Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many countries enforcing a ‘lockdown’, whereby people are instructed to stay at home. Aim: The aim of this study was to capture the experience of such a lockdown in Australians living alone, with and without a dog or a cat. Method: Three hundred and eighty-four participants completed an online survey evaluating their levels of loneliness, mindfulness and mood. For participants who owned a dog or a cat, a measure of dog/cat interactions was also administered as well as two open-ended questions about how being a pet owner affected their experience of COVID-19 and how COVID-19 affected their pet. Results: Contrary to expectations, cat owners were found to be less mindful than non-owners and pet interactions did not account for levels of loneliness or levels of mindfulness. In line with our expectations, however, stress and depression positively predicted loneliness, while mindfulness and being a dog owner were protective against it. Insights from qualitative responses suggest that this might be due to the fact that dogs encourage a routine which involves getting out of the house and walking, which itself offers opportunities to socialise with other people doing the same thing. Conclusion: These findings add to the emerging literature on mental well-being during a lockdown and the unique role that pets play in their owners’ experiences.

It has been postulated that the neuropeptide, oxytocin, is involved in human-dog bonding. This may explain why dogs, compared to wolves, are such good performers on object choice tasks, which test their ability to attend to, and use, human social cues in order to find hidden food treats. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of intranasal oxytocin administration, which is known to increase social cognition in humans, on domestic dogs' ability to perform such a task. We hypothesised that dogs would perform better on the task after an intranasal treatment of oxytocin. Sixty-two (31 males and 31 females) pet dogs completed the experiment over two different testing sessions, 5-15 days apart. Intranasal oxytocin or a saline control was administered 45 min before each session. All dogs received both treatments in a pseudo-randomised, counterbalanced order. Data were collected as scores out of ten for each of the four blocks of trials in each session. Two blocks of trials were conducted using a momentary distal pointing cue and two using a gazing cue, given by the experimenter. Oxytocin enhanced performance using momentary distal pointing cues, and this enhanced level of performance was maintained over 5-15 days time in the absence of oxytocin. Oxytocin also decreased aversion to gazing cues, in that performance was below chance levels after saline administration but at chance levels after oxytocin administration.

Previous studies have revealed cultural differences in perceptions of assistance dogs, but this has not been investigated in almost 20 years. This study aimed to develop an understanding of the Australian public's perceptions toward both assistance and companion dogs.A questionnaire was completed by 258 Australians asking about their interest in, attitudes towards, and perceived happiness of the two types of dogs. Results revealed participants were equally interested in them, but more supportive of the use of assistance dogs, and perceived them as happier. Qualitative analyses revealed participants commonly endorsed the practical benefits of assistance dogs and the emotional benefits of companion dogs. Differences in happiness ratings can potentially be explained by the common endorsement that companion dogs are sometimes neglected while assistance dogs enjoy working and constant companionship with their handler. However, several participants expressed concern regarding the restrictive nature of the assistance work. There was an increase in concerns raised for the welfare of both dogs as compared to previous studies, suggesting a rise in concern about dog welfare and the ethics of keeping dogs for human benefits.

These findings suggest that the LDAEP is insensitive to acute changes in serotonergic or noradrenergic neurotransmission and thus is a poor pharmacodynamic marker of these systems.