Do owners represent a secure base for their dogs

Investigations of the dog-human bond using modified versions of the Ainsworth Strange Situation Test show some similarities in findings. However, methodological differences mean it cannot be concluded that this bond is comparable to that between children and their mothers. The aim of this study was to assess whether owners can represent an emotionally secure base for their dogs, using a modified version of the Ainsworth Strange Situation Test. The videoed behaviour of 40 companion dogs was continuously sampled. Durations (seconds) of 22 behaviours were analyzed using Wilcoxon Tests (p Significant differences in median values were found: contact with/proximity to door/chair/shoe was higher during the absence of owner vs stranger (143.0 vs 49.5, z=4.731, p=0.000); contact with/proximity to owner was higher than to stranger (127.0 vs 50.5, z=5.383, p=0.000); whining lasted longer during the absence of owner vs stranger (0.5 vs 0.0, z=3.099, p=0.002); exploration was higher in the presence of the owner vs stranger (20.5 vs 6.0, z=2.293, p=0.022); individual play was higher in the presence of owner vs stranger (2.5 vs 0.0; z=3.467, p=0.001). The data suggest that dogs show behaviour similar to that of children in the Ainsworth Strange Situation Test. Owners, like mothers, can represent a secure base from which the dog can play and explore; be the preferred recipient of affiliative behaviour; and, in owner absence, dogs show behaviours indicative of distress. According to Bowlby’s definitions the dogs appear to be linked to their owners by a true attachment bond. The absence of fear behaviours directed to the stranger in this study is different to that observed in children. This may reflect the different developmental stages at which children are tested versus dogs. In addition, reduced fear of strangers in dogs is known to relate to good interspecific socialization.