Risk Factors For Unsuccessful Dog Ownership In Taiwan

According to this 2004 study of 259 Taiwanese dog owners, there is an inverse association between the age of the dog at acquisition and the risk of unsuccessful dog ownership: the younger the dog, the higher the risk.

This retrospective study of 259 Taiwanese dog owners in 2004 addressed one of the major contributors to dog overpopulation in Taiwan: unsuccessful dog ownership. We found an inverse association between age of the dog at acquisition and risk of unsuccessful dog ownership: the younger the dog at acquisition, the higher the risk.

The incidence-proportion ratios (IPRs) of unsuccessful dog ownership for the owners who had a history of companion animal abandonment or losing a companion animal compared with those without such a history were 1.8 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.1, 3.0) and 2.1 (95% CI = 1.3, 3.3), respectively. Soiling (IPR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.3, 3.1) and barking (IPR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.0, 2.6) problems had the strongest effects on unsuccessful dog ownership among the post-acquisition variables studied.

Preventing owners with a history of unsuccessful dog ownership from acquiring dogs was predicted to yield the largest reduction of risk of unsuccessful dog ownership among the investigated variables (population attributable fraction = 33%, 95% CI = 11%, 50%).