Table 4. Questions retained despite high skew, low communality or high complexity.

Numbers in normal font are within the pre-defined boundaries for inclusion. Numbers in bold are outside those boundaries and would have been discarded as routine but items were retained for a particular reason or reasons.

	Parameter (cut-off for exclusion)
Item retained	Skew (<−1.25 or >1.25)	Communality (<0.35)	Complexity (>3)	Reason for retention
My dog eats titbits straight away	−1.58	0.38	2.70	Skew suggests most owners report this item was not true about their dog. During semi-structured interviews this was identified as a strong discriminator between dogs with high food-motivation and those which were notably ‘picky’ or ‘fussy’ with food.
My dog finishes a meal straight away	−1.66	0.69	3.11	As above.
I think my dog could do with losing some weight	1.33	1.02	0.89	Echoed phrase used by interviewees who acknowledged dog was overweight. Skew expected given that only a proportion of dogs are genuinely overweight.
My dog often gets human food	1.22	0.29	3.3	Next best performer in this factor and considered important because did not specify when the dog was given human food (c.f. other items in factor relating to mealtimes, leftovers, etc.)
My dog is very fit	−0.79	0.50	3.1	Echoed phrase commonly volunteered by interviewees with lean dogs and next best performer in the ‘Owner perception’ factor.
I restrict my dog’s exercise because of veterinary advice	3.65	0.46	1.32	A warning sign of ill health or orthopaedic disease of potential value to researchers.
My dog has a sensitive stomach	1.27	0.21	3.5	A warning sign of possible GI disease of potential value to researchers.