Table 5.

Cross-tabulations “Characteristics you believe are most important in acquiring a dog” (% of respondents; n = 507).

Demographic	Gender		Age			Annual Pre-Tax Income					Educational Background		Region of Residence
	Male	Female	18–34	35–54	55–88	$0–$25,000	$26,000–$50,000	$51,000–$75,000	$76,000–$100,000	$101,000 and Higher	Less than a College Degree	College Degree or Higher	Northeast	South	Midwest	West
Breed	60.2a	56.2a	57.7a	60.1a	56.8a	54.4b	56.2a	58.8a	66.7b	60.7a	56.4a	60.5a	57.6a	56.7a	59.6a	59.6a
Appearance	67.5a	61.1b	65.0a	61.1a	66.4a	60.8a	62.8a	67.3a	66.1a	66.2a	63.5a	65.2a	64.1a	64.6a	66.1a	61.7a
Compatibility with owner lifestyle	82.5a	88.8b	87.1a	85.7a	84.7a	83.1a	85.8a	86.8a	83.9a	89.0a	84.6a	87.1a	84.4a,b	83.4b	88.0a,b	88.3a
Behavior	85.0a	87.4a	86.9a	86.5a	85.5a	84.1a	84.4a	87.1a	87.1a	89.6a	85.1a	87.7a	85.5a	84.8a	88.6a	86.7a
Genetic health	72.3a	72.9a	73.0a	69.7a	74.9a	79.1a	72.0a	75.4a	71.5a	74.7a	71.9a	73.6a	73.2a	70.3a	74.3a	74.4a
Physical Health	82.9a	84.9a	82.0a	84.0a	85.2a	79.9b	84.2a	84.2a	86.6a	86.7a	83.0a	85.1a	83.7a,b	81.7b	88.0a	83.7a,b
Cost	64.5a	68.2a	71.8a	68.0a	61.2b	67.2a	69.4a	67.6a	68.8a	59.1b	68.0a	64.3a	67.8a	65.3a	69.3a	64.2a
Experience/reputation of source	72.4a	73.5a	73.2a	71.5a	74.0a	68.5b	70.2a	75.0a	75.8a	78.2b	70.9a	75.7b	76.1a	69.1b	77.8a	72.0a,b
Source of the dog	66.4a	71.3b	72.5a	66.3b	68.6b	67.5a	66.2a	70.2a	72.6a	70.5a	66.7a	71.7b	71.7a,b	65.3b	72.5a	69.0a,b

Note: Statistically significant differences are indicated by differences in letters a, b, or c. A value labeled with an “a” is statistically different from a value labeled with a “b” or “c”, but not statistically different from another value labeled with an “a”.