Behaviour of smaller and larger dogs: Effects of training methods, inconsistency of owner behaviour and level of engagement in activities with the dog

Arhant, Christine; Bubna-Littitz, Hermann; Bartels, Angela; Futschik, Andreas; Troxler, J.

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2010.01.003

Cited by 170 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Jensen et al, 1998) and animals are relaxed (Berman, 1980), It may also be indicative of a positive well-functioning relationship (Rooney and Bradshaw, 2003). Among pet dogs, frequent and/or more intense play dog-human play is associated with higher levels of obedience (Arhant et al, 2010;Rooney and Bradshaw, 2003). This may arise in those relationships where play has been used as a reward in training, but it also suggests that play may reinforce the bond between dog and owner.…”

Section: Play As a Contributor To And Sign Of Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why do adult dogs ‘play’?

Bradshaw

Pullen

Rooney

2015

Behavioural Processes

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Among the Carnivora, play behaviour is usually made up of motor patterns characteristic of predatory, agonistic and courtship behaviour. Domestic dogs are unusual in that play is routinely performed by adults, both socially, with conspecifics and with humans, and also asocially, with objects. This enhanced playfulness is commonly thought to be a side effect of paedomorphosis, the perpetuation of juvenile traits into adulthood, but here we suggest that the functions of the different types of play are sufficiently distinct that they are unlikely to have arisen through a single evolutionary mechanism. Solitary play with objects appears to be derived from predatory behaviour: preferred toys are those that can be dismembered, and a complex habituation-like feedback system inhibits play with objects that are resistant to alteration. Intraspecific social play is structurally different from interspecific play and may therefore be motivationally distinct and serve different goals; for example, dogs often compete over objects when playing with other dogs, but are usually more cooperative when the play partner is human. The majority of dogs do not seem to regard competitive games played with a human partner as "dominance" contests: rather, winning possession of objects during games appears to be simply rewarding. Play may be an important factor in sociality, since dogs are capable of extracting social information not only from games in which they participate, but also from games that they observe between third parties. We suggest that the domestic dog's characteristic playfulness in social contexts is an adaptive trait, selected during domestication to facilitate both training for specific purposes, and the formation of emotionally-based bonds between dog and owner. Play frequency and form may therefore be an indicator of the quality of dog-owner relationships.

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Section: Play As a Contributor To And Sign Of Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why do adult dogs ‘play’?

Bradshaw

Pullen

Rooney

2015

Behavioural Processes

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“…Some studies (Guy et al 2001a;Bennett and Rohlf 2007;Duffy et al 2008;Arhant et al 2010;Paranhos et al 2013) have found a greater tendency of aggression towards humans in small-to-medium sized breeds. Aggressive behaviour in large or giant breeds will usually result in more severe injuries and as a result will be taken more seriously which sometimes results in death for the animal (Kobelt et al 2003).…”

Section: Association Between Aggression and Other Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics and risk factors of dog aggression in the Slovak Republic

Matos¹,

Jakuba²,

Miňo³

et al. 2015

Vet. Med.

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Canine aggression is a widespread problem which receives a lot of attention from the media. It has important consequences in terms of public health and animal welfare. To address this issue it is necessary to first determine its epidemiological characteristics in the target population. This study was aimed at exploring the characteristics and determining the risk factors for dog aggression in the Slovak Republic and, in particular, for aggression directed at humans. For this purpose, we used a questionnaire directed to dog owners which included information about dog and owner characteristics, housing, training and fear behaviour. From the 177 analysed questionnaires, 67% portrayed dogs with some type of aggressive behaviour. Half of the animals showed some degree of owner-directed aggression and almost 40% were aggressive towards unfamiliar people. The approach of an unfamiliar male was the situation that stimulated most dogs to behave aggressively (33.3%) and a small percentage (2.3%) of the animals always showed aggression when approached by an unfamiliar child. Multivariate logistic regression models found that "owner's age" (OR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.93 -0.99) and "neuter status" (OR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.13-0.98) were significantly associated (P < 0.05) with the exhibiting of aggressive behaviour in different contexts. "Dog's sex" (OR, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.09-4.27) and "type of training" (OR, 2.32; 95% CI, 1.19-4.80) were significantly associated (P < 0.05) with the exhibiting of aggressive behaviour towards familiar people. Younger owners were more likely to have aggressive dogs and neutered dogs were less likely to be aggressive in different contexts. Male dogs and dogs with informal training were more likely to be aggressive towards familiar people. Manifestations of fear were significantly associated with the expression of aggressive behaviour in all models. This study provides the first preliminary results on the characteristics and potential risk factors for human-directed aggression in Slovakia. The analysis of these data may help in determining which preventive measures should be given priority in this country.

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“…Data from Hiby et al (2004), Blackwell et al (2008), and Rooney and Cowan (2011) strongly suggest that punishment-based methods may increase levels of fear and anxiety and potentially lead to sensitization to other environmental stimuli. Punishmentbased training of pet dogs is linked to an increased incidence of behavior problems (Hiby et al, 2004), including fear, anxiety and aggression (Blackwell et al, 2008), wariness towards strangers, reduced playfulness (Rooney and Cowan, 2011), and increased anxietyrelated aggression and excitability (Arhant et al, 2010). Dogs regularly trained with electric shocks show behavioral evidence of fear and distress in the presence of their owner, even outside the training context (Schilder and van der Borg, 2004).…”

Section: Reduction Of Stress During Routine Trainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Minimizing fear and anxiety in working dogs: A review

Rooney

Clark

Casey

2016

Journal of Veterinary Behavior

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The causes of fear and anxiety in working dogs are multifactorial and may include inherited characteristics that differ between individuals (e.g. Goddard and Beilharz, 1982; 1984a,b), influences of the environment (Lefebvre et al., 2007), and learned experiences during particular sensitive periods (Appleby et al., 2002) and throughout life. Fear-related behavior compromises performance, leads to significant numbers of dogs failing to complete training (e.g., Murphy, 1995;Batt et al., 2008), early withdrawals from working roles (Caron-Lormier et al., 2016), and can jeopardize dog and handler safety. Hence, amelioration of fear and anxiety is critical to maintain dogs in working roles and to ensure their well-being. Although current methods of selection and training are seemingly effective at producing many dogs which work in a remarkable array of environments, some dogs do not make the grade, and longevity of service is not always maximized. Programs should strive for optimal efficiency and they need to continually analyze the value of each component of their program, seek evidence for its value and explore potential evidence-based improvements. Here we discuss scientific evidence for methods and strategies which may be of value in reducing the risk of fear behaviors developing in the working dog population and suggest potentially valuable techniques and future research to explore the benefit of these approaches. The importance of environmental influences, learning opportunities, and effects of underlying temperament on the outward expression of fear and anxiety should not be underestimated. Identification of characteristics which predict resilience to stress are valuable, both to enable careful breeding for these traits and to develop predictive tests for puppies and procured animals. It is vitally important to rear animals in optimal environments and introduce them to a range of stimuli in a positive, controlled, and gradual way, as these can all help minimize the number of dogs which develop workinhibiting fears. Future research should explore innovative methods to best measure the relative resilience of dogs to stressful events. This could include developing optimal exposure protocols to minimize the development of fear and anxiety, and exploring the influence of social learning and the most effective elements of stimulus presentation.

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Behaviour of smaller and larger dogs: Effects of training methods, inconsistency of owner behaviour and level of engagement in activities with the dog

Cited by 170 publications

References 37 publications

Why do adult dogs ‘play’?

Why do adult dogs ‘play’?

Characteristics and risk factors of dog aggression in the Slovak Republic

Minimizing fear and anxiety in working dogs: A review

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