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Many dogs are relinquished worldwide, so it is important to enhance adoptions' success. We aimed at investigating factors associated with owners' satisfaction with adopted dogs, both in general and focusing on galgos. Data on 392 dogs (191 galgos) were gathered using an online survey, investigating dogs' and owners' demographics, satisfaction with the adopted dog and post-adoption behavior. Satisfaction was affected by different variables in galgos' owners as compared to non-sighthound non-podenco dogs' ones, with only the presence of disobedience on walks negatively affecting satisfaction in both samples. Depending on dogs' type, the presence of some behavioral problems was associated with decreased satisfaction with the dog (e.g., destructiveness for galgos, or separation problems for non-sighthound non-podenco dogs), whereas that of others increased it (e.g., not being interested in social interactions with dogs for galgos, and shadowing for non-sighthound non-podenco dogs). The variables most often being predictors of the behaviors influencing satisfaction were dog type, with being a galgo as a negative predictor, and dog's age, with being older as a negative predictor. Further studies on dog adopters' satisfaction are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of behavioral complaints in rabbits, mustelids, and rodents that were kept as pets, to help veterinary practitioners while counseling prospective owners toward an informed and responsible choice of a pet. A total of 193 owners participated in the study, filling in a questionnaire, for a total of 371 pets (184 rabbits, 59 mustelids, 128 rodents). The prevalence reported by owners of behavioral complaints was 31.3% (29.3%, 52.5%, and 20.3% for rabbits, mustelids, and rodents, respectively; χ2 = 19.6; P < 0.001). Aggression toward people was reported in 13.2% of the sample (13.0%, 30.5%, and 5.5% for rabbits, mustelids, and rodents, respectively; χ2 = 9.4; P = 0.009). Stereotypic behavioral patterns were reported by owners in 26.4% of the cases (28.3%, 16.9%, and 28.1% for rabbits, mustelids, and rodents, respectively). The owners reported that the prevalence of stereotypies was higher in pets housed more restrictively (Fisher’s exact test; P < 0.001). The overall level of satisfaction was quite high (i.e., 8.6 ± 1.84 points out of 10), but was lower in pets declared to have unwanted behavioral patterns (P < 0.05). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]