ABSTRACT
In collaboration with HappyTail, a Swedish company developing a mobile application for dog owners, this qualitative research study examines and identifies important factors, for developers or other stakeholders, to have in mind when developing mobile applications that aim to support dog health. According to behavioural scientists, there needs to be a bridge between health themed mobile applications and behavioural change theories in order to achieve desirable results. Therefore, literature on dog health as well as on behavioural and persuasive technologies were reviewed. To fully understand dog owners’ behaviours, empirical data was collected from five indepth interviews with dog owners recruited from groups on Facebook. The data collected, in combination with the reviewed literature, results in increased understanding of dog owners’ behaviours in relation to their dogs’ health, their sources of motivation and inspiration, and how persuasive technologies can affect their behaviours towards their dogs. It turned out that psychological aspects, such as the relationship between the dog and dog owner, was crucial among the interviewees, and that they prefer to use dog themed mobile applications with features such as social support and tailored content as parts of the design. Finally, ethical aspects that need to be considered when including dogs as stakeholders in new technologies were discussed. The result is valuable for researchers investigating dog owners’ behaviour as well as for those developing new technology, especially mobile applications, with focus on dog health.
För Hundens Hälsa: Utveckling av Mobilapplikationer som Påverkar Hundägares Beteende
SAMMANFATTNING
I samarbete med HappyTail, ett svenskt företag som utvecklar en mobilapplikation för hundägare, syftar den här kvalitativa undersökningen till att identifiera viktiga faktorer som personer verksamma inom applikationsutveckling med fokus på hundhälsa bör ha i åtanke under utvecklingsskedet. Enligt forskare inom beteendevetenskap är det viktigt att det finns en bro mellan mobilapplikationer med hälsotema och befintliga teorier inom området beteendeförändring för att kunna uppnå önskvärda resultat. Därför har litteratur som berör hundens hälsa samt viktiga faktorer för beteendeförändring i samband med utveckling av ny teknik beaktats. För att få ökad förståelse för hundägares beteende utfördes fem djupgående intervjuer med deltagare rekryterade från hundrelaterade grupper på Facebook. Tillsammans med den granskade litteraturen resulterade den insamlade datan i en djupare inblick i hundägares liv, vilka faktorer som motiverar och inspirerar dem till att ta hand om sin egen såväl som sin hunds hälsa, och hur teknik bör vara utformad för att påverka dem till att ändra beteende gentemot sin hund. Det visade sig bland annat att relationen mellan hund och hundägare var extra viktig för deltagarnas syn på sin hunds hälsa, och att social support och personalisering är grundstenar för en intressant mobilapplikation med hundrelaterat innehåll. Avslutningsvis diskuteras även vilka etiska aspekter som är nödvändiga att beakta när hundar inkluderas i utvecklingen av ny teknik. Undersökningens resultat har ett värde för forskare som specialiserar sig på hundägares beteende samt för utvecklare av ny teknik som strävar efter att förbättra hundars hälsa.
Student: Jenny Hanell jhanell@kth.se
Humancomputer interaction Master of Science
Supervisor: Rebekah Cupitt Examiner: Henrik Artman Principal: Anders Hedman June 19, 2017
Quantiᜏ�ed Dog: Supporting Dog Health through Persuasive Technologies
Jenny Hanell
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
School of Computer Science and Communication
jhanell@kth.se
ABSTRACT
In collaboration with HappyTail , a Swedish company developing a 1 mobile application for dog owners, this qualitative research study examines and identifies important factors, for developers or other stakeholders, to have in mind when developing mobile applications that aim to support dog health. According to behavioural scientists, there needs to be a bridge between health themed mobile applications and behavioural change theories in order to achieve desirable results. Therefore, literature on dog health as well as on behavioural and persuasive technologies were reviewed. To fully understand dog owners’ behaviours, empirical data was collected from five indepth interviews with dog owners recruited from groups on Facebook . The data collected, in combination with the 2 reviewed literature, results in increased understanding of dog owners’ behaviours in relation to their dogs’ health, their sources of motivation and inspiration, and how persuasive technologies can affect their behaviours towards their dogs. It turned out that psychological aspects, such as the relationship between the dog and dog owner, was crucial among the interviewees, and that they prefer to use dog themed mobile applications with features such as social support and tailored content as parts of the design. Finally, ethical aspects that need to be considered when including dogs as stakeholders in new technologies were discussed. The result is valuable for researchers investigating dog owners’ behaviour as well as for those developing new technology, especially mobile applications, with focus on dog health.
Keywords
Dog health; Persuasive design; Humancomputer interaction;
Animalcomputer interaction, Behavioural change.
1. INTRODUCTION
We live in a time when our whole social structure is currently under change because of the revolution in communication technologies, a time we often refer to as “The Information Age”. The increased use of digital networking technologies have not only affected vital parts in our society, such as global economy and labor market, but also the way individuals adapt and include communication technologies and digital social networks in their daily lives [3]. Through information and communication technologies (ICTs), Internet based healthcare services, so called ehealth, have rapidly increased in popularity in the same pace as we have become more and more health conscious [1]. Mobile applications, based on selftracking technologies, have turned out to be suitable in order to support and encourage us to live a healthy life and at the same time inspire others to do the same [25].
Recently, ehealth for pets has started to gain attention, where both
1 http://www.happytail.com/
2 https://www.facebook.com/
mobile applications as well as physical products based on Internet of Things (IoT) solutions have arrived in the market. These kinds of ehealth services often help pet owners to monitor and measure their pets’ health in various ways, for example by temperature and pulse, and afterwards evaluate the data in associated mobile applications [46] [43]. On top of that, mobile application based social networks for dog owners have opened up new possibilities to connect and interact with other dog enthusiasts all over the world. Some of them focus on simplifying the life for dog owners by listing nearby dog sitters and dog walkers, while others focus on keeping track on important health related data such as vaccination and medical history [42].
Even though mobile applications for dog owners are trending in the mobile application consumer markets, there are still many questions related to the concept and design that are missing answers. For example, how should they be designed in order to support dog health, and how can we make sure that the user experience is good enough to motivate dog owners to keep using them over a longer period of time? [20]
2. BACKGROUND
When designing to support dog health through humans’ use of technology, it is important to understand dogs’ social context, their needs and desires in life, and what welfare problems they currently face in today’s society [28]. It is also necessary to possess knowledge in how technology affects humans’ behaviours and what to keep in mind when designing for behavioural changes [9].
2.1 The domestic dog
That dogs are ”man’s [sic] best friend” is a well known phrase, and the first reference appeared in the 18th century when dogs started to be seen as sentimentalised beings with both personality and feelings [44]. The domestication of dogs is a complex story and many questions are still missing answers. There has always been much discussion whether the domestic dog originates from the wolf, the golden jackal or from any other unknown species. However, today we can conclude that, after studying the domestic dog’s behaviour, vocalisation, morphology, and molecular biology, that the ancestor of the dog is the wolf [21]. By living close to humans through generations, dogs have lost almost all the wild instincts that they used to have and the domestication is therefore in their genes [45].
Researchers seem to be in agreement that the domestication happened at least twice on different places and in different times around the world, however, they seem to have diverse opinions about how it happened. Some think that gray wolves became domesticated and bred by early huntergatherers, while others think there was a time when wolves habituated themselves to humans and therefore played a large part in their own taming [49]. In an interview with Greger Larsson, expert on genetics and domestication at Durham University, he said that there was
probably a long period of time of unintentional management by humans and that the word domestication implies something that humans did intentionally, but the complex story is much more interesting [45].
2.2 Dogs good for human health
At the same time as the ongoing domestication of dogs, humans have artificially selected physical and psychological qualities which has resulted in hundreds of different breeds that today are totally dependent on humans. Even though humans have always chosen to breed dogs with qualities desirable for performing different tasks in the society, such as rescuing or hunting, we nowadays also value the benefits dogs give us as pets [27]. Studies have revealed that dogs, except for providing good companionship, are good for our health in many ways. Preventing illness, facilitating a recovery process and predicting different kinds of diseases are just some of the benefits. Not only being good for our physiological health, they can also improve our psychological wellbeing. Dogs can reduce levels of stress, anxiety and loneliness, and even prevent depression when we go through difficult times or big changes in life. It is also proven that owning a dog makes us more physically active, and that walking around with a dog may indirectly lead to increased social interactions with other humans [30]. However, since a dog’s primary reinforcers, such as water, food, sociality and closeness, are controlled by humans through all its lifetime, it is important that human caretakers are responsible and fulfil their dogs’ needs [27].
2.3 Dog health and welfare
To tell what precise factors that define animal welfare is not an easy task since they vary between different contexts. Animal welfare professor, Webster, has basically defined it as “living a natural life, being fit and healthy, and being happy”. He also concluded a list called “The five freedoms and permissions” which has become a common definition of animal welfare [29]:
● Freedom from thirst, hunger and malnutrition
● Freedom from discomfort
● Freedom from pain, injury and disease
● Freedom from fear and distress
● Freedom to express normal behaviour
These permissions are the same for both farm animals and pet animals, which makes the area of use very broad. When talking about dogs specifically, one could say that they have never been so integrated as in today’s society and included in their owners’ lives as they are today [24]. Even though dogs seem to live a long, happy and healthy life compared to many other animals, there are critical aspects that need to be considered when talking about their health and welfare. Breeding defects have increased in the same pace as humans’ desire to create the “perfect” breed. Short muzzles, turned in eyelids or too long backs are just a few examples of breeding defects that can lead to devastating consequences [21]. Given the important role dogs play in our lives, it should be in the owner's interest to make sure that the dog is living a good life based on existing conditions, and that animal protection laws are followed.
The Swedish Board of Agriculture has summarised some of the most important requirements for having a dog in Sweden, which are similar, but more comprehensive, to Webster’s five freedom permissions [41]. For example, they write that a dog owner has to protect the dog from unnecessary suffering and diseases, and urgently give the necessary care if the dog gets sick or injured.
Dogs’ need for social contact has to become satisfied with either fellow dogs or cats, and at least with humans a few hours everyday, and they should regularly be taken for walks . Additionally, Swedish
University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) has written a framework for health, sustainability and welfare among dogs and cats in Sweden, in which they state that previous guidelines for measuring welfare were based on avoiding suffering, but today we know that welfare means much more and factors that indicate positive reactions in the brain need further research [22].
2.3.1 Humandog relationship
The relationship between the dog and the owner has turned out to have a great impact on both parties’ wellbeing [7] [22]. The interaction between human and dog is often described as an interspecific parental contact, and there are striking similarities in the way human infants and dogs are being treated. Apparently, social stimulation received from dogs and human infants are the same, and there are many similarities between dogs’ and infants’
social environments [15]. The feeling of togetherness, love and closeness in humanhuman relationships has positive impacts on humans’ health, and recent studies reveal that these impacts are transferable to humandog relationships too, since the same positive physiological effects have been identified in dogs [28].
There are many techniques that could be used to improve the humandog relationship. According to Clark and Boyer, dog owners who perform obedience training with their dogs, as well as receive behaviour counselling in order to understand their dogs’
behaviour, have perceived improvements in their relationships with their dogs [4]. To give the dog a sense of purpose, such as making the walks, play times, and training sessions focused, fun, and important, is a good way to strengthen the bond with the dog, according to the pet behaviourist Steve Duno. He also means that dogs are like toddlers and loves to be played with, and that the most important part of the humandog relationship is to be affectionate, supportive, interactive, and fun. By playing hideandseek, practicing new tricks every week, socialising with other dogs and people, ramping up activities such as swimming, retrieving and agility, practice recall commands such as “Come!” while running around instead of standing still, are all good ways to get a richer relationship with the dog. [37]
2.3.2 Increasing health problems among dogs
Stimulating the dog physically and mentally, and taking care of daily healthcare and grooming routines, are important parts in the life as a dog owner. However, ordinary tasks such as brushing a dog’s teeth or cutting the nails are, according to veterinarian Marty Becker, too often neglected [48]. Becker means that common disorders, such as “doggy breath” and obesity, become misinterpreted by dog owners as normalcy and are therefore often ignored. Even though most dog owners are not intentionally trying to hurt the dog, serious diseases often occur because of ignorance, many times related to dental hygiene, that could have been prevented by simple healthcare procedures [35]. Tooth brushing is the superior way to avoid dental problems such as plaque, tartar and tooth decay, and should, according to veterinarians, be done once a day [34]. However, some dog owners only take care of their dogs’teeth by giving a chewing bone, which is a good complement for tooth brushing since it starts the saliva production but should not work as a replacement as it provides a false security [47].
In addition to bad dental hygiene, an increasing problem among dogs is obesity. A survey, made by the American company DogVacay last year, revealed that many dog owners feel guilty about not stimulating their dogs enough physically. Even though it is not recommended to leave a dog alone for a longer period of time [41], two out of three participants answered that they usually leave
their dogs at home during the days, and that 80% of those doing so have bad conscience which they compensate for by spoiling the dog with sweets and goodies when reunited in the evenings [36]. This type of behaviour is also shown in Sweden, where recent research tells us that 46% of the Swedish dog owners are leaving their dogs at home during work days [40]. Another study points to increasing obesity among Swedish dogs, and that two out of ten dog owners are not walking their dogs for more than 30 minutes a day [39].
2.4 Persuasive technologies
As mentioned in the introduction, the increased use of ICTs and digital devices has enabled humans, who have become more and more health conscious, to keep track of health related information about themselves. These selftracking activities are often described as “selfquantification” or “quantified self” [1], and play an important role in persuasive technologies since selfmonitoring has turned out to be a key ingredient for successful behaviour change solutions [25]. According to Fogg, persuasive technology is about encoding experiences that lead to behavioural changes, and in order to do so, it is necessary to understand human psychology and what factors drive human behaviour. Without this understanding, the developed solutions would mostly be based on guesses and we would not understand why they are successful or not [6].
The next coming sections focus on the concept behind these selftracking technologies, and what Human Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers need to be aware of when designing new technology that affect health and behavioural change.
2.4.1 Selftracking mobile applications
According to a study performed by Pew Research Center, 69 % of all adults in USA keeps track on their health in some way, and that one in five use mobile technology to do so [8]. An example of a popular mobile application with a strong selftracking concept is Runkeeper that keeps track on the users' running activities with3 parameters such as distance, duration, speed, and calories consumed. The mobile application has several features that motivate the users to keep their healthy lifestyle. For example, by setting up goals and visualising the history of completed runs, it makes it easy for the user to see the progress. It also offers the possibility to share activities with other users as well as taking part of other users’ data, which could result in increased motivation and support to achieve objectives among people engaged in similar pursuits [16].
Technologies used to track health related data are also used by caregivers with particular responsibility to take care of others, such as infants or elderly relatives [16]. According to Pew Research Center’s study, 12 % of all people that kept track on themselves also kept track of a loved one’s health [8]. This behaviour is also seen in dog owners, who more often use technology in order to keep track of their dogs’ health. Paldanius et al., who conducted a research study with dog owners as a focus group, concluded that mobile communication technology for dog owners, such as a social network, is a particularly appreciated platform in order to support and motivate dog owners to maintain and improve the relationship with their dogs as well as their dogs’ health [20]. During the time when their study was carried out, Paldanius et al. predicted that many new mobile applications for dog owners would arrive in the consumer markets in the nearest future, which nowadays could be confirmed as true. Most of today’s mobile applications in the dog genre focus on easing the life among dog owners, such as HappyTail’s social network that helps finding nearby friends and
3 https://runkeeper.com/
dog friendly places, and DogVacay that connects busy dog owners 4 with professional dog sitters. There are also mobile applications that focus on tracking dog health, such as the sensor based collar PetPace , that lets the dog owner keep track of both GPS position5 as well as health related parameters, such as temperature and pulse, and visualise and analyse the data directly in the associated mobile application.
According to Paldanius et al., social networks with dog themed content where dog owners can share and take part of other dog owners habits seem to inspire them more than mobile applications with no sharing possibility. Their research also revealed that dog owners want to care for and spend time with their dogs, rather than getting daily tasks automated. The participants of the study also mentioned that they want new technology to support them in performing those tasks, but also to somehow decrease bad conscience of different kinds. [20]
2.4.2 The gap between design and theory
Even though the mobile applications within the “health and fitness”
categories on the mobile applications consumer markets are increasingly popular, far away from all have succeeded to engage and motivate their users over a longer period of time. Common factors are problems related to privacy, security, design and adoption, which is often the case when they have been developed without expert knowledge in behavioural science and in what factors that actually lead to a behavioural change [25] [6].
According to Hekler et al., there is often a theoretical gap between concrete design and behavioural theory, and they stress the importance of the two disciplines to overlap when creating technology to support behavioural changes [9]. Therefore, they argue that HCI researchers need to be aware of existing behavioural theories when developing technologies that aim to change people’s behaviour, which is often the case within the health and lifestyle genre. Even though Hekler et al. avoid using the term persuasive technology since it originally included coercion as part of the behavioural change, researchers within the field have kept using it but instead excluded coercion as part of the theory. For example, Hermsen et al. recently developed the Persuasive by Design model (The PbDmodel) which aims to work as a bridge between the fields and provide HCI researchers with knowledge about the behavioural changes’ different stages and how to design for them [10]. The PbDmodel consists of several contextual layers where different aspects of the behavioural change process are taken into account in order to help the designer to address the target behaviour and, intuitively, design for it in appropriate ways. For example, the PbDmodel helps identifying reflexive and reflective behaviours as well as it incorporates social influences and cognitive biases.
Additionally, it includes a set of questions that help the designer to reflect about relevant aspects associated to the layers [11].
According to Hekler et al., a common pitfall among HCI researchers is to use the behavioural theories as a fact or truth, which is not possible since they are very complex and need to be adapted to each specific situation [9].
2.4.3 Successful persuasive technologies
Several studies have been carried out in order to identify efficient strategies for designing persuasive mobile applications within the health genre. For example, Michie et al. performed an experimental evaluation study in order to strengthen the scientific study of behaviour change by improving and optimising its taxonomy [18].
4 https://dogvacay.com/
5 http://petpace.com/
Another study, performed by Conroy et al., reviewed successful existing mobile applications on the consumer market that contained persuasive technologies [5]. These studies, among others, have resulted in a handful of techniques that are necessary to be aware of in order to design successful behavioural change solutions. The techniques include selfmonitoring, goal setting, rewards, feedback on performance, personalisation, tailoring and social support [25].
A study performed by Yang et al. pointed out social support as a major keystone for successful behavioural change mobile applications [32]. To see information about other people and take part of their result, for example through social media integration, often leads to increased motivation to achieve one’s own goals.
However, it is important that social features are integrated cautiously. For example, sharing data with strangers can sometimes feel awkward and lead to social pressure, which is something that has to be taken into account during the design process, even though social features often lead to positive effects [25].
2.5 Purpose statement & research question
Since mobile applications developed for dog owners are increasingly popular, it is important to stress the centrality of what impact their design and content have on the dog owners’ behaviour towards their dogs and how it, indirectly, affect their dogs’ health.
That leads to the question:
What factors are significant for a mobile application developed for dog owners to support them in improving their dogs’ health and welfare?
2.6 In cooperation with HappyTail
This research project is in collaboration with the Swedish company HappyTail, that has created a mobile application for dog owners with a current user base in Stockholm, Sweden. Their mobile application is a geographic based social network that aims to connect dog lovers that live close to each other, as well as finding dog friendly restaurants, dog parks and other places of interests for dog owners.
HappyTail is interested in implementing a health related feature in their mobile application but need further assistance in order to come up with a concept that dog owners value and that dogs will benefit from.
3. METHODOLOGY
This research project’s epistemology has an essentialist and realist perspective, which means it focuses on motivation and individual psychologies, such as experience and meaning, rather than a constructionist perspective where sociocultural contexts and structural conditions are in focus [2].
3.1 Animal Computer Interaction (ACI)
When touching the area beyond HCI and including animals in the development of new technology, the term Animal Computer Interaction (ACI) is often used to define the context. ACI is a relatively new research area that borrows many of the principles from HCI. The animals can be involved in the process at different levels, which means that it is possible to conduct a research either with the animals in order to study a specific interaction, but also for the animals with the aim to increase their welfare and quality of life without necessarily having them as the end users of the developed solution [17]. This study focuses on the latter and is therefore within the scope of both ACI and HCI since the users of the mobile application are dog owners, but the underlying purpose is to increase dog health and welfare.
3.1.1 Ethics in ACI
Historically, dogs’ needs and feelings have not always been in the spotlight when creating ACI related technology. For example, computers have become attached to dogs’ backs without considering various physical problems that may arise [12]. When including animals as legitimate stakeholders in the design process, one needs to make sure that the final solution, or any part of the design process, do not cause pain, suffering or distress for them, which can lead to longterm problems and definitely affect their welfare negatively. Not only discouraging aversive tools that can hurt the animal, such as prongcollars or electric shocks that are sometimes used on dogs, encouraging positive reinforcement is always preferable [28].
4. METHOD
To find an answer to the project’s research question, a qualitative approach was taken. Even though an answer could probably be found in quantitative data, this project focuses on investigating the reasons for humans’ behaviour and to get a deeper understanding of their underlying motivations and desires, hence, a qualitative approach was preferable [14].
4.1 Indepth interviews
Since a qualitative approach was taken to find an answer to the research question, empirical data collected from indepth interviews was preferable. The structure of the interviews was based on an indepth interview guide to ensure that no important questions were forgotten. The goal of an indepth interview is to get as comprehensive and thorough information as possible, and in order to do so, only questions related to the research question were included in the interview guide, for example questions regarding the interviewees’ grooming routines, digital behaviour and sources of inspiration. If too many questions are asked, it is possible to lose the benefits that indepth interviews entail since there is not enough time to deeply discuss all questions. Therefore, the interview guide did only contain a limited set of questions to make sure that the time was spent on exploring the most important questions related to the research topic [33]. When conducting qualitative interviews, it is preferable to make the interviews feeling more like a conversation rather than a questionnaire, and to let the interviewees tell story based on their own experiences [38]. Therefore, all questions were semistructured and were open ended encouraging a wide array of answers based on the interviewee's interpretation, which made it possible to probe important side paths as they occurred and to find unexpected information that turned out to be relevant. The questions in the interview guide were modified and reordered depending on the situation and flow, and sometimes skipped when it did not feel natural to ask any further questions [33].
4.1.1 Recruitment
As the topic of the research question addresses dog owners’
behaviours and how mobile applications could be designed in order to encourage them to improve their dogs’ health, the specific target group for the interviews was dog owners in Stockholm who are familiar with social networks with dog themed content. The reason for limiting the participants to that precise target group was because they are closer to understand and adapt a concept of a mobile application that aims to improve dog health rather than someone who is totally new to utilizing social networks and technology in the context of being a dog owner. Additionally, they can share valuable information about current features that they like or dislike, which also makes them very interesting from HappyTail’s perspective. Dog owners in Stockholm who already use social
networks with dog themed content are potential users of their mobile application, and it is therefore very interesting for HappyTail to get insight in those dog owners’ thoughts.
Therefore, five dog owners were recruited from a social network were dog owners are active. To be precise, a message with a description of the subject and that participants were wanted, was posted in dog related groups on Facebook, and it did not take long until several dog owners showed their interest. A deliberate selection was made among the persons who had showed their interest, which means that both men and women in different ages were asked to participate [31]. However, mostly adult women showed their interest by liking, commenting or sharing the post with friends they thought would be suitable participants. Details about time and location were decided through Facebook’s chat, and in the end, only one man ended up participating.
4.1.2 Anonymity & trust
Since the topic include sensitive data about dog owners’ behaviour, anonymity and trust played an important role during the interviews.
To lower the bar and to make the interviewees feeling more confident about sharing personal information, I sometimes purposefully shared honest and personal stories about my own behaviour as a dog owner and concerns for my dog's health. In order to not disrupt the achieved trust, I avoided making judgemental statements when opinions diverged, and formulated the interview questions so that they were not leading [19].
Even though the interviewees were told from start that their answers would be anonymised and that pseudonyms for their names would be used, only one interviewee agreed to having the interview recorded. Interview recordings are usually preferred in qualitative interviews since it prevents important details from getting lost [38]. However, without any audio recordings, it was important to take careful notes during the interviews and pay attention to keywords and quotes. Additionally, the notes were organised and a comprehensive summary was written down straight after each interview.
4.1.3 Environment
Each interview lasted between one and two hours and was conducted in an environment suitable for both the dog owner and the dog in order to reduce stress and letting them behave as naturally as possible [33]. Four of the interviews were therefore held in the interviewees’ home environments, such as the living room or garden, while the fifth one was conducted on a big field where the interviewee’s dog, with a lot of energy, could run around freely. Being in an environment where they usually spend their time made it possible to observe the behaviour of the dog as well as the dog owner in their everyday lives. It also contributes to more concrete discussions, since the interviewee is surrounded with personal belongings that reminds of daily routines and habits [13].
It also goes in line with the ethical aspects described in section 2.2.1, about the importance of not causing stress for the dog during the development process such as affecting the dog owner to leave the dog alone at home or bring to a totally new place where it does not feel calm.
4.1.4 Storyboarding or “the five whys”
In addition to following an interview guide, storyboarding or “the five whys ” were performed during each interview. During three of the interviews, the interviewees were asked to write a list of all crucial dog health related tasks that they encounter in their daily lives. The reason for doing that was to find out their first thoughts
that popped up in their minds. Thereafter, they were asked to choose the most critical problem, in their opinion, and draw a storyboard illustrating that specific scenario in order to demonstrate it stepbystep [26].
Figure 1. Storyboarding session with Emily (and Pedro) The decision to add storyboarding to the interviews resulted in good discussions that were not just related to the chosen problem, but also the other ones that they found less critical. Additionally, it was valuable to hear them reasoning while thinking out loud to understand their way of thinking.
The reason for excluding storyboarding during two of the interviews was because it did not feel suitable for those situations due to one interviewee’s shaky hands, and lack of places to sit down during the outdoor interview. Similar to the other interviews, a critical problem was chosen, but instead of describing it step by step by drawing a storyboard, “the five whys” was played. It means that the interviewee had to answer the question why five times in order to identify the underlying reason of the problem, which opened up for good discussions [23].
4.2 Thematic analysis
The collected data was carefully analysed through a thematic analysis and divided into different themes that eased identifying patterns and behaviours. The analysis had a theoretical character, which means, in contrast to inductive research and analysis, that the data was looked at in relation to the research question and with the chosen epistemology in mind. Even though other analytic methods also seek patterns in the data, such as interpretative phenomenological analysis and grounded theory, the key advantage with thematic analysis is its flexibility through its theoretical freedom [2]. A chart was drawn on a big paper where text and shapes in different colours were used to symbolise certain themes based on the reviewed literature, which will be deeper described in section 5.2.
5. RESULTS
After interviewing five dog owners and analysing the collected data through a thematic analysis, different patterns were found within the themes and subthemes. This section includes a brief description of each interview conducted, followed by the identified themes.
5.1 Interview overview
The first interview was conducted with Emily, an owner of a nine months old Golden Retriever named Pedro, in her house’s garden full of leafy bushes and dog toys. Emily is, as well as a dog owner, also a mother of a 10 month old baby. She is 31 years old, and has recently started to work again after the parental leave. Pedro is
currently in the adolescence phase which has great impact on his behaviour. During this phase, hormone activity sometimes makes it difficult to calm him down. Therefore, the garden is an appreciated place to spend the afternoons since Pedro can sniff around in the bushes as much as he wants to, the baby can play or crawl around in the grass while Emily and her husband enjoy the afternoon sun.
The second interviewee was Annika, a 26 years old woman and mother of two young sons. The interview was conducted in her apartment’s kitchen while her older son watched a movie and her infant slept in the baby stroller on the balcony. Her husband usually works during the evenings, but Annika did not seem stressed about taking care of both dog and children, and her experience from her job as a children’s pedagogy was obvious. Her dog, a big and friendly seven years old Cockapoo named Daisy, laid calmly on the rug under the table during the whole interview, and sometimes rolled over to her back begging to get stroked on the tummy.
The third interview was conducted with Lena, a 76 years old woman with long experiences of German Shepherds. Nowadays, she is the owner of a young, and rather wild, German Shepherd named Rita. They live in a newly built apartment with a big terrace where the interview was conducted. The terrace is located on the building’s ground floor and points towards a shared green garden, and she described the place as their favorite room since she and her husband can relax in their sun beds while Rita takes a bath in her dog pool or rests in the shadow.
The fourth interview with Julia, 34 years old, took place on a big green field close to her house. Her dog Vincent, a three years old Labrador mix and adopted through a Swedish dog rescue organisation, first ran crisscross over the field followed by resting in the grass after finding a stick to chew on. Julia explained that Vincent suffers from osteoarthritis and has recently gone through a surgery, and that it is very important that he walks and runs on different surfaces, such as grass, which is good for his legs. The big green field just outside their house was therefore especially appreciated since Vincent could run as much as he wanted to, under Julia’s watchful eyes, at the same time as it is close to home if he gets pain.
The fifth interview was conducted with Thomas, a 27 years old man, father to a toddler, and owner of a Terrier mix named Reddy.
The interview was conducted in his kitchen after his son had fallen asleep for the night. Reddy, who usually prefers being in the same room as Thomas, was tired and slept on the sofa in the living room.
He looked very relaxed as he layed on his back with his legs pointing up in the air while he snored. Thomas adopted Reddy when he was 8 months old, also through a Swedish dog rescue organisation, and happily shared memories about Reddy being very scared and cautious in the beginning, which is not the case today, four years later.
5.2 Themes
This section consists of two main themes, one with focus on the dog which contains subthemes with the dog’s physical and psychical health in center, and the other one on the dog owner which contains subthemes with focus on the dog owners’ thoughts and attitudes towards the life as a dog owner. Sometimes, the two main themes overlap since the dog owner’s behaviour is also reflected in the dog’s health, however, that is because the two themes are closely connected.
5.2.1 Dog health and wellbeing
The next coming sections will bring up the following themes:
Physical and psychical health, Grooming, and Intimate care.
5.2.1.1 Physical and psychical health
Since the dogs were present during the interviews, it was possible to quickly observe their overall appearance and behaviour. All dogs looked healthy, clean and were in good physical shape. They also seemed curious about having a guest in their house as they happily greeted me with wagging tails. After this initial curiosity, it did not take long until they returned to their normal positions and stayed, resting, in their beds. All dogs except Reddy were rather big and required, according to their owners, a lot of activation. Lena said that her husband brings Rita to the forest everyday where they work out together, usually by going for long walks, but sometimes Rita runs beside her husband who rides a bicycle. Emily said that Pedro gets at least two hours of physical activation a day, usually with her husband while Emily takes care of the baby. Julia explained that even though Vincent suffers from osteoarthritis, he is a dog that requires a lot of activation and that they therefore often mix the dog walks with swimming sessions, which is very good for his legs. Both Thomas and Annika said that they often walk their dogs together with the baby stroller, which happens many times during the days.
Except for taking care of the dogs’ physical health, all interviewees thought it was important to stimulate their dogs’ minds. They all sometimes put traces, both indoors and outdoors, that their dogs tracked by scent. Emily and her husband bring Pedro to different dog courses which is very stimulating for him. Additionally, Pedro often performs different mind tasks, such as opening cans and practicing new tricks. Thomas mentioned that he has used a clicker in combination with a great amount of treats in order to teach Reddy around 30 different tricks, such as waving with a front leg. To keep them fresh in mind, Reddy usually has to perform a few tricks before every meal, as well as in other situations when he wants something really badly. Even though Reddy loves to teach and perform his tricks, it is very important that he always gets rewarded in the end, Thomas added. Annika explained that she sometimes put treats in the trees’ bark during the walks that Daisy has to search for. Since Daisy loves retrieving, which is in the Cockapoo’s nature, she often retrieves floating toys in the water as well as sunken stones. Daisy also has an activity ball that is specially designed for intellectual development, which she loves to play with.
Lena proudly said that she enjoys practicing obedience with Rita, which has resulted in Rita mostly listens to her and not her husband. Julia said that she takes every opportunity to practice with Vincent, no matter where they are. It can be simple tasks such as keeping eye contact for ten seconds before getting a treat, to more advanced tasks such as remaining calm in stressful environments.
Therefore, she always has a tiny bag of treats attached to the leash in order to always be able to reward Vincent. Julia also mentioned that they, just like Emily and Pedro, have attended many courses.
5.2.1.2 Grooming
Since it was problematic to observe the dogs’ dental hygiene, the teeth were not being looked at and the data collected on their dental hygiene is therefore based on the interviewees own admissions.
Thomas brushes Reddy’s teeth every evening after recently being advised to by a veterinarian a few months back on a regular health check. Lena said that she brushes Rita’s teeth every sunday together with other procedures, such as cutting the nails, and explained the importance of start brushing the dog’s teeth when they are puppies already. Both Thomas and Lena shared details on what tools they used, such as a toothbrush or a piece of a sponge together with a toothpaste specially made for dogs. Emily, Annika and Julia
admitted that they do not brush their dogs’ teeth at all, but instead give their dogs a chewing bone on a regular basis. None of the dog owners had yet visited a veterinarian for dental issues, although Thomas was worried that he would have to do so in the future since the veterinarian had found a lot of tartar on Reddy’s teeth. Both Annika and Emily mentioned tooth brushing as a potential problem while thinking out loud during the storyboard sessions, however, they both decided not to include it on the list among their other problems since it was not important enough.
No interviewees had problems cutting their dogs’ nails, although Thomas had put a great amount of time in practicing since Reddy did not like it from start. Lena had experienced difficulties with previous dogs, and repeated the importance of cutting the nails consistently and starting when they they are young
All interviewees answered that they brush and trim their dogs’
coats regularly, except for Thomas who does not do anything specific about Reddy’s coat since it is not needed. They all said that they shower their dogs very sporadically and only when it is really necessary in order to avoid dry skin. However, it happens that they wash their dogs’ paws more often than the rest of the body since they are exposed for more dirt and require more attention. Only Annika mentioned that she checks Daisy’s skin regularly for possible irritations, so called “hot spots”. Lena and Julia said that they usually do not clean their dogs’ ears since they are self cleansing, although they regularly look inside the ears to guarantee that they look healthy. Thomas, Emily and Annika said that they, from time to time, wipe their dogs’ ears with a cotton pad or a tiny cloth, and Annika also described how she sometimes has to remove some fluffy hair inside Daisy’s ears since she is very hairy, which is not unusual for a Cockapoo. She also needs to trim the hair around Daisy’s eyes in order for her to get a better sight. Every winter, Annika also cuts the curly coat a little bit shorter to prevent snow from get stuck.
5.2.1.3 Intimate care
Annika and Thomas mentioned problems with their dogs’ anal glands, especially when they emit an unpleasant odor. Annika said that it could sometimes be embarrassing to visit other people’s homes since Daisy often expresses these glands in stressful situations, for example when entering new environments. She also described how she sometimes needs to help Daisy emptying these glands at home in order to prevent them from becoming overfilled and cause pain. Thomas also said that it could be problematic when Reddy expresses these glands, for example on the subway, and that he finds the smell disgusting. He has sometimes observed Reddy
“dogscooting” which he knew was a symptom of anal related problems, although this behaviour has never been consistent and only happened very rarely.
All interviewees had sometime experienced problems with their dogs’ excrement, such as bad consistency or smell, but they had solved it by finding a more suitable food. Lena and Julia mentioned that their dogs could suffer from diarrhea after eating too many snacks or a food that they do not usually eat, which often happens when they are out travelling or visiting overgenerous friends or relatives.
Lena and Annika were the only interviewees with female dogs, and they both experienced it as problematic when their dogs go into canine estrus, so called “heat” season. Annika said that she finds it difficult leaving her dog alone at home during that time since she removes the canine sanitary pad and starts chewing on it as soon as they leave the apartment, which unfortunately leads to bloody spots
on the sofa (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Storyboard showing bloody spots on the sofa Lena expressed the heat season as “tricky but manageable ”, since it is coming regularly and she knows how to deal with it. Although, she does not usually invite people to their home until the heat season is over. She has also experienced Rita being pseudopregnant and stated the importance of not putting too much pressure on the dog during that sensible time.
5.2.2 Dog owners’ social context
The next coming sections will bring up the following themes: Dog raising strategies, Lost bond with dog after having baby, Living situation, and Tracking tools & digital behaviour.
5.2.2.1 Dog raising strategies
The interviewees used differed ways to communicate with their dogs, which I was, to a limited extent, able to observe during the interviews. For example, Lena used a forceful tone of voice in order to correct Rita while barking on a passing neighbour, and rewarded her by using a softer voice while stroking her back. She explained that she can be sound tough while training but that she always rewards Rita afterwards, either with a lot of cuddling or by playing with her favorite toy since she is not interested in eatable treats.
Emily used mixed voices while talking to Pedro, and rewarded him by spreading out his food on the ground which he had to search for. When he was a little bit too wild, Emily asked her husband to bring the squirt bottle in order to distract him. Thomas and Julia, who are both owners of rescue dogs, only used positive reinforcement when raising their dogs. That was reflected in Julia’s behaviour towards Vincent as she sporadically fed him with treats during the whole interview to encourage his calm behaviour when laying beside us chewing on the stick. Annika described the famous dog behaviourist Cesar Millan as the “god of the house” and that they had followed his advices many times, while Emily mentioned the dog coaches Fredrik Steen and Eva Bodfäldt as sources of inspiration. Even though the interviewees had different training techniques, they all showed great interest in training their dogs to
behave well, and Emily said:
It is important to figure out what behaviour that is preferable and try to accomplish that, rather than the opposite way where you try to get rid of an unwanted behaviour.
She also explained that she has always had dogs within the family, and that her mother’s behaviour towards dogs had influenced her.
Even though she often turns to her mother for dog related questions, she nowadays makes her own decisions and actively tries to use softer methods than before. Thomas, who also grew up with dogs in the family, explained that he has realised that his own behaviour towards dogs differs a lot compared to what he was used to, and that soft methods is the only way to make Reddy a happy and secure dog. For example, nowadays he always uses a harness on Reddy instead of a collar in order to avoid putting pressure on Reddy’s neck.
5.2.2.2 Lost bond with dog after having baby
During the interviews with Emily and Annika, where children were present, no stressful situation for the dogs occurred and the dogs behaved calmly and naturally around them. Annika mentioned that she often feels bad for not having as much time for Daisy as she used to have, and explained that Daisy has always been very keen on her but nowadays prefer cuddling with her husband. At the same time as she feels bad about this, she is also glad to see that the relation between Daisy and her husband has improved. Since they got children, her husband is the one who takes care of everything related to Daisy’s grooming routines, such as cutting the nails and brushing the fur. She also admitted that she gets her needs of closeness fulfilled, and sometimes even overfilled, by her children and that she does not always have the same commitment to cuddle with Daisy as she had before.
Emily mentioned that stress usually occurs when she has slept bad, which happens a lot in a family with baby, which affects the amount of energy she can put on Pedro. Since she does not want to deal with problems halfheartedly, she has sometimes chosen to take detours when other dog and dog owners are coming towards her and Pedro on the street, just to avoid a bad dog meeting. She has also placed Pedro in another room while her baby has eaten lunch instead of taking the opportunity to train him not to eat the food that usually ends up on the floor, which she normally would have done with more energy. She mentioned that she was not worried about Pedro’s psychological health, but wanted them to have a deeper relationship that is not just “good enough”. Thomas, who has a one year old son, explained that he has worked hard on the relationship between his son and Reddy, and that Reddy is not a “natural family dog” like many other dogs he had heard about. He said that he was a little bit surprised about the amount of time and energy that he has needed to spend on the relationship between the two of them, in order for them to go along without any growling or crying.
Spending much time on making them behave calmly around each other has taken time that he normally would have spent on his own relationship with Reddy. Things that he and Reddy used to do before, such as going for long walks by the lake, does not happen that often anymore since the time is limited. Other people have asked him why he does not leave Reddy alone at home more often, which makes him sad. The reason for taking this problem seriously is because he cares a lot about Reddy and does not want to exclude him in daily routines. However, the problem is manageable and nowadays his son knows how to “pat carefully” as well as feeding Reddy with treats, which has lead to great improvements for their relationship compared to just a few weeks back. Also, combining
family time with dog walks has turned out to be a good solution, and Thomas sees bright future ahead.
5.2.2.3 Living situation
Lena experienced Rita as wild and loud compared to her previous dogs, and she kept repeating that she does not like to live in an apartment close to other people since she feels that Rita disturbs them every time she barkes. Lena argued that all dogs have different personalities and that there was nothing wrong with Rita, but her temperament is just not suitable for living in an apartment. She also complained about not having a dog park nearby, and that there was no natural place for Rita to meet other dogs in the neighborhood and in her size. Instead, her husband has to take the car to the forest where they usually meet other dogs as well as work out together.
Sadly, Lena can not join them due to a disease that makes her dependent on being close to home. Thomas, too, said that he would like to live closer to the nature areas since Reddy loves walking in the forest, however, he did not face any problems living in an apartment since Reddy does not usually bark that much. Thomas also mentioned that he was afraid of all the cars driving outside the house, both from the dog’s and the child’s perspective, and that he was worried about all the car exhaust fumes. Julia also mentioned the cars as a problem, and that she and her husband had plans on moving to a calmer area outside the city. As mentioned earlier, Emily was very satisfied with living in a house with a garden, and did not miss living in an apartment like she and her husband did before. Annika, who lives in a newly built apartment that is both close to her children's nursery school as well as her and her husband’s work places, did not express any difficulties about living there with Daisy.
5.2.2.4 Tracking tools & Digital behaviour
Emily and her husband sometimes keep track of Pedro’s walked distance through a mobile fitness application called Google Fit , 6 which they also use to keep track of their own health. However, the data about themselves and Pedro often become mixed up which makes it difficult to see the progress. Thomas said that he uses his smartphone’s reminder function to get notified when it is time to brush Reddy's teeth every evening. Annika mentioned that she earlier used her mobile calendar application to get notified when it was time to take care of Daisy’s grooming routines, but that she has stopped using it since she never had time to take care of it when she received the notification, which made it useless. Both Lena and Emily mentioned that they used to put postit notes on the fridge remembering them about certain grooming routines, but that they do not need to do so anymore since they no longer forget about them.
In order to keep track of vaccinations, Emily had a physical compendium that she received from the breeder in which she noted every new dose and the expire dates. She said that it would be preferable to have these things in a digital version in case the compendium got lost or if she ever wanted to share the information with anyone. Lena received a letter from the veterinarian when it was time for a new dose, which she was happy about but also a bit worried in case of all the data suddenly disappeared or if she ever wanted to change veterinary clinic. Annika, Thomas and Julia had no way to keep track of vaccinations and did not feel confident about talking about it. They admitted that they do not have the knowledge that they wished to have, and that they have only taken the “mandatory” vaccinations that are required to take when the dog is a puppy or before mating.The most common way to search for information about their dogs’ health was to use Google or to write
6 https://fit.google.com/
