Almost half of European households share their homes with a companion animals, of which there are estimated to be over 7000 different species (Davenport and Collins, 2016). According to Shahbandeh (2024), in 2018 there were an estimated 470 million companion dogs globally, making them the most popular companion animal. In Europe, their popularity is second only to that of cats, with an estimated 104 million companion dogs (FEDIAF, 2023). In Europe, the largest number of dogs are in Russia (approximately 17.6 million), the UK (13 million), and Germany (10.6 million), with high numbers also estimated in Spain, France, Italy, and Poland (FEDIAF, 2023). According to GlobalPETS, the companion animal population grew by 11% between 2021 and 2022 (Rubio & Gupta, 2023), with 11 million new dogs sharing our homes (FEDIAF, 2023). These figures estimate the population of companion dogs only; importantly, they do not include free-ranging dogs, which make up the majority (approximately 75–85%) of the world dog population (World Organisation for Animal Health, 2023).