Assessment of owner-directed aggressive behavioural tendencies of dogs in situations of possession and manipulation
(2017) In Royal Society Open Science 4(10).- Abstract
Excessive aggression is a common behaviour problem in dogs that can have various destructive effects on the affected people and the implicated dog. Aggressive behaviour directed towards the owner or other family members is one of the most frequently occurring aggressive phenotypes. Here, we examine the reliability of a short questionnaire assessing aggressive behaviours by two, contextually different behavioural tests: ‘take away bone’ and ‘roll over’. Based on dogs’ behaviour in the tests, we sorted dogs (N=93) in two groups for each test, namely a less and a more disobedient/resistant group. The two principal components obtained in our questionnaire- ‘obedient’ and ‘aggressive towards owner’-showed significant differences between the... (More)
Excessive aggression is a common behaviour problem in dogs that can have various destructive effects on the affected people and the implicated dog. Aggressive behaviour directed towards the owner or other family members is one of the most frequently occurring aggressive phenotypes. Here, we examine the reliability of a short questionnaire assessing aggressive behaviours by two, contextually different behavioural tests: ‘take away bone’ and ‘roll over’. Based on dogs’ behaviour in the tests, we sorted dogs (N=93) in two groups for each test, namely a less and a more disobedient/resistant group. The two principal components obtained in our questionnaire- ‘obedient’ and ‘aggressive towards owner’-showed significant differences between the behaviour groups. While dogs in the less disobedient/resistant groups had significantly higher ‘obedient’ and significantly lower ‘aggressive towards owner’ scores, dogs in the more disobedient/resistant groups had significantly higher ‘aggressive towards owner’ and significantly lower ‘obedient’ scores. Dogs’ age, sex and neuter/spay status expressed their effect through interactions. Males, young dogs and intact dogs were less ‘obedient’ than older ones, while resistant spayed/neutered dogs were more aggressive towards the owner. The questionnaire used is a safe, easy to deploy and time-efficient tool to reliably assess certain owner-directed aggressive tendencies of family dogs.
(Less)
- author
- Bálint, Anna LU ; Rieger, Gabriella ; Miklósi, Ádám and Pongrácz, Péter
- organization
- publishing date
- 2017-10-18
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Aggressive behaviour, Behaviour test, Dog, Dog owner, Questionnaire
- in
- Royal Society Open Science
- volume
- 4
- issue
- 10
- article number
- 171040
- publisher
- Royal Society Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85032016837
- wos:000413965600044
- pmid:29134099
- ISSN
- 2054-5703
- DOI
- 10.1098/rsos.171040
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- c3926f77-63cb-4ac9-b506-4fceb13af5d9
- date added to LUP
- 2017-11-02 12:49:05
- date last changed
- 2024-06-24 03:20:09
@article{c3926f77-63cb-4ac9-b506-4fceb13af5d9,
abstract = {{<p>Excessive aggression is a common behaviour problem in dogs that can have various destructive effects on the affected people and the implicated dog. Aggressive behaviour directed towards the owner or other family members is one of the most frequently occurring aggressive phenotypes. Here, we examine the reliability of a short questionnaire assessing aggressive behaviours by two, contextually different behavioural tests: ‘take away bone’ and ‘roll over’. Based on dogs’ behaviour in the tests, we sorted dogs (N=93) in two groups for each test, namely a less and a more disobedient/resistant group. The two principal components obtained in our questionnaire- ‘obedient’ and ‘aggressive towards owner’-showed significant differences between the behaviour groups. While dogs in the less disobedient/resistant groups had significantly higher ‘obedient’ and significantly lower ‘aggressive towards owner’ scores, dogs in the more disobedient/resistant groups had significantly higher ‘aggressive towards owner’ and significantly lower ‘obedient’ scores. Dogs’ age, sex and neuter/spay status expressed their effect through interactions. Males, young dogs and intact dogs were less ‘obedient’ than older ones, while resistant spayed/neutered dogs were more aggressive towards the owner. The questionnaire used is a safe, easy to deploy and time-efficient tool to reliably assess certain owner-directed aggressive tendencies of family dogs.</p>}},
author = {{Bálint, Anna and Rieger, Gabriella and Miklósi, Ádám and Pongrácz, Péter}},
issn = {{2054-5703}},
keywords = {{Aggressive behaviour; Behaviour test; Dog; Dog owner; Questionnaire}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{10}},
number = {{10}},
publisher = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
series = {{Royal Society Open Science}},
title = {{Assessment of owner-directed aggressive behavioural tendencies of dogs in situations of possession and manipulation}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171040}},
doi = {{10.1098/rsos.171040}},
volume = {{4}},
year = {{2017}},
}