Dog Weight Management Survey

[Weasels]

I don't recall a question about how much the owner exercises, whether they have health issues, if they take medications, etc...

It could be that she was not allowed to ask these sorts of questions under her ethics approval conditions.

--

A couple of things I think it would be helpful to remember:

- We don't know if this survey is the extent or even the main part of her study. It could be just an extra part of her work and her core conclusions are coming from elsewhere.

- an Honours year is very much a TRAINING position. The students are generally 21 year-olds with NO research experience. The primary objective is to provide these students with experience in designing and running a small project, and if the results turn out to be something that is publishable that is just a bonus. If the research turn out to be flawed or inadequate, it won't make it out into the peer-reviewed literature anyway.

- From what I've seen, many uni's are making students do more and more peripheral work in addition to their thesis (other essays, group projects etc.). It's a tough year. Suggesting helpful advice and constructive criticism is fair and hopefully will be received in the spirit it's intended, but let's cut the kid a break, huh?

[sunnyjohn]

there is no ability to answer the question regarding type of food the dog receives for those who feed raw...Additionally on the same question regarding type of food the last answer is about quantity of food.

I'm afraid i abandoned the questionnaire part way through as i couldn't answer the question about type of food and the electronic copy won't let me move on. Research data needs to be factual for quality analysis to occur and the questionnaire didn't allow me to be factual as it fails to ask about 'other' options that the researcher has failed to ask... herein lies one of the weaknesses of quantitative research with a singular data gathering methodology.

Same problem, same outcome.

Edited May 31, 2012 by sunnyjohn

[Weasels]

Yes, I started the survey but abandoned it at this point as my dog eats set meals and has to sit politely, or work for her food. She is not given treats for free ever, only food in training sessions.

My boy dog is extremely suspicious of any food he doesn't have to work for, because it's almost always a vegetable :laugh:

[Rebanne]

Yes, I started the survey but abandoned it at this point as my dog eats set meals and has to sit politely, or work for her food. She is not given treats for free ever, only food in training sessions.

My boy dog is extremely suspicious of any food he doesn't have to work for, because it's almost always a vegetable :laugh:

:rofl:

[TheCheekyMonster]

done - a little non specific and hard to be honest, also asks how many dogs but options cant be taked for both dogs.

[Rilla-My-Rilla]

Yes, I started the survey but abandoned it at this point as my dog eats set meals and has to sit politely, or work for her food. She is not given treats for free ever, only food in training sessions.

My boy dog is extremely suspicious of any food he doesn't have to work for, because it's almost always a vegetable :laugh:

[Poppy's mum]

I can't help but agree that many of the questions were loaded, starting with the "choose your favorite dog". "Choose one dog" would have been adequate.

Then there were the illogical bits - do you walk/jog with your dog? Yes. Does it run faster than you/same speed etc? Actually, my dog and I do not run together. Ever. She's a greyhound - I'd guess, at a stretch, that I probably can't run 70km per hour. (Just kidding on that one!)

No survey is perfect but a little more thought to the questions would have made it less irritating. Seemed the underlying mindset was that owners overfeed their favorite dogs and feed them when they beg etc Perhaps it was assumed the raw feeders didn't and so it wasn't relevant to them? As for characterising dogs as "Gourmets" "Beggars" or "Good Dogs" etc oh dear! None of those categories was relevant but there was no other choice.

Edited May 31, 2012 by Poppy's mum

[Rebanne]

I think the survey was to find out if fat and lazy owners had fat and lazy dogs.

[minimax]

I can't help but agree that many of the questions were loaded, starting with the "choose your favorite dog". "Choose one dog" would have been adequate.

No survey is perfect but a little more thought to the questions would have made it less irritating. Seemed the underlying mindset was that owners overfeed their favorite dogs and feed them when they beg etc Perhaps it was assumed the raw feeders didn't and so it wasn't relevant to them? As for characterising dogs as "Gourmets" "Beggars" or "Good Dogs" etc oh dear! None of those categories was relevant but there was no other choice.

I actually don't think the survey writer was aware that raw feeding was even an option, it was very "canned" "dry" or "table scraps" like there were no other options available.

[persephone]

I think the survey was to find out if fat and lazy owners had fat and lazy dogs.

*nods*

[DeltaCharlie]

Answered it the best I could, although I had the same issues as many others did.

We have 9 dogs who are all kept at a "leaner than average" weight due to them being agility/flyball dogs. To the average person they would be too thin.

We also feed raw (I went with home-cooked) and the only times they ever receive treats is if we are training something precise and tugging/fetch isn't ideal. Nobody is ever fed simply because they begged for food (in fact that is usually the quickest way to find yourself crated down the other end of the house LOL) and we certainly don't leave food out for them to free feed. They are fed when we want to feed them, not when they think its dinner time.

As for feeding the recommended amounts? If we can feel slight coverage over their ribs they get fed less, if their hip bones could take out an eye they get fed more.

I got really stuck on the "what type of dog are they" as none of them were applicable.

They are very rarely walked but we live on a property so they have room to run, and we do agility training with them a few afternoons a week. I think I ticked the 30min walk option as I figured thats about the exercise equivelent of a 5min jumping session. Of course they run faster than us, but was the question implying that we can't control our dogs if we say that?

[Whippetsmum]

Dumb questionare-

What no one feeds raw? Oh that's right, proably sucking up to the dog food companies. I think this moronic questionaire is the same one that someone had at the Sydney Pet Expo.

[WExtremeG]

I think the survey was to find out if fat and lazy owners had fat and lazy dogs.

My thoughts exactly!

[jaybeece]

This is a public forum - she may even find the pages herself here?

She might, which is partly why I've asked people not to say things like this:

Dumb questionare-

What no one feeds raw? Oh that's right, proably sucking up to the dog food companies. I think this moronic questionaire is the same one that someone had at the Sydney Pet Expo.

Whippetsmum I have already asked twice that people keep it constructive, this is uncalled for and rude. Have some respect for both my requests and for the author of this survey

I don't want to speak on behalf of the girl who wrote this, but I believe her survey is very much aimed at "average" dog owners who probably feed Pal and occasionally splash out on Supercoat. I apologise if she didn't cater for the 1% of dog owners who are more aware of canine dietry needs, but you are the minority so therefore I can understand why she would not include that option, for all I know she's unaware of raw feeding altogether. I posted it here with her permission as a favour so she could collect as many responses as possible, not so it could be pulled apart and mocked.

As I have already asked, please keep it nice and/or constructive and if you can't fill it out then don't. It's very simple.

I don't recall a question about how much the owner exercises, whether they have health issues, if they take medications, etc...

It could be that she was not allowed to ask these sorts of questions under her ethics approval conditions.

--

A couple of things I think it would be helpful to remember:

- We don't know if this survey is the extent or even the main part of her study. It could be just an extra part of her work and her core conclusions are coming from elsewhere.

- an Honours year is very much a TRAINING position. The students are generally 21 year-olds with NO research experience. The primary objective is to provide these students with experience in designing and running a small project, and if the results turn out to be something that is publishable that is just a bonus. If the research turn out to be flawed or inadequate, it won't make it out into the peer-reviewed literature anyway.

- From what I've seen, many uni's are making students do more and more peripheral work in addition to their thesis (other essays, group projects etc.). It's a tough year. Suggesting helpful advice and constructive criticism is fair and hopefully will be received in the spirit it's intended, but let's cut the kid a break, huh?

Thank you Weasels, so well said :) I've bolded it in the hope more people will read it and calm down.

[Jumabaar]

Dumb questionare-

What no one feeds raw? Oh that's right, proably sucking up to the dog food companies. I think this moronic questionaire is the same one that someone had at the Sydney Pet Expo.

Nope it isnt- that was about seeing how people understand their pets nutrition from memory.

I don't think it was a silly survey at all- the majority of pet owners could have quite happily gone right through the questions without problem. The DOL demographic is a little different to what the survey was probably thought of for (AKA the honours student may not have really known a group of crazy raw feeding dog sport enthusiasts even exists so it would be hard to cater to us ;) )

ETA- I managed to submit the survey. Not quite accurate but close enough.

Edited May 31, 2012 by Jumabaar

[Alkhe]

I answered as accurately as possible, but my feedback would mainly be on that 'which is your dog - the nibbler, the gourmet, etc' because it doesn't seem able to fit dogs of even your average dog owner. I ticked the 'beggar' one, because my dog begs for food constantly.. but i don't actually reward that behaviour. It's the only one that remotely fits her, though the answer implies that she gets fed because she beg for it. My issue with that kind of multiple choice question is that it has 2 assumptions in each of the answer options, and if you're answering in a near-enough's-good-enough kind of way, the results are going to be skewed by assuming that the 2 things are related. Eg, my answer to that question would lead to the assumption that I feed my dog when she demands, it, but that's not true in 99% of the cases.

While I probably over-thought some of the questions, I'm sure your "average" dog owner wouldn't have trouble. I am thinking about my family members and friends etc, all of them of who feed tinned food and table scraps etc.

On a side note, I'd be very interested to see the results of any surveys of dog weight and owner weight - it'd be very interesting. Sometimes I wish people would pay the same amount of attention to their own diet as they obviously do to their dog's diet! And vice versa.. I'm terrible, but those thoughts do enter my head on many occasions.

[westiemum]

I don't recall a question about how much the owner exercises, whether they have health issues, if they take medications, etc...

It could be that she was not allowed to ask these sorts of questions under her ethics approval conditions.

--

A couple of things I think it would be helpful to remember:

- We don't know if this survey is the extent or even the main part of her study. It could be just an extra part of her work and her core conclusions are coming from elsewhere.

- an Honours year is very much a TRAINING position. The students are generally 21 year-olds with NO research experience. The primary objective is to provide these students with experience in designing and running a small project, and if the results turn out to be something that is publishable that is just a bonus. If the research turn out to be flawed or inadequate, it won't make it out into the peer-reviewed literature anyway.

- From what I've seen, many uni's are making students do more and more peripheral work in addition to their thesis (other essays, group projects etc.). It's a tough year. Suggesting helpful advice and constructive criticism is fair and hopefully will be received in the spirit it's intended, but let's cut the kid a break, huh?

Thanks weasel - good summary and you've saved me the trouble... Honors students rarely produce publishable work -I work in a University - and this simple survey is probably a first attempt by this student...and to cap it off as someone said DOL is probably an odd demographic - far better informed than your average Joe.

So a little understanding here is the way to go IMO - and lets encourage a student who is obviously interested in doing dog research. :)

Edited May 31, 2012 by westiemum

[kayla1]

I don't recall a question about how much the owner exercises, whether they have health issues, if they take medications, etc...

It could be that she was not allowed to ask these sorts of questions under her ethics approval conditions.

--

A couple of things I think it would be helpful to remember:

- We don't know if this survey is the extent or even the main part of her study. It could be just an extra part of her work and her core conclusions are coming from elsewhere.

- an Honours year is very much a TRAINING position. The students are generally 21 year-olds with NO research experience. The primary objective is to provide these students with experience in designing and running a small project, and if the results turn out to be something that is publishable that is just a bonus. If the research turn out to be flawed or inadequate, it won't make it out into the peer-reviewed literature anyway.

- From what I've seen, many uni's are making students do more and more peripheral work in addition to their thesis (other essays, group projects etc.). It's a tough year. Suggesting helpful advice and constructive criticism is fair and hopefully will be received in the spirit it's intended, but let's cut the kid a break, huh?

Thank you Weasels, so well said :) I've bolded it in the hope more people will read it and calm down.

She may have problems with validity of data due to the way some of the questions were asked, but she can discuss that in the discussion/limitation sections in her thesis.

[westiemum]

I don't recall a question about how much the owner exercises, whether they have health issues, if they take medications, etc...

It could be that she was not allowed to ask these sorts of questions under her ethics approval conditions.

--

A couple of things I think it would be helpful to remember:

- We don't know if this survey is the extent or even the main part of her study. It could be just an extra part of her work and her core conclusions are coming from elsewhere.

- an Honours year is very much a TRAINING position. The students are generally 21 year-olds with NO research experience. The primary objective is to provide these students with experience in designing and running a small project, and if the results turn out to be something that is publishable that is just a bonus. If the research turn out to be flawed or inadequate, it won't make it out into the peer-reviewed literature anyway.

- From what I've seen, many uni's are making students do more and more peripheral work in addition to their thesis (other essays, group projects etc.). It's a tough year. Suggesting helpful advice and constructive criticism is fair and hopefully will be received in the spirit it's intended, but let's cut the kid a break, huh?

Thank you Weasels, so well said :) I've bolded it in the hope more people will read it and calm down.

She may have problems with validity of data due to the way some of the questions were asked, but she can discuss that in the discussion/limitation sections in her thesis.

Yep or with her supervisor. :)

Edited May 31, 2012 by westiemum

[mantis]

I had to stop when I got to the questions about what type of dog, the nibbler the gourmet etc, it was a stupid question and I couldn't fit my dogs into any of the catagories but I couldn't go on until I answered it.

What type of canine eater is your dog?

(please tick the most appropriate box)

The Nibbler = Nibbles at the food left out for it all day and eats little at meal times☐

The Beggar = Fusses noisily to get food and gets fed

The Good Dog = Affection from owner and other members of the house is shown primarily through the feeding of treats

The Gourmet Dog = Allowed to eat table scraps in place of or in addition to its main meal(s)

I can't select any of the options. My dogs don't have access to food all day, they don't fuss to get food, affection is not demonstrated through treats, and they don't get table scraps.

They get food as a routine and have to sit politely for it.

Yes, I started the survey but abandoned it at this point as my dog eats set meals and has to sit politely, or work for her food. She is not given treats for free ever, only food in training sessions.

The question assumes that I'm an idiot that gives my dog whatever it wants. I'm not :laugh: so I had to stop there and not complete the survey.

I answered D, because Kenny would never eat his food until after I ate mine, because he was waiting for any scraps left over. He also got treats for free, either I must have been an idiot owner, or you are a meany.