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. 2025 Jul 10;12:1572794. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1572794

Table 4.

Linear mixed-effects model of log-transformed activity as a function of owner and environmental variables using the all-visits dataset.

Variables Estimate Error 2.5% CL 97.5% CL p-value Marginal mean (LM) 2.5% CL 97.5% CL Marginal mean (BART) 2.5% CL 97.5% CL
Intercept 28.650 0.038 26.581 30.874 < 0.001
Latitude 0.072 0.009 0.054 0.090 < 0.001
Climate
Cold Reference category 41.8 41.2 42.4 40.4 40.0 41.8
Hot humid −0.006 0.010 −0.026 0.014 1.000 41.5 41.1 41.9 41.3 40.6 42.2
Hot dry 0.060 0.013 0.035 0.087 < 0.001 44.2 43.5 45.0 44.1 42.8 45.7
Marine 0.061 0.014 0.034 0.090 < 0.001 44.6 43.5 45.7 44.3 41.7 47.1
Season
Spring Reference category 44.1 43.7 44.5 42.7 42.2 43.4
Summer −0.009 0.003 −0.014 −0.003 0.083 43.0 42.6 43.4 40.2 39.7 40.8
Autumn −0.012 0.003 −0.017 −0.006 0.004 43.3 42.9 43.7 41.7 41.1 42.3
Winter −0.082 0.003 −0.087 −0.077 < 0.001 41.6 41.2 42.0 41.8 41.2 42.4
Day
Weekday Reference category 41.3 41.0 41.7 40.6 40.2 41.1
Weekend 0.114 0.002 0.110 0.119 < 0.001 44.7 44.3 45.1 44.1 43.6 44.6
Location
Rural Reference category 43.6 43.1 44.1 42.6 41.9 43.3
Urban −0.027 0.006 −0.038 −0.014 < 0.001 42.4 42.0 42.8 41.9 41.2 42.6
Owner age
18–30 Reference category 44.6 44.1 45.1 37.8 39.0 39.8
30–45 −0.031 0.005 −0.040 −0.022 < 0.001 42.8 42.4 43.2 38.2 39.1 40.9
45–60 −0.027 0.006 −0.039 −0.016 < 0.001 42.7 42.3 43.2 39.9 41.1 42.3
60+ −0.029 0.008 −0.044 −0.014 0.002 41.9 41.3 42.5 42.8 44.7 46.6
Day-owner age interaction; day = weekend (reference category = weekday)
18–30 Reference category
30–45 −0.018 0.003 −0.023 −0.0013 < 0.001
45–60 −0.030 0.003 −0.036 −0.025 < 0.001
60+ −0.064 0.004 −0.070 −0.057 < 0.001
Season-climate interaction (season reference category = spring; climate reference category = cold)
Summer: hot humid −0.039 0.003 −0.046 −0.033 < 0.001
Summer: hot dry −0.047 0.005 −0.056 −0.038 < 0.001
Summer: marine 0.025 0.006 0.013 0.037 0.003
Autumn: hot humid −0.004 0.004 −0.011 0.003 0.850
Autumn: hot dry −0.012 0.005 −0.022 0.003 0.249
Autumn: marine −0.010 0.006 −0.022 0.002 0.612
Winter: hot humid 0.043 0.003 0.036 0.050 < 0.001
Winter: hot dry 0.059 0.005 0.049 0.070 < 0.001
Winter: marine 0.010 0.006 −0.002 0.002 0.647

The marginal means for the linear model (LM) and the BART model are displayed. The details include intercept, fixed effects coefficients and their 2.5 and 97.5% confidence limits (CL) and p-values. Estimated marginal mean activity is displayed for values of categorical variables, where all other variables are adjusted for mean values (dog age of 6.0 years and owner age of 41.7 years). The model had an R2 of 0.533 and a RMSE of 0.447 on log-transformed active minutes, whilst pet ID as a random effect accounted for 0.246 of the variance in the data.