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As a fur parent, you may be wondering whether you’re parenting your fur baby the right way. In this blog, we’ll talk about a study done that aimed to understand the best parenting style for your dog.

According to animal behaviorists at Oregon State University, if you parent your dog in an “authoritative” manner, it will develop into a more social, secure, and intelligent dog.

Animal behaviorist Monique Udell from Oregon State University said, “We found that pet parenting style does predict patterns of dog behavior and cognition.”

Nearly 50 dog owners were polled about various pet parenting principles and based on their responses, the respondents were divided into three groups: authoritative (high expectations, high responsiveness), authoritarian (high expectations, low responsiveness), and permissive (low expectations, high responsiveness).

Following some behavioral tests, researchers discovered that dogs with the highest rates of secure attachment – meaning those who felt secure in their parent’s ability to meet their needs and were highly social and intelligent – belonged to dog parents who adopted an authoritative style in their pet parenting. Additionally, they were the only puppies that could complete the behavioral test’s puzzle task.

“This an important finding because it suggests that dog owners who take the time to understand and meet their dog’s needs are more likely to end up with secure, resilient dogs,” Udell said.