Table 2. Dog-directed parenting components.
Dog owning parents (N = 518) reported on dog-directed parenting in 32 items adapted from the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ). Answers on a five-point Likert scale were analysed by Principal Component Analysis and presented are the loadings ≥ |0.4| and percentages of variation explained by the main components, which represented dimensions of parenting authoritarian, authoritatively-intrinsic value orientated and authoritatively-training orientated.
| Item | Variation explained | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| (latent root) | |||
| 16% | 11% | 8% | |
| (5.2) | (3.4) | (2.6) | |
| Authoritarian | Authoritative-intrinsic value orientated | Authoritative-training orientated | |
| I use a corrective slap when my dog misbehaves.AN | -0.67 | ||
| I raise my voice to make my dog improve.AN | -0.67 | ||
| I yell or shout when my dog misbehaves.AN | -0.65 | ||
| I use physical punishment (for instance a slap or a correction chain) as a way to improve my dog’s behaviour.AN | -0.64 | ||
| I can explode in anger towards my dog when he does something he knows I don’t want him to do.AN | -0.63 | ||
| I grab my dog when he is being disobedient.AN | -0.62 | ||
| I use a poke of my finger, or short kick to snap my dog out of it when it misbehaves.AN | -0.60 | ||
| I scold or criticize when my dog's behaviour doesn't meet my expectations.AN | -0.58 | ||
| I use threats as punishment without feeling need for justification towards my dog.AN | -0.51 | ||
| When I ask my dog to do something, he should do so, because I said so and I am its boss.AN* | -0.47 | ||
| I threaten with punishments towards my dog and do not actually do them.PM! | -0.42 | ||
| I allow my dog to give input on decisions for instance with regard to the route we follow on walks.AV | 0.68 | ||
| I give comfort when my dog is upset.AV | 0.64 | ||
| I spoil my dog.PM! | 0.57 | ||
| I take my dog's desires into account before asking him to do something.AV | 0.57 | ||
| I am responsive to my dog's feelings or needs.AV | 0.52 | ||
| When I ask my dog to do something, he should do so, because I said so and I am its boss. AN!* | -0.50 | ||
| I encourage my dog to show how it feels, it is allowed to growl for instance, when uncomfortable.AV | 0.50 | ||
| I give into my dog when he causes a commotion about something or doesn’t do something I want it to.PM! | 0.48 | ||
| I take into account my dog's preferences in making plans.AV | 0.47 | ||
| I use more or higher value reward (food or toy) when I believe my dog should really do something in a situation.AV | 0.66 | ||
| I practice behaviour step by step with my dog, so I am sure he understands what I ask of him.AV | 0.60 | ||
| I think about why rules should be obeyed by my dog.AV | 0.58 | ||
| I give praise when my dog is good.AV | 0.57 | ||
AN—Authoritarian item in the original PSDQ.
AV—Authoritative item.
PM–Permissive item.
!—Item scoring in a different PSDQ dimension than found originally by Robinson et al. [6].
*—Item surfacing in two PCA-components.