Table 4.
Orthogonal factor loadings for owner attitudea
| Orthogonal factors | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FCB | ||||||||||||
| Scale/Subscale/Question number | OC | OE | AK | FP | OE | |||||||
| ECB | OC | EB | DB | AK | VE | VE | OC | DC | LK | DB | ||
| Item | Fac1 | Fac2 | Fac3 | Fac4 | Fac5 | Fac6 | Fac7 | Fac8 | Fac9 | Fac10 | Fac11 | |
| Eigenvalue | 11.22 | 3.73 | 2.63 | 2.20 | 2.10 | 1.95 | 1.52 | 1.44 | 1.31 | 1.17 | 1.00 | |
| % of the total variance | 26.7 | 8.9 | 6.3 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 2.4 | |
| Attitude in feeding | ||||||||||||
| Ambivalence about knowledge (AK) | ||||||||||||
| Q35: | I don’t know how much food to feed my dog. | -0.144 | 0.127 | 0.139 | 0.227 | 0.691 | 0.191 | -0.107 | 0.009 | 0.039 | 0.223 | 0.027 |
| Q36: | I don’t know what type of food to feed my dog. | -0.124 | 0.101 | 0.027 | 0.150 | 0.778 | 0.181 | -0.101 | 0.077 | 0.045 | 0.174 | -0.028 |
| Q37: | I don’t know how many times a day I should feed my dog. | -0.101 | 0.064 | -0.018 | 0.101 | 0.807 | 0.026 | -0.037 | 0.116 | 0.050 | 0.190 | 0.082 |
| Q38: | It’s important that I feed my dog the appropriate type of food. | 0.210 | -0.078 | -0.040 | -0.077 | -0.125 | -0.839 | -0.082 | -0.112 | -0.090 | -0.114 | -0.092 |
| Q39: | It’s important that I feed my dog the appropriate number of times a day. | 0.177 | -0.138 | -0.038 | -0.161 | -0.086 | -0.840 | -0.051 | -0.139 | -0.097 | -0.105 | -0.056 |
| Feed to please (FP) | ||||||||||||
| Q40: | It’s important that I feed my dog whenever he/she likes. | -0.049 | 0.005 | 0.057 | 0.107 | 0.026 | 0.158 | -0.070 | 0.778 | 0.088 | 0.140 | 0.094 |
| Q41: | It’s important that I feed my dog whatever he/she likes. | -0.069 | 0.068 | 0.081 | 0.318 | 0.160 | 0.021 | -0.074 | 0.695 | 0.242 | -0.017 | -0.063 |
| Q42: | It’s important that I feed my dog as much as he/she wants. | -0.116 | 0.066 | 0.003 | 0.227 | 0.043 | 0.304 | -0.001 | 0.690 | 0.240 | 0.066 | -0.038 |
| Owner-centred / External barrier (OE) | ||||||||||||
| Q43: | My dog is overfed because he/she always wants food. | -0.220 | 0.176 | 0.005 | 0.546 | 0.076 | -0.004 | -0.115 | 0.265 | 0.004 | 0.061 | 0.255 |
| Q44: | My dog isn’t given the appropriate type of food because others feed the dog. | -0.197 | 0.129 | 0.141 | 0.114 | -0.014 | 0.108 | -0.001 | 0.060 | 0.038 | 0.023 | 0.800 |
| Q45: | I feed my dog inappropriate types of food because he/she likes that kind of food. | -0.199 | 0.110 | 0.161 | 0.655 | 0.100 | 0.197 | -0.054 | -0.024 | 0.147 | 0.144 | 0.165 |
| Q46: | My dog isn’t fed the appropriate number of times per day because others feed him/her. | -0.040 | 0.076 | 0.334 | 0.240 | 0.048 | 0.079 | -0.085 | -0.054 | 0.101 | 0.086 | 0.690 |
| Dog-centred barriers (DB) | ||||||||||||
| Q47: | I feed my dog inappropriate food because I like to spoil him/her. | -0.091 | 0.224 | 0.053 | 0.752 | 0.198 | 0.101 | -0.005 | 0.142 | 0.008 | 0.067 | 0.079 |
| Q48: | My dog is overfed because I indulge him/her. | -0.229 | 0.175 | 0.050 | 0.718 | 0.182 | 0.040 | -0.058 | 0.275 | -0.014 | 0.147 | 0.041 |
| Q49: | I feed my dog inappropriate food because appropriate food is too expensive. | -0.018 | 0.270 | -0.069 | 0.308 | 0.243 | -0.133 | -0.055 | 0.276 | -0.028 | 0.023 | 0.371 |
| Control belief (FCB) | ||||||||||||
| Q50: | Overall, how much control do you feel you have over the amount you feed your dog. | 0.615 | 0.004 | -0.098 | -0.307 | -0.206 | -0.146 | 0.186 | -0.181 | -0.078 | -0.040 | -0.163 |
| Q51: | Overall, how much control do you feel you have over the type of food you feed your dog. | 0.553 | 0.023 | -0.118 | -0.191 | -0.244 | -0.132 | 0.261 | -0.173 | -0.056 | -0.106 | -0.275 |
| Q52: | Overall, how much control do you feel you have over the number of times you feed your dog during the day. | 0.537 | 0.123 | -0.084 | -0.268 | -0.281 | -0.058 | 0.270 | -0.096 | 0.002 | -0.096 | -0.292 |
| Attitude in exercise | ||||||||||||
| Value exercise (VE) | ||||||||||||
| Q53: | It’s important that I exercise my dog the appropriate number of times a week. | 0.166 | -0.177 | -0.002 | -0.021 | -0.028 | 0.036 | 0.822 | 0.045 | 0.076 | -0.072 | 0.003 |
| Q54: | It’s important that I give my dog the appropriate type of exercise. | 0.102 | -0.131 | -0.066 | -0.090 | -0.066 | -0.010 | 0.838 | 0.012 | 0.029 | -0.143 | -0.021 |
| Q55: | It’s important to me that my dog is fit. | -0.044 | -0.068 | 0.040 | 0.024 | -0.116 | 0.057 | 0.729 | -0.120 | 0.136 | 0.058 | -0.151 |
| Q56: | My dog doesn’t need exercise. | -0.200 | -0.026 | 0.020 | 0.020 | 0.165 | 0.747 | 0.067 | 0.167 | 0.120 | 0.190 | 0.018 |
| Q57: | It is important that I exercise my dog for the appropriate length of time. | -0.045 | -0.082 | -0.069 | -0.154 | -0.001 | 0.218 | 0.485 | -0.064 | 0.190 | 0.268 | 0.151 |
| Lack of knowledge (LK) | ||||||||||||
| Q58: | I don’t know how often I should exercise my dog. | -0.235 | 0.163 | 0.103 | 0.136 | 0.348 | 0.184 | -0.035 | 0.180 | 0.067 | 0.697 | 0.053 |
| Q59: | I don’t know the appropriate length of time my dog should be exercised. | -0.270 | 0.175 | 0.106 | 0.158 | 0.288 | 0.174 | -0.054 | 0.129 | 0.056 | 0.762 | 0.067 |
| Q60: | I don’t know what type of exercise to give my dog. | -0.197 | 0.187 | 0.088 | 0.182 | 0.304 | 0.222 | 0.000 | 0.073 | 0.034 | 0.760 | 0.050 |
| Dog centred (DC) | ||||||||||||
| Q61: | It’s important that I exercise my dog as frequently as he/she wants. | -0.125 | 0.011 | 0.009 | 0.050 | -0.046 | 0.215 | 0.130 | 0.188 | 0.768 | 0.096 | 0.040 |
| Q62: | It’s important that I exercise my dog for as long as he/she wants. | -0.054 | 0.039 | -0.038 | -0.015 | 0.082 | -0.014 | 0.079 | 0.105 | 0.880 | 0.082 | 0.010 |
| Q63: | It’s important that I give my dog the type of exercise that he/she likes. | -0.081 | -0.048 | 0.058 | 0.067 | 0.063 | 0.099 | 0.117 | 0.068 | 0.793 | -0.051 | 0.050 |
| Owner centred (OC) | ||||||||||||
| Q64: | I don’t exercise my dog frequently enough because I don’t like to. | -0.121 | 0.834 | 0.043 | 0.139 | 0.155 | 0.057 | -0.111 | 0.000 | -0.014 | 0.064 | 0.075 |
| Q65: | I don’t exercise my dog for long enough because I don’t like to. | -0.107 | 0.848 | 0.098 | 0.154 | 0.174 | 0.065 | -0.104 | 0.031 | 0.033 | 0.043 | 0.054 |
| Q66: | I don’t give my dog the appropriate type of exercise because I don’t like to. | -0.161 | 0.816 | 0.099 | 0.176 | -0.008 | 0.028 | -0.134 | 0.041 | 0.009 | 0.119 | 0.013 |
| Q67: | I don’t give my dog the appropriate kind of exercise because he/she doesn’t like that type of exercise. | -0.075 | 0.600 | 0.151 | 0.311 | -0.103 | 0.061 | -0.217 | 0.047 | 0.047 | 0.176 | 0.046 |
| Q68: | I don’t exercise my dog as frequently as I should because he/she is badly behaved. | -0.105 | 0.412 | 0.256 | -0.147 | 0.245 | 0.030 | 0.006 | 0.237 | -0.139 | -0.288 | 0.219 |
| Q69: | I don’t exercise my dog as frequently as I should because I don’t have time. | -0.460 | 0.509 | 0.111 | -0.109 | 0.030 | 0.027 | 0.008 | 0.238 | -0.051 | 0.202 | 0.173 |
| Q70: | I don’t give my dog the appropriate type of exercise because I don’t have access to appropriate areas. | -0.428 | 0.299 | 0.015 | -0.148 | 0.126 | 0.097 | 0.100 | 0.477 | -0.113 | 0.141 | 0.209 |
| External barrier (EB) | ||||||||||||
| Q71: | My dog isn’t exercised frequently enough because other people exercise it. | -0.126 | 0.123 | 0.918 | 0.034 | 0.027 | 0.044 | 0.001 | 0.042 | -0.021 | 0.042 | 0.051 |
| Q72: | My dog isn’t given the appropriate type of exercise because other people exercise it. | -0.095 | 0.094 | 0.911 | 0.072 | 0.055 | 0.009 | -0.041 | 0.032 | 0.045 | 0.072 | 0.166 |
| Q73: | My dog isn’t exercised long enough because other people exercise it. | -0.098 | 0.127 | 0.901 | 0.092 | 0.033 | 0.028 | -0.028 | 0.048 | 0.009 | 0.058 | 0.117 |
| Control belief (ECB) | ||||||||||||
| Q74: | Overall, how much control do you feel you have over the type of exercise you give your dog. | 0.820 | -0.203 | -0.075 | -0.135 | -0.033 | -0.186 | 0.016 | 0.048 | -0.088 | -0.121 | 0.014 |
| Q75: | Overall, how much control do you feel you have over how frequently you exercise your dog. | 0.852 | -0.236 | -0.085 | -0.134 | -0.038 | -0.156 | -0.028 | -0.058 | -0.118 | -0.114 | -0.023 |
| Q76: | Overall, how much control do you feel you have over the length of time you exercise your dog? | 0.864 | -0.190 | -0.090 | -0.091 | -0.055 | -0.149 | -0.005 | -0.046 | -0.108 | -0.141 | 0.017 |
aThe data from the owner attitude (n = 349) were subject to factor analysis. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure is 0.872, indicating a high sampling adequacy for the factor analysis. Bartlett’s test of sphericity indicates that the factor model is appropriate (P < 0.0005). Factor Loadings > 0.4 are considered to be high and are indicated in bold. The eleven factors account for 72.0% of the total variance
AK ambivalence about knowledge, FP feed to please, OE owner-centred / external barrier, DB dog-centred barriers, FCB control belief (part of: attitude of feeding), VE value exercise, LK lack of knowledge, DC dog centred, OC owner centred, EB external barrier, ECB control belief (part of: attitude in exercise).