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If your canine displays attention-seeking behaviour (pictured), you may have a better bond with them than owners with well-mannered pooches

Badly behaved dogs can be a source of embarrassment for their owners.

But if your canine companion displays attention-seeking behaviour, you may have a better bond with them than owners with perfectly-mannered pooches, a new study claims.

The research looked at human-animal attachment among 60 dog-owning families, including parents and children. It is the first study to examine attachment in children in this way.

Participants completed questionnaires to provide details about their attachment to their pet dogs, how responsible they feel towards them, and how often they feed and walk their canines.

They were also asked to rate their dogs on behavioural characteristics such as excitability, trainability, stranger fear and aggression, separation problems and attention-seeking behaviour.

Christy Hoffman, assistant professor of animal behaviour at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, said that people who care for their dogs well and take more responsibility for them are more attached to their pets than those who have a more hands-off approach.

While this is not surprising, her study also found that the more dogs act out and try to catch their owners' attention, the more their owners are likely to love them. Interestingly, children were not affected by this behaviour.

'Children's attitudes and levels of attachment toward their pets remained high, even when dogs showed low levels of attention-seeking behaviour,' Dr Hoffman said.

Christy Hoffman, assistant professor of animal behaviour at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, said that people who care for their dogs well and take more responsibility for them (stock image) are more attached to their pets than those who have a more hands-off approach

Adults tend to be more selective than children in the types of dogs with which they bond 'due to work-related and parental responsibilities that already demand their attention.

'Thus, adults may only form emotional attachments with dogs that seek out their attention,' she explained.

Dr Hoffman also discovered that owners have a better bond with their pets if their animal is well trained, but misses them when they are not around. If a dog likes socialising with humans, then the bond between canine and owner is greater still.

The study did not identify any differences between men and women. and found that they are typically drawn to the same dog characteristics and are equally attached to their pets.