A STUDY OF OBESITY AMONG COMPANION DOGS IN IRELAND
Abstract
More and more, dogs are being kept as pets or companions. It has become less common
for dogs to be bred for performance and purpose. (Pauleen Charmayne & Vanessa Ilse,
2007) ‘Companion animal’ can seem like an obvious term referring to the everyday ‘pet’,
but defining and understanding these terms has an ongoing history (Webb, 2002). For the
purpose of this thesis, the term ‘companion’ refers to a dog within a household that does
not serve an obvious purpose or carry out a specific job, eg., A working dog, such as a
sheep herding dog on a farm. They are there more for entertainment or companionship.
(Serpell, 1987)