A Preliminary Study of Multidimensional Welfare Assessment and Management Practices in Companion Dogs: Differences According to Owner and Dog Characteristics

This study assessed companion dog welfare across multiple domains using owner-observable information and examined differences in welfare scores according to owner and dog characteristics. Drawing on the Five Domains Model and previous research, we developed an owner-reported welfare assessment tool covering four domains: environment (16 items), physical health (24 items), behavior and mental state (29 items), and management (17 items). An online survey included 206 adult dog owners. We also compared general dog owners with owners holding training- or animal-assisted-intervention-related qualifications. The mean exploratory composite index was 87.16, with the highest score in the environment domain (92.22) and the lowest in the behavior and mental state domain (80.07). Female owners had significantly higher exploratory composite index values, environment, and management scores than male owners. Selected welfare scores also differed significantly by owner age, dog age, and body weight. No significant differences in the exploratory composite index or domain-specific welfare scores were found between the two groups. Although three individual items showed unadjusted p-values below 0.05, none remained statistically significant after Bonferroni correction. These findings provide preliminary evidence supporting multidimensional, owner-reported assessment of companion dog welfare and management practices. Further testing of the tool’s reliability and validity is warranted.