  Aims. In this work, we present an extended study of the dust environment of a
sample of short period comets and their dynamical history. With this aim, we
characterized the dust tails when the comets are active, and we made a
statistical study to determine their dynamical evolution. The targets selected
were 22P/Kopff, 30P/Reinmuth 1, 78P/Gehrels 2, 115P/Maury, 118P/Shoemaker-Levy
4, 123P/West-Hartley, 157P/Tritton, 185/Petriew, and P/2011 W2 (Rinner).
Methods. We use two different observational data: a set of images taken at the
Observatorio de Sierra Nevada and the Afrho curves provided by the amateur
astronomical association Cometas-Obs. To model these observations, we use our
Monte Carlo dust tail code. From this analysis, we derive the dust parameters,
which best describe the dust environment: dust loss rates, ejection velocities,
and size distribution of particles. On the other hand, we use a numerical
integrator to study the dynamical history of the comets, which allows us to
determine with a 90% of confidence level the time spent by these objects in the
region of Jupiter Family Comets. Results. From the Monte Carlo dust tail code,
we derived three categories attending to the amount of dust emitted: Weakly
active (115P, 157P, and Rinner), moderately active (30P, 123P, and 185P), and
highly active (22P, 78P, and 118P). The dynamical studies showed that the
comets of this sample are young in the Jupiter Family region, where the
youngest ones are 22P (100 yr), 78P (500 yr), and 118P (600 yr). The study
points to a certain correlation between comet activity and time spent in the
Jupiter Family region, although this trend is not always fulfilled. The largest
particle sizes are not tightly constrained, so that the total dust mass derived
should be regarded as lower limits.}
