Is the behaviour of dog owners towards the health of their pets consistent with what they consider to be beneficial to their own health?

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine whether the behaviour of dog owners towards their dogs’ health is consistent with what they consider/perceive to be beneficial to their own health.

We hope this study proves beneficial to various groups of people and elements in society, from the dog owners themselves to veterinarians and pet food manufacturers and producers of pet accessories.

Our primary data collection instruments include a survey questionnaire for dog owners and interviews for a chosen few dog owners and an employee at a pet food manufacturing company in Singapore. The survey questionnaire is meant to give a broad, general understanding of the behaviour of dog owners which we can quantify and measure using the appropriate statistical tools. The interviews with select dog owners and the pet food manufacturing company employee however are meant to give more specific, qualitative information.

Our data analysis consists of reliability and validity analysis to ensure the goodness of our primary data, and paired sample t-tests help prove/disprove our hypothesis.

Finally, we conclude our study with the implications our results carry for the various groups in society we have considered earlier, as well as the limitations of our research findings.