How animal psychology can contribute to the dog-human relationship in modern society?

Abstract

Dogs have shared a common environment and similar selective pressures with humans through the time of domestication. About 60 years ago, Lorenz (1949) proposed that in many ways dogs are possibly more human-like than any other animals, including nonhuman primates. Only recently, however, scientific studies have evinced the specialized social skills of dogs. The relationships between humans and domestic dogs have deepened and changed, which highlighted or rather increased practical and ethical problems on the relationship between these two species. Some dogs are considered as members of the family, while some others are ill-treated and abandoned due to their behavior problems. In an attempt to examine how animal psychology can contribute to the dog-human relationship in modern society, this article reviews the application of behavior technology to behavior problems of dogs, the problems arising from the massive disparities in the treatment of dogs, and the view and traditional attitude towards animals in the theories of animal ethics.