"Like owner, like dog": correlation between the owner's attachment profile and the owner-dog bond.

Abstract

During recent years, several studies have revealed that human-dog relationships are based on a well-established and complex bond. There is now evidence suggesting that the dog-human affectional bond can be characterized as an "attachment". The present study investigated possible association between the owners' attachment profile assessed throughout a new semi-projective test (the 9 Attachment Profile) and the owner-dog attachment bond evaluated using a modified version of those used in studying human infants: Ainsworth's "strange situation". The findings represented the first evidence for the presence of a correlation between the owners' attachment profile and the owner-dog attachment bond throughout procedure and behavioural analyses involving controlled observations.