title: Walking the dog: exploration of the contact networks between dogs in a community.
abstract: This study uses social network analysis to investigate potential contact among 214 dog-owning households in a UK community through their utilization of public space during walking. We identified a high level of potential contact between dog-owning households; most households walked their dogs in only a few areas but a small number visited many. Highly connected households were more likely to have multiple dogs, walk their dogs off lead, and own Working, Pastoral or some Terrier types. Similarly, most areas were only visited by a few households but a few were visited by many. Despite identification of subgroups of households and locations, we demonstrated high connectivity between dog-owning households, with minimum path lengths of two 'steps' (household-area-household, 74%) or four 'steps' (via two areas, 26%).
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Clinical Science, University of Liverpool, Leahurst, Neston, Cheshire, UK. carri.westgarth@liverpool.ac.uk
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Westgarth
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Gaskell
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Pinchbeck
authors.forename: J W S
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Bradshaw
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Christley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000635:transmission*; D004285:Dogs; D004779:Environment Design; D006801:Humans; D012931:Social Environment; D013383:Suburban Population; D006113:United Kingdom; D016138:Walking