The immaterial cord : the dog human attachment bond

The study of the human-dog relationship is relatively recent, and the prevalent framework, borrowed from the human infant literature, is embedded in attachment theory.This chapter starts with a brief introduction on different social bonds in animals, particularly mammals, followed by a presentation of Bowlby's ethological attachment theory and the prevalent paradigm used in assessing attachment: the Strange Situation.Then, the nature and the characteristics of the dog-human bond are considered, and a critical review of the literature on dog-human attachment is carried out. The effects of different life experiences on attachment are presented and discussed. The dog-human relationship is discussed in the light of intraspecific mother-pup attachment behaviour. Finally, future directions in research are proposed.