The Dog-Guardian Relationship and Its Meanings: Perceptions, Expectations, and Impacts on Guardians' Lives

Understanding the relationship between dogs and their guardians provides insight into the role that animals occupy within households and families and, by extension, within society. This perspective offers essential elements for informing policies and practices that affect outcomes in Public Health and animal welfare. This study aimed to comprehensively examine guardians' perceptions, including expectations, meanings, and social roles attributed to dogs, in a municipality in Brazil. We conducted a qualitative and descriptive investigation grounded in Social Constructionism and Laurence Bardin's Content Analysis, based on 40 semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate that guardians frequently describe dogs as "family members," "sources of joy," "companions," or even a form of "therapy," underscoring strong emotional bonds and noteworthy psychosocial benefits. At the same time, the interviews revealed neutral or negative perceptions of this relationship, as well as expressions of grief following the loss of an animal and indignation toward situations of mistreatment. Taken together, the results suggest that although dogs are widely viewed in a positive light and often regarded as family members, divergent understandings of their value and roles persist, reflecting cultural tensions that influence both human and animal well-being.