Limitations and Future Directions 
Results of this study should be interpreted with the following limitations in mind. First, the sample was not representative; using non-probability convenience sampling, we obtained a sample that was 92% White, 80% female, and all dog-owning undergraduate or graduate students at a university. It is likely that there was also self-selection bias present, such that participants who volunteered for the study likely had a positive relationship with their pet dog. Therefore, findings are not generalizable to the larger population of dog owners. Second, group size was uneven due to limitations to randomization to four groups with a smaller sample. However, because these differences were not due to bias or non-random factors, implications for validity of the study’s findings are likely minimal. Finally, as pointed out by previous studies [