Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
The use of novel stimuli as indicators of aggressive behavior in dogs.
- Journal:
- Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association
- Year:
- 2004
- Authors:
- Kroll, Tracy L et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Biomedical Sciences · United States
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
In a study involving 100 dogs, researchers looked at how dogs reacted to a doll and an artificial hand to see if these reactions could predict aggressive behavior towards children. They found that 65% of dogs that reacted normally or not at all to the stimuli had a history of being good with kids, while 88% of those that reacted aggressively to the doll had previously shown aggression towards children. Dogs that were fearfully aggressive tended to show fear in response to the doll, and those that were dominant or fearfully aggressive were more likely to act aggressively towards the hand as well. While the study suggests that these toys could help identify aggressive tendencies in dogs, it also highlights that there are many inaccuracies, meaning the results aren't always reliable.
Abstract
To test the predictive value of a doll and an artificial hand, reactions of dogs (n=100) were compared to histories of behavior toward children. Each dog's reaction to the doll and the hand was categorized as normal, fearful, fearfully aggressive, or offensively aggressive. Sixty-five percent (n=37) of the dogs that had a normal or no reaction to the stimuli had a history of being good with children. Eighty-eight percent (n=34) of the dogs that had an aggressive reaction to the doll had a history of aggressive behavior toward a child. Dogs that were fearfully aggressive were significantly more likely to show fearful responses to the doll, and dogs that were either dominant or fearfully aggressive were more likely to exhibit aggression of the same type to the hand. The results of this study indicate that the doll and, to a lesser extent, the hand may be useful components in determining the aggressive tendencies of dogs. The results also point out the major limitations, because the false positives and false negatives are too frequent.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14736900/