TY - JOUR
T1 - Development and validation of a novel method for evaluating behavior and temperament in guide dogs
AU - Serpell, James A.
AU - Hsu, Yuying
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported and assisted by The Seeing Eye, Inc. The authors thank especially Ken Rosenthal, Doug Roberts, Eldin Leighton, Dolores Holle and Christine Dickson for their help with various aspects of the study, as well as acknowledging the contributions of the many puppy-raisers who provided the data.
PY - 2001/6/1
Y1 - 2001/6/1
N2 - Most guide and service dog organizations would benefit from the development of accurate methods for the early evaluation of canine temperament traits. This paper describes the development and validation of a novel questionnaire method for assessing behavior and temperament in 1-year-old guide dogs. Volunteer puppy-raisers scored a total of 1097 prospective guide dogs on a series of 40 semantic differential-type, behavioral rating scales. Principle components factor analysis of these scores extracted eight stable and interpretable common factors: stranger-directed fear/aggression, non-social fear, energy level, owner-directed aggression, chasing, trainability, attachment, and dog-directed fear/aggression. Three of these eight factors exhibited moderate internal consistency (Cronbach's α ≥ 0.72), while the reliabilities of the remaining factors were relatively low (Cronbach's α = 0.53-0.61). The eight factors were then validated against the guide dog school's own criteria for rejecting dogs for behavioral reasons. The results of this analysis confirmed the construct validity of the puppy raisers' questionnaire assessments of their dogs, and suggested that such methods can provide a useful and accurate means of predicting the suitability of dogs for guiding work. Various modifications to the original questionnaire are proposed in order to enhance its overall reliability.
AB - Most guide and service dog organizations would benefit from the development of accurate methods for the early evaluation of canine temperament traits. This paper describes the development and validation of a novel questionnaire method for assessing behavior and temperament in 1-year-old guide dogs. Volunteer puppy-raisers scored a total of 1097 prospective guide dogs on a series of 40 semantic differential-type, behavioral rating scales. Principle components factor analysis of these scores extracted eight stable and interpretable common factors: stranger-directed fear/aggression, non-social fear, energy level, owner-directed aggression, chasing, trainability, attachment, and dog-directed fear/aggression. Three of these eight factors exhibited moderate internal consistency (Cronbach's α ≥ 0.72), while the reliabilities of the remaining factors were relatively low (Cronbach's α = 0.53-0.61). The eight factors were then validated against the guide dog school's own criteria for rejecting dogs for behavioral reasons. The results of this analysis confirmed the construct validity of the puppy raisers' questionnaire assessments of their dogs, and suggested that such methods can provide a useful and accurate means of predicting the suitability of dogs for guiding work. Various modifications to the original questionnaire are proposed in order to enhance its overall reliability.
KW - Behavioral assessment
KW - Guide dog
KW - Temperament
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U2 - 10.1016/S0168-1591(00)00210-0
DO - 10.1016/S0168-1591(00)00210-0
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0035371506
SN - 0168-1591
VL - 72
SP - 347
EP - 364
JO - Applied Animal Behaviour Science
JF - Applied Animal Behaviour Science
IS - 4
ER -