# Effects of Mindfulness Practice on Owner-Reported Dog Behavior and Relationship

## TL;DR

This study found that practicing mindfulness can help dog owners perceive their pets' fear and aggression toward strangers more positively, without affecting the overall relationship quality.

## Contribution

The study is among the first to explore how mindfulness affects owner perception of dog behavior.

## Key findings

- Mindfulness practice led to a significant decrease in reported dog fear and aggression toward strangers.
- No significant changes were observed in the perceived quality of the dog–owner relationship.
- The effect was specific to stranger-directed behaviors and not other behavioral domains.

## Abstract

This study investigated whether a mental awareness practice, known as mindfulness, could influence how owners perceive their dogs’ behavior and the quality of their relationship. Mindfulness involves training the mind to focus on the present moment with a calm and non-judgmental attitude. We compared a group of owners who completed an 8-week mindfulness program with a control group. Participants filled out validated surveys providing information about their dog’s behavior both before and after the program. The results showed that owners who practiced mindfulness reported a significant decrease in their dogs’ fear and aggression toward strangers compared to the control group. Other behaviors and the overall quality of the relationship remained stable. These findings suggest that mindfulness can help owners perceive certain difficult dog behaviors more positively or respond to them with greater emotional regulation.

Mindfulness practices have been shown to improve human emotional regulation and attentional accuracy, yet their impact on the perception of companion animal behavior remains largely unexplored. This study investigates whether a mindfulness program for owners influences their evaluation of dog behavior and the dog–owner relationship. Participants were assigned to either an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Human–Animal Relationship (MBHAR) program (n = 102) or a control group (n = 51). The MBHAR protocol included formal meditation and informal daily exercises practiced in the presence of the dog. Evaluation was conducted at baseline (T0) and post-intervention (T1) using the Italian validated versions of the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ) and the Monash Dog–Owner Relationship Scale (MDORS). Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) to control for age and sex. While initial non-parametric analyses suggested improvements across several C-BARQ factors, after Bonferroni correction and GLMM validation, only “Stranger-directed aggression/fear” showed a robust and significant decrease in owner-reported scores in the mindfulness group compared to the control group. No significant changes were found in MDORS scores, indicating that the perceived quality of the relationship remained stable. The results suggest that mindfulness practice specifically influences how owners perceive and report their dog’s fearful or aggressive responses toward strangers. These findings highlight the potential of mindfulness as a tool to modify owner perception, which may influence the management of canine behavioral challenges, although its impact on the structural dimensions of the dog–owner bond appears limited in the short term.