Understanding the factors that result in people becoming dog owners is key to developing messaging around responsible acquisition and providing appropriate support for prospective owners to ensure a strong dog–owner bond and optimise dog welfare. This qualitative study investigated factors that influence pet dog acquisition. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 142 sets of dog owners/caretakers at 23 Dogs Trust community events. Interviews focused on the motivations and influences that impacted how people acquired their dogs. Transcribed interviews and notes were thematically analysed. Two acquisition types were reported, that each accounted for half of our interviewees’ experiences: planned and unplanned. Whilst planned acquisitions involved an intentional search for a dog, unplanned acquisitions occurred following an unexpected and unsought opportunity to acquire one. Unplanned acquisitions frequently involved a participant’s family or friends, people happening upon a dog in need, or dogs received as gifts. Motivations for deciding to take the dog included emotional attachments and a desire to help a vulnerable animal. Many reported making the decision to acquire the dog without hesitation and without conducting any pre-acquisition research. These findings present valuable insights for designers of interventions promoting responsible acquisition and ownership, because there is minimal opportunity to deliver messaging with these unplanned acquisitions. Additionally, these findings may guide future research to develop more complete understandings of the acquisition process. Further studies are required to understand the prevalence of unplanned acquisitions.

中文翻译：

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“不要带我去养狗……我会保持它的状态”：在参加英国犬类健康和福利社区活动的一些犬主中了解计划外的犬只收购

了解导致人们成为狗主人的因素，对于围绕负责任的收购发展信息传递并为准主人提供适当的支持以确保牢固的狗主人关系并优化狗的福利至关重要。这项定性研究调查了影响宠物狗获取的因素。在23个Dogs Trust社区活动中，对142套狗主人/看护者进行了半结构化访谈。访谈的重点是影响人们养狗方式的动机和影响。转录的采访和笔记进行了主题分析。报告了两种采集类型，每种类型都占我们受访者经验的一半：有计划的和无计划的。计划中的收购涉及故意寻找狗只，计划外的收购是在意料之外的，意想不到的机会收购之后发生的。计划外的收购活动经常涉及参与者的家人或朋友，碰巧遇上需要的狗的人或收到的狗作为礼物。决定养狗的动机包括情感依恋和帮助弱势动物的愿望。许多人报告说，他们毫不犹豫地进行了获取狗的决定，并且没有进行任何购前研究。这些发现为促进负责任的收购和所有权的干预措施的设计者提供了宝贵的见解，因为通过这些计划外的收购活动传递消息的机会很少。此外，这些发现可能会指导未来的研究，以便对收购过程有更全面的了解。