The Perception of Problematic Behavior in Dogs: Application of Multi-Dimensional Scaling and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis

Various studies show that up to 40% of dogs are labelled as having behavioral problems causing at least some inconvenience. The present paper deals with the owner's perception of inappropriate dog behavior and the characteristics of the situations in which this behavior occurs. To achieve a systematic description of problem situations with dogs, the following questions were addressed: 1. What daily situations do the dog owners consider being problematic? 2. What meaning do owners give to these problematic situations? Thirty-five dog owners were asked to describe situations in which their dog engaged, and to indicate of these they perceived as problematic and annoying. This resulted in 114 unique situations which were classified into the following main categories: aggressive behavior, disobedient behavior, and reactive behavior. The meanings that owners gave to the problem situations were studied. One hundred and two owners were asked to sort 39 situations according to similarity (Q-sorting). The data were analysed using multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis. The multidimensional analysis resulted in three dimensions. These indicated that the situations which are perceived as problematic are related to six categories: disobedient behavior, aversive behavior, aggressive behavior, fearful behavior, uncontrolled (excited) behavior, and mating behavior. The hierarchical cluster analysis resulted in eight clusters: A - The fearful dog, B - The aggressive/dominant dog, C - The “mating“ dog, D - The emotional dog, E - The bored/lonely dog, F - Eating habits of the dog, G - The unruly dog, and H - The disobedient dog.