Bite Incidences Come as No Surprise

Bite Incidences Come as No Surprise

According to a new veterinary study published in The Journal of Applied Animal Behaviour (2009), if you're aggressive to your dog, your dog will be aggressive, too.

Says Meghan Herron, DVM, lead author of the study,

"Nationwide, the number-one reason why dog owners take their dog to a veterinary behaviourist is to manage aggressive behaviour.

Our study demonstrated that many confrontational training methods, whether staring down dogs, striking them, or intimidating them with physical manipulation, do little to correct improper behaviour and can elicit aggressive responses."

Indeed, the use of such confrontational training techniques can provoke fear in the dog and lead to defensively aggressive behaviour toward the person administering the aversive action.

For the study, Herron, Frances S. Shofer and Ilana R. Reisner, veterinarians with the Department of Clinical Studies at University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine, produced a 30-item survey for dog owners who made behavioural service appointments at Penn Vet.

In the questionnaire, dog owners were asked how they had previously treated aggressive behaviour, whether there was a positive, negative or neutral effect on the dogs' behaviour, and whether aggressive responses resulted from the method they used. Owners were also asked where they learned of the training technique they employed. 140 surveys were completed.

Some Techniques Triggered Aggression

The highest frequency of aggression occurred in response to aversive (or punishing) interventions, even when the intervention was indirect:

• Hitting or kicking the dog (41% of owners reported aggression)
• Growling at the dog (41%)
• Forcing the dog to release an item from its mouth (38%)
• "Alpha roll" (forcing the dog onto its back and holding it down) (31%)
• "Dominance down" (forcing the dog onto its side) (29%)
• Grabbing the jowls or scruff (26%)
• Staring the dog down (staring at the dog until it looks away) (30%)
• Spraying the dog with water pistol or spray bottle (20%)
• Yelling "no" (15%)
• Forced exposure (forcibly exposing the dog to a stimulus – such as tile floors, noise or people – that frightens the dog) (12%)

In contrast, non-aversive methods resulted in much lower frequency of aggressive responses:

• Training the dog to sit for everything it wants (only 2% of owners reported aggression)
• Rewarding the dog for eye contact (2%)
• Food exchange for an item in its mouth instead of forcing the item out (6%)
• Rewarding the dog for "watch me" (0%)

Extracts from: Dr. Yin's Animal Behaviour and Medicine Blog.