Dogs working in school settings as part of canine-assisted pedagogy are often assumed to benefit emotionally from their roles. However, Helena Pedersen and Kerstin Malm argue that such assumptions may suffer from positive bias and overlook the complexities of canine welfare. In their 2023 pilot study published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, they tested and evaluated a combination of four data collection methods: ethogram, qualitative behaviour assessment (QBA), ethnographic observation, and semi-structured interviews with five school-based dog-handling educators.
The study involved eight dogs across sixteen canine-assisted sessions in five different schools. One key finding was that while ethograms and QBA provided valuable behavioral insights, their utility was enhanced significantly when paired with contextual ethnographic data. The authors emphasize that understanding the meaning behind specific behaviors requires more than simple observation—it necessitates connected documentation rather than parallel data collection methods.
QBA, which involves observers interpreting dogs’ emotional expressions, proved especially compatible with ethnographic fieldwork. However, the authors caution against over-reliance on any single method. Instead, they advocate for adapting the method mix based on specific study goals and settings, prioritizing techniques that minimize anthropocentric bias and challenge conventional assumptions about the roles of “social service dogs.”
The study represents a critical step toward more ethically grounded research in the field of animal-assisted interventions and highlights the importance of re-evaluating how canine welfare is understood in educational environments.
Source: Helena Pedersen, Kerstin Malm. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, Volume 28, Pages 90–103, May 12, 2023.
