Table 2.
Association between behaviours and overweight status
(Proportion and percentage of overweight dogs in each response category; odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals)
| Yes | No | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Which of the following behaviours does your dog display on a regular basis? | n | % | n | % | OR | 95 % CI | P† |
| Eat faeces | 364/1993 | 18·3 | 1437/9161 | 15·7 | 1·201 | 1·055, 1·365 | 0·0053 |
| Guard food items/possessions | 261/1151 | 22·7 | 1540/10003 | 15·4 | 1·612 | 1·384, 1·872 | <0·0001* |
| Steal food or scavenge items | 617/2765 | 22·3 | 1184/8389 | 14·1 | 1·748 | 1·565, 1·951 | <0·0001* |
| Bark, howl, destroy, toilet or chew things at home | 174/1148 | 15·2 | 1627/10006 | 16·3 | 0·920 | 0·772, 1·092 | 0·3517 |
| Toilet indoors when home alone | 62/334 | 17·6 | 1739/10820 | 16·1 | 1·190 | 0·884, 1·582 | 0·2270 |
| Bark/whine when not home alone | 305/1733 | 17·6 | 1496/9421 | 15·9 | 1·131 | 0·985, 1·297 | 0·0758 |
| Avoid/run away from | |||||||
| Other people | 148/874 | 16·9 | 1653/10280 | 16·1 | 1·064 | 0·879, 1·282 | 0·5029 |
| Other dogs | 233/1378 | 16·9 | 1568/9776 | 16·0 | 1·065 | 0·912, 1·240 | 0·4117 |
| Not always come back when called | 842/4771 | 17·6 | 959/6383 | 15·0 | 1·212 | 1·093, 1·343 | 0·0002* |
| Pull on lead | 869/5534 | 15·4 | 932/5520 | 16·9 | 0·898 | 0·810, 0·994 | 0·0371 |
| Jump up or try to get attention from people | 798/5086 | 15·7 | 1003/6068 | 16·5 | 0·940 | 0·848, 1·041 | 0·2348 |
| Bark growl snap at | |||||||
| Other dogs | 629/3535 | 17·8 | 1172/7619 | 15·4 | 1·191 | 1·069, 1·326 | 0·0015* |
| Strangers | 346/1847 | 18·7 | 1455/9307 | 15·6 | 1·244 | 1·089, 1·418 | 0·0011* |
| Familiar people | 114/536 | 21·3 | 1687/10618 | 15·9 | 1·344 | 1·076, 1·668 | 0·0078 |
| Chase | |||||||
| Traffic | 91/523 | 17·4 | 1710/10631 | 16·1 | 1·099 | 0·862, 1·389 | 0·4288 |
| Other things like cyclists, joggers | 188/1057 | 17·8 | 1613/10097 | 16·0 | 1·138 | 0·958, 1·346 | 0·1352 |
| Fearful of noises – run away, hide, whimper | 188/1057 | 17·8 | 1613/10097 | 16·0 | 1·018 | 0·896, 1·156 | 0·7726 |
| Fearful of outside – reluctant to walk | 65/254 | 25·6 | 1736/9484 | 15·9 | 1·815 | 1·341, 2·431 | <0·0001* |
| Obsessively lick himself/herself or people | 304/1670 | 18·2 | 1497/9484 | 15·8 | 1·187 | 1·0328, 1·362 | 0·0142 |
| Spin or chase his/her tail | 109/857 | 12·7 | 1692/10297 | 16·4 | 0·741 | 0·596, 0·914 | 0·0043 |
| Have the selected behaviours affected your dog's health or happiness? | 752/4099 | 18·3 | 1049/7055 | 14·9 | 1·286 | 1·159, 1·427 | <0·0001* |
* Results reaching statistical significance.
† Modified Bonferroni correction applied, so statistical significance considered when P < 0·0017.