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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

The Other End of the Leash: An Experimental Test to Analyze How Owners Interact with Their Pet Dogs
Published on: October 13, 2017
Striking global similarities in dog-human interactions
Juliane Bräuer1,2, Yana Bender3,4, Louise Jandke3
1DogStudies, Department for General Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany. juliane.braeuer@uni-jena.de.
Abstract:
Most of our knowledge about the dog-human relationship comes from studies with dogs from 'WEIRD' (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) societies. Here, we investigate cultural differences in dog-owner interactions worldwide. To achieve this, we developed a test battery comprising six well-established social-cognitive experiments and a questionnaire that assessed the psychological and practical aspects of the dog-human bond. We tested hunting dogs alongside their owners in five rural societies across culturally diverse locations in various countries: Vanuatu, Mongolia, Madagascar, Peru, and Germany. Despite dramatic cultural and environmental differences, we found that dog-human relationships were remarkably similar. Residual differences may be attributed to variations in hunting techniques and differences between WEIRD and non-WEIRD societies.
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