Assessment of dog-human attachment using Ainsworth's Strange Situation test

A human psychological test of Ainsworth's Strange Situation (ASS) was used to investigate the state of emotional attachment in dog-human relationship. Ten adult dog-owner pairs were observed in an unfamiliar test room, introduced to a human stranger and subjected to 8 short episodes. The dogs exhibited a range of attachment behaviours, i.e. search and proximity seeking of their owner, following, vocalizing. Finally, the dogs' behaviour in ASS has shown a wide range of types and degree of attachment and was very similar to that reported in chimpanzees and human infants. This fact confirmed a strong behavioural correlation between the canine group tested by our team and the children's group tested by Ainsworth et al.