Aggression in Dogs-"Such traits are not usually predetermined by age, breed, or gender."

Aggression in a dog is frightening. Not only for the person who is the apparent target, but also for the pet owner. The possibility that one might be the owner of a pet that has inflicted serious harm on another person is a nightmare. More than a million people are bitten by every year, and this is probably a very low number when you take into account all the bites that are not reported. Most bite wounds are minor, but dog bites account for one percent of all emergency room admissions. Half of the victims are also children, usually under 10 years of age.

Aggresive behavioral traits can pose significant problems if there are other underlying causes. Such traits are not usually predetermined by age, breed, or gender. However, if a young dog shows signs of these traits, it may be genetic in origin, and the condition could become a long-term issue. There is no cure for these personality traits, but there are ways to work with the animal to reduce incidents and to prevent behavior from becoming exaggerated.

Symptoms and Types

Many aggressive signs are accompanied by a fearful body posture and facial expression, and with submissive behavior. Some dogs exhibit these signs if they are cornered, feel like they cannot escape, or are provoked. There are many types of aggression, including interdog, dominant, defensive, possesive, territorial, predatory, parental and those induced by fear, pain, or punishment. Of these, signs of an offensive type of fear include: 

• “Frozen” stance
• Growling
• Snarling
• Snapping
• Head up
• Tail up
• Direct stare
• Immobile face

Conversely, signs of defensive aggression include:

• Head lowered
• Tail down
• Body withdrawn

Causes

Aggressive behavior in dogs in mainly attributed to:

• Sexual maturation
• Genetic factors
• Inbreeding
• Environment
• Pack order behavior

Aggression, fear, and defensive behavior may also be a normal response for some dogs, depending on the circumstances. Animals that were abused, roughly handled, or harshly punished have been known to exhibit some, or all, of these behaviors. In addition, living conditions play a role in aggression, as does being attacked or frightened by another aggressive dog, owners who spoil or praise too much, isolation from human contact, and being teased by children.

Understanding a puppy's growth periods may help in comprehending canine aggression. Beginning at 3 weeks of age until 14 weeks, puppies critically need socialization. (If you are purchasing a puppy, it is best to get it between the ages of seven to eight weeks old.) Puppies are very fearful between 8 and 10 weeks old and need to be handled gently by everyone around them (i.e., no harsh discipline at this age).

Adolescence sets in at about 14 weeks and ends when sexual maturity has been achieved -- about 15 months of age. If socialization hasn’t occurred by the time it is 14 weeks old, you may never be able to trust it around people or other dogs. From the beginning of adolescence to sexual maturity, puppies tend to bark at strangers and become more protective. Males begin to lift the leg to urinate during this period. It’s also important to introduce them to strangers in the home -- adults, children, and other dogs -- during this period.

Dogs that have been bred to be protective -- Dobermans, Akitas, and Rottweilers -- are more aggressive by their very nature. Dogs bred to kill small game, such as terriers, retain this characteristic. Non-neutered male dogs, females in heat, and females nursing puppies are also typically aggressive.

Then there is the dog's pack order. It is is built into the way they perceive the world. And body language is the tool for establishing a dog’s rank in the pack. It will look at you and your family as members of its pack and will try to establish its place by challenging the more submissive members, such as children. If the animal growls while guarding its food dish, discipline the behavior immediately. If these types of behaviors are not corrected, the dog will, little by little, gain dominance over some or all of the family members.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis is generally made from observing dominance behavior, conflict aggression, and social status aggression. There are currently no medications licensed for the treatment of canine aggression. Behavioral modification training is the prescribed treatment.

continued......http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/behavioral/c_dg_aggression

76.2% of the DBRFs in this study involved dogs that were not kept as family pets

Family dogs were rarely involved

76.2% of the DBRFs in this study involved dogs that were not kept as family pets; rather they were only resident on the property. The distinction between a resident dog and a family dog[2] was first proposed years ago by NCRC Founder Karen Delise. Dogs are predisposed to form attachments with people, to become dependent on people, and to rely upon their guidance in unfamiliar situations. While it is extremely rare that dogs living as either resident dogs or as family pets ever inflict serious injuries on humans, dogs not afforded the opportunity for regular, positive interaction with people may be more likely, in situations they perceive as stressful or threatening, to behave in ways primarily to protect themselves.

Breed was not one of the factors identified

The authors report that the breed of the dog or dogs could not be reliably identified in more than 80% of cases. News accounts disagreed with each other and/or with animal control reports in a significant number of incidents, casting doubt on the reliability of breed attributions and more generally for using media reports as a primary source of data for scientific studies. In only 45 (18%) of the cases in this study Proponents of breed bans, such as Denver Assistant City Attorney Kory Nelson, instead argue that pit bulls are more dangerous because, when they do bite, the injuries they inflict are more serious. So we looked at figures gathered by the Colorado Department of Public and Environment on hospitalization rates for dogs by county. From 1995 to 2006, more people sought medical attention for dog bites in Denver County than anywhere else in the state. Counties without pit bull bans -- Boulder, El Paso and Jefferson -- showed fewer people going to the hospital dog bites.Are bites from pit bulls more severe?

BiteLevelByBreed_chart.jpg
Bite severity by breed (click to enlarge)
The Coalition for Living Safely with Dogs, a Colorado group made up of veterinary associations and animal welfare groups, gathered information from animal control divisions across the state. Their report found that the severity of pit bull bites -- 1 being a "bruising" and 5 being a "maul (serious bodily injury)" -- was about the same as bites from breeds such as Australian Cattle Dogs and Akitas, and below breeds such as American Bull Dogs, Dalmatians and Dachshunds.could these researchers make a valid determination that the animal was a member of a distinct, recognized breed. Twenty different breeds, along with two known mixes, were identified in connection with those 45 incidents.
- See more at: http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/dogbites/dog-bite-related-fatalities/#sthash.Q7fANfbe.dpuf

Dog bite-related fatalities are extremely rare Dog bite-related human fatalities have always been exceedingly rare

Dog bite-related fatalities are extremely rare Dog bite-related human fatalities have always been exceedingly rare, though they can attract the kind of publicity that creates an impression that they are more prevalent than they actually are. The annual total of such fatalities has risen and fallen with no discernable trend, while the canine population in the U.S. has continued its steady increase. The chart below shows the number for some common and uncommon injury related fatalities for 2010 (2010 is the most recent year which CDC fatalities are available).                                                          (Sources for this graph)[3] - See more at: http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/dogbites/dog-bite-related-fatalities/#sthash.Q7fANfbe.dpuf

Now, certain physical and behavioral traits may be linked. In the famous "Farm-Fox" experiment launched by geneticist Dmitri Belyaev,

Now, certain physical and behavioral traits may be linked. In the famous "Farm-Fox" experiment launched by geneticist Dmitri Belyaev, the researcher bred silver foxes who were friendly towards people, creating and increasingly reliable stock of tame foxes. As he bred his tame foxes, their appearances changed over the generations; their pricked ears folded over and they became more puppy-like in appearance. Border Collies suffer disproportionately from noise phobia, which may be a byproduct of a desired trait—the one that makes Border Collies able to obey a voice command or whistle given from hundreds of feet away.

However, we must be careful not to assume that, just because a trait may have a genetic component, it exists across members of a breed. After all, we've established that Border Collies raised for the show ring show different behaviors than Border Collies raised for work, and we'll need more research into whether show Border Collies are suppressing a natural urge, or if they differ genetically from their working cousins. And behavioral traits that we may think of as common in certain breeds aren't necessarily universal; Janis Bradley's essay in The Bark about her lazy greyhound—and whether greyhounds are particularly predisposed toward racing behavior—is particularly enlightening.

Does Breeding Impact a Dog’s Behavior?

Does Breeding Impact a Dog’s Behavior?

By Nicole Pajer

Over the years, domestic dogs have been bred to showcase certain appearances. Through this process of selective breeding, a variety of breeds —from the tiny Chihuahua to the towering Great Dane — have been created. According to a recent study, selective breeding of domestic dogs not only alters the way a dog physically looks, but also drives major internal changes in canine brain structure.

Scientists from the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney conducted a one-of-a-kind study, which revealed that in the process of breeding domestic dogs, the position of the canine skull has shifted as well. This is a result of humans selectively breeding for different skull lengths to create various breeds.

To determine this, Michael Valenzuela from the University of New South Wales and a team of researchers performed MRI scans on the brains of two English springer spaniels, as well as eleven euthanized dogs, which were donated to the study by a local pound. The batch of donated dogs included a range of breeds, such as an Akita cross, mastiff cross, Staffordshire bull terrier, Shih Tzu cross, greyhound, Maltese, Jack Russell terrier, Australian cattle dog, and a pit bull mix.

The MRI brain scans revealed that the dogs with the shortest skulls — the Shih Tzu cross, pit bull mix, and Akita — showed a significant reorganization of the location of the brain through breeding. In these short-snouted breeds, the cerebral hemispheres of the brain were rotated forward by up to 15 degrees. In addition, the brain’s olfactory lobes, which work to process smell, had shifted position in these breeds, moving from the front to near the back of the skull. According to Valenzuela and his team, the brains of these short-snouted dogs do not sit inside the skull cavity in the same manner as the brains of longer nosed dogs, whose brains appear to be closer to those of the domestic dog’s early wolf ancestors.

Valenzuela says the study reveals “strong and independent correlations between the size and shape of a dog's skull, brain rotation and the positioning of the olfactory lobe. As a dog's head or skull shape becomes foreshortened — more pug-like — the brain rotates forward and the smell centre of the brain drifts further down to the lowest position in the skull.” The study’s co-author, University of Sydney associate professor Paul McGreevy, stated that the study’s findings strongly suggest that one dog’s world of smell may be very different than another’s, and that this change alone could affect how domesticated dogs perceive their environments. The authors noted that this might in fact alter a dog’s personality and behavior, and they encourage people to be responsible when selectively breeding dogs.

Valenzuela and McGreevy plan to conduct future research as to how exactly these changes in canine brain positioning affect a dog’s brain function and what the impact is on its behavior.

Read more: http://www.cesarsway.com/training/socialization/Does-Breeding-Impact-a-Dogs-Behavior#ixzz38utBT26Q

More than half of all dogs in the United States are mixed breeds

More than half of all dogs in the United States are mixed breeds, and but even if your mutt has purebred grandparents, you can't necessarily predict its nature. Scott and Fuller studied breed differences in American Cocker Spaniels and Basenjis (as well as other breeds), such as reactivity to a doorbell, problem-solving, and spatial relations, and then crossbred the dogs. They found that the first generation offspring tended to have intermediate performance on behavioral tests relative to their parents, although behavioral patterns grew more complicated in subsequent generations. Nearly three decades later, geneticist Jasper Rine performed a crossbreeding experiment of his own, breeding his Border Collie Gregor (named, of course, for Gregor Mendel) with his Newfoundland Pepper. The first generation of puppies, as with Scott and Fuller's Cocker-Basenji mixes, exhibited a combination of their parents' traits: they loved water like Gregor and hunted down tennis balls with the eagerness of Pepper. But Pepper and Gregor's traits weren't so clearly combined in the next generation of pups, their grandpuppies. These puppies had some of Pepper and Gregor's traits, but the combinations of those traits varied from puppy to puppy. While the behavioral characteristics of Pepper and Gregor's children were predictable to Rine, the characteristics of their grandchildren were not. Just because one of a particular puppy's grandparents was a Newfoundland, that didn't mean the puppy had any interest in swimming.

There's another hazard to assuming a mutt's personality based on its presumed parentage: you might have the parentage wrong. When Scott and Fuller bred their Cocker-Basenji mixes, the second generation of pups showed a great variety in physical appearance and didn't look much at all like the original parents. (Edit: A study released by the National Canine Research Council found that dogs of unknown origin are frequently mis-labeled when it comes to breed.) Appearance, it turns out, isn't a reliable indicator of breed, so if you're using a dog's physical form as clues to its personality, you'll have little luck if that dog is a mystery breed.

What if a lawmaker states they can positively identify a dangerous breed?

What if a lawmaker states they can positively identify a dangerous breed?

Breed identification is tough. The descriptions lawmakers use to try and identify "dangerous breeds" are often vague:

(1) The XYZ is a strongly built, medium-sized, short-coupled dog possessing a sound, athletic, well-balanced conformation that enables it to function… Physical features and mental characteristics should denote a dog bred to perform as an efficient... The most distinguishing characteristics of the XYZ are its short, dense, weather resistant coat… a clean-cut head with broad back skull and moderate stop; powerful jaws…

(2) The ABC should give the impression of great strength for his size, a well put-together dog, muscular, but agile and graceful, keenly alive to his surroundings. He should be stocky, not long-legged or racy in outline. Head: Medium length, deep through, broad skull, very pronounced cheek muscles, distinct stop; and ears are set high. Muzzle: medium length, rounded on upper side to fall away abruptly below eyes. Jaws well defined.


What breeds are defined here?  Both are American Kennel Club recognized and wording taken directly from the AKC standards.  One is a breed often mentioned in bans under a generic name.  The other is one often touted as the perfect pet.


What can I do to stop BSL?

When you hear of a BSL anywhere, start writing letters, faxes, phone calls, emails, etc. In a calm, rational and non-insulting manner, try to educate lawmakers about why BSL are not the way to go when addressing dog issues.  Push for laws that target the owner regardless of the type of dog owned.  Encourage them to create leash laws and see they are enforced. Increase penalties for animal abuse, cruelty and the use of animals as weapons.  In many communities it is a misdemeanor to neglect or abuse an animal.  Lastly, encourage owners of breeds not mentioned to become involved with the fight.

Karen Peak www.westwinddogtraining.com