialization period and proper communication with dogs. On the other hand, it was detected that the owners are aware of the basic and further needs of their pets.