common of these was comforting the dog by petting or
speaking to it. This was reported by 77% of owners of
smaller dogs and 74% of owners of larger dogs. About onethird
of all owners said they used it ‘‘often’’ or ‘‘very often’’.
Other rather common techniques were ignoring the dog
(two-thirds of owners) and distracting it with food or play
applied by half the owners. There were no differences in
the reported frequency of use of the specific techniques or
the absolute values of the subscale scores between owners
of smaller and larger dogs. Most owners reported using
reward-based responses to unwanted behaviour ‘‘rarely’’
or ‘‘sometimes’’. However, expressed as a proportion of
overall training interactions, a small but significant
difference was found between owners of smaller dogs
(19%) and larger dogs (17%; Table 1, bottom section).
The third group of training methods is the rewards
subscale. Overall, rewards were the most frequently
reported training techniques. Almost all owners reported
stroking or petting and verbal praise as rewards, and
around 90% of all owners said they used these methods
‘‘often’’ or ‘‘very often’’. Food rewards and play were
reported by slightly fewer respondents and at somewhat
lower frequencies. The overall frequency of rewarding
behaviours reported by most of the dog owners ranged
from ‘‘sometimes’’ to ‘‘very often’’ and rewards made up
about half of all training interactions. After Bonferonni
correction for multiple testing, no significant differences
between owners of smaller and larger dogs were found.
3.2.3. Inconsistency
The dog owners’ self-reported consistency in their
responses to their dogs’ behaviour (Table 2) was not very
high. Almost one-third of the owners said they allowed
their dogs to do things usually forbidden, and only the
statements ‘‘Commands are always given in the same way’’
and ‘‘I always respond to a specific misbehaviour in the
same way’’ were agreed with by more than 50% of owners.
Owners of smaller and larger dogs were found to differ in
their level of consistency. More owners of smaller dogs
(15%) than owners of larger dogs (7%) reported that they
did not adhere to fixed rules in interactions with their dog
(Table 2). More owners of smaller dogs (43%) than owners
of larger dogs (29%) disagreed with the statement that
‘‘Rules are important, e.g. my dog always has to sit before
feeding’’. Also, overall scores for inconsistency were
significantly higher for owners of smaller dogs (mean:
1.74) than for owners of larger dogs (mean 1.60, Table 2,
bottom section).
3.2.4. Activities
The comparison of owners of smaller and larger dogs
revealed differences for almost all items included in the
training and play activities subscale (Table 3). The most
frequent play activity was to play ball/tug of war; this was
reported by fewer owners of smaller dogs (77%) than
owners of larger dogs (86%). Obedience training and
related activities were also reported by fewer owners of
smaller dogs (41%) than owners of larger dogs (55%), and
also at lower frequencies by owners of smaller dogs (15%
‘‘three to six times a week’’ or ‘‘daily’’) than owners of
larger dogs (22% ‘‘three to six times a week’’ or ‘‘daily’’).
‘‘Nose work’’ such as tracking and searching for food treats
was reported by 52% of larger dog owners but only by 38%
of smaller dog owners. More owners of larger dogs (29%)
brought their dogs jogging or cycling than owners of
smaller dogs (20%). Only the frequency of agility and
mobility training, the least often reported activity, did not
differ between smaller and larger dogs.
Overall scores indicated that most of the respondents
engaged in training and play activities once or twice a
week and on average one-fifth of the overall activities with
the dog were training and play activities. Owners of
smaller dogs engaged less often in training and play
activities (mean: 1.93) than owners of larger dogs (mean:
2.12, Table 3, bottom section) and spent a lower
proportion of their active time with the dog in training
or playing.
The most common activity of the other social activities
subscale, extended stroking or petting, was reported by
almost all owners and did not differ between smaller and
larger dog owners. Very large majorities of the owners also
reported grooming their dogs and providing contact with
other dogs and other humans, with no significant
difference between smaller and larger dogs. Approximately
87% of dog owners said they walked their dog in
parks or gardens for at least 45 minutes once a week.
However, the frequency of such walks was lower with
smaller dogs (e.g. 50% ‘‘daily’’) than with larger dogs (61%
‘‘daily’’). Taking dogs out shopping or to a cafe´ was
reported by fewer owners overall, but by more owners of
smaller dogs (79%) than owners of larger dogs (72%).
Owners of smaller and larger dogs did not differ in their
overall engagement in other social activi