A Dog’s New BFF:

A Content Analysis of Books about the Human and Canine Relationship.

Jennifer D’Angelo

INTRODUCTION

Increase in dog ownership.

Dog owners view their dogs: Children Companion

APA(2008)

Research Question

Purpose/Thesis

The purpose of this study is to examine the changing relationship between humans and rescued adult canine companions through a qualitative content analysis of books.

Literature Review

History of Human Animal Relationships. History World (2007) Encyclopedia Britannica (2007)

Animal Adoption by types of Organization. “Pounds” vs. No-kill “Shelters”

SBACA (2008) PetsConnect! Inc. (2001)

Humane Society of the United States. (2008)

Literature Review

Who is Likely to Own a Dog? AVMA (1997,2007,2008) Pew Research (2008) Humane Society of America (2008)

Memoirs on Human-Pet Relationships. Doty (2007) Kopelman (2006)

Theory of Self

Symbolic Nature of Human-Canine Relationships

Mead (1934)

Canine “Social” Identity Irvine (2004) Sanders (2001) Saucier (2001)

Meaningful Human-Canine Relationships Mead (1907) Irvine (2004)

Methodology

Content Analysis.

Sample Population Technique and Criteria.

Total Sample Population of 23.

Random Sample of 7 books.

Methodology

Coding Themes Year of book publication Type of Adoption Relationship (view) to the dog Author’s Occupation Author’s Sexual Orientation Author’s Marital Status Author’s Family Lifestyle

with children Without children

Race Location

Country of Origin City/State

Rural/Suburban/City Training, Obedience, and/or Socialization Methods

Findings

Table 1:

Findings

Table 2:

FindingsTable 3:

Discussion

How do these owners describe their relationship with their dog? Doty (2007) Grogan (2008)

Increased Individualism

Finding Alternative ways to have a family

QUESTIONS?