Dog behavior in the Ainsworth Strange Situation Test during separation from the owner and from the cohabitant dog

Dogs are known to form strong relationships towards subjects of their own kind and of other species. The aim of this research was to compare dog behavior when separated from a human and a canine companion. Sixteen dogs (9 females and 7 males, 49.8 ± 54.3 month old, belonging to different breeds) were observed during the 2-minute isolation episode of the Ainsworth Strange Situation Test. Each dog was tested twice: once the dog was separated from the owner and once from a cohabitant dog. The duration of 19 behaviors was measured in both conditions and compared using the Mann-Whitney test (p