Overview

• Dogs are perceived as a mix of children and best friends, combining nurturing and companionship with a significant power imbalance favoring owners.
• Owners rate their relationship with their dogs as more satisfying than most human relationships, including those with relatives and best friends.
• The study found that stronger human relationships correlate with stronger bonds with dogs, contradicting assumptions that dogs compensate for weak human connections.
• Participants highlighted dogs' reliability, affection, and low levels of conflict compared to human relationships, while owners maintain full control over their pets' lives.
• Researchers surveyed over 700 dog owners across 13 relationship characteristics, offering a multidimensional view of the dog-owner bond's unique social role.