Owner Behaviour More Influences Dog Behaviour, Than Breed

[mita]

Look at the findings of this recent study from the University of Cordoba in Spain. Accompanied by a great photo of a Pitbull.

ScienceDaily (May 1, 2009) — Many dogs are put down or abandoned due to their violent nature, but contrary to popular belief, breed has little to do with a dog's aggressive behaviour compared to all the owner-dependant factors. This is shown in a new study from the University of Córdoba, which includes breeds that are considered aggressive by nature, such as the Rottweiler or the Pit Bull.

The conclusions, however, are surprising: it is the owners who are primarily responsible for attacks due to dominance or competition of their pets.

The research team from the University of Córdoba (UCO) has determined a series of external factors which are inherent to the dogs in order to understand their aggressiveness, and they have observed that external, modifiable and owner-dependent factors have a greater influence on the animals....

The study, which has recently been published in the Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, is based on the following fact: approximately 40% of dominance aggression in dogs is associated with a lack of authority on the part of the owners who have never performed basic obedience training with their pets or who have only carried out the bare minimum of training.

Breed has less influence on aggressiveness

The Spanish researchers studied 711 dogs (354 males and 357 females) of which 594 were purebred and 117 were half-breed dogs older than one year of age. Among the breeds observed were the Bull Terrier, the American Pit Bull Terrier, the Alsatian, the Boxer, the Rottweiler, the Doberman, as well as apparently more docile breeds such as the Dalmatian, the Irish Setter, the Golden Retriever, the Labrador Retriever, the Miniature Poodle, the Chihuahua, the Pekinese, or the French Bulldog, which also exhibit dominant behaviour.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/...90424114315.htm

Edited July 8, 2009 by mita

[Primedogs]

According to Joaquín Pérez-Guisado, the main author of the study and a researcher from the UCO, some of the factors that cause aggressiveness in dogs are: first-time dog ownership; failure to subject the dog to basic obedience training; spoiling or pampering the dog; not using physical punishment when it is required; buying a dog as a present, as a guard dog or on impulse; spaying female dogs; leaving the dog with a constant supply of food, or spending very little time with the dog in general and on its walks.

I didn't know that a spayed female dog had a greater cause for agression

[Guest rhapsodical78]

Just want to say that it's great to see studies such as these upholding the anti-BSL values.

[Jed]

Hi Mita, there have been similar studies done over the years, with the same results. I have a couple here - somewhere.

I posted one of them here too - years ago. I know I used one in my submission to the gov on BSL before it was introduced. Will see if I can find it.

All the research leads to the same conclusions. And common sense and dog knowledge tells us the same thing.

When I first joined this forum I shared the "popular" opinion on pit bulls. I had never seen one. I argued that they were killers. I was sent to do some research, which I did. Extensively.

I was enlightened. I was converted.

I've never read or seen anything (including quite a few pitbulls) to change the opinion the research gave me.

Some of the reports on why some dogs attacked should be published more widely. The dog which killed Mrs. Stringer in Toowoomba was a lab x some sort of bull breed, ancestry unknown, acquired from the pound as an adult. The young owner boasted to his friends that he would make it into a killer, and so he did.

That dog was touted far and wide as a pitbull via the media, although they knew the truth.

I hate to admit this, but I have seen some extremely nasty, dangerous boxers in my time. On bloodlines, they should have been mild, nice dogs. Their upbringing and keeping had overcome their breeding and they were savage dangerous nightmares.

Interesting that spaying female dogs is listed as a reason. Must go and read it all now. RSPCA will just love that one!! And the positive trainers will love nt using physical punishment

Edited July 10, 2009 by Jed

[Nekhbet]

I have to let it out ...

WELL DERRRRRRRRRRR

ok thats done ...

I have seen lack of physical punishment as a factor and quite scarily in fact ... hence why purely positive hands off is not at all a blanket method of dog training and those that think it is need to get some more experience.

As for speying females ... yup you're removing a HUGE source of their female hormones which have influence on certain behavior. They can stop being bitches and act more as dogs which is why I prefer the larger breeds to mature more and get some behavioral habits in before desexing. I would also like to see leaving one ovary in be an option in dogs but nooooooo. 99% of vets will not do it and I think its rediculous. Women who have hysterectomies have full hormonal support but poor dogs are left to just deal with it.

[Cosmolo]

Interesting. I'd love to know the details of the experiment, particularly the not using physical punishment when required. I too have seen instances where this has created issues.

[Nekhbet]

I too have seen instances where this has created issues.

Isnt it marketed as 'it's me or the dog'

*oh naughty naughty me back in your box Nekkers*

[Guest Willow]

Apparently buying a puppy as a present is a contributing factor???

[Cosmolo]

Maybe because of the lack of committment/ preparation willow? Do they mean present bought for someone else or for one self?

[tlc]

Just a quick question for the dog trainiers of the forum, Nekhbet, Cosmolo and others, do you notice a lot of instances at training where if the dogs owner is hyper and highly strung the dog seems to be as well?? I notice it all the time, time and time again we have owners with dogs who you would expect to be quite ok behaviour wise and they just arent and you take particular notice of the owner and realize that the dog is basically mirroring the owners behaviour and I find that is a really hard thing to combat cause how do you change the way people are or the way they act. I just feel sorry for the poor dogs.

So I definaltly agree with owners behaviour influencing dogs behaviour over breed.

[Nekhbet]

tlc - yup. Hence i work on the owner more then the dog.

[poodlefan]

Maybe because of the lack of committment/ preparation willow? Do they mean present bought for someone else or for one self?

Wrong choice of dog, unprepared/uncommitted recipient, lack of knowledge of dogs needs.. a whole host of issues could be created by giving a dog as a gift.

The study result is not exactly a revelation is it..

[Cosmolo]

tlc- yes absolutely. In many cases i find that you can actually use the training for the dog to ease the person's anxiety at times and then the cycle starts to become a positive one- ie, the owner has a few 'wins' with training and feels a little less anxious when dealing with the dog so dogs behaviour improves therefore owner feels less anxious etc etc. But there are some instances where both dog and owner have very extreme anxiety that takes a long time to unravel

Its not a revelation to us PF, but i'd love to know what the general public would think if it was publicised in mainstream media- it probably would surprise many people.

[Guest Willow]

Just a quick question for the dog trainiers of the forum, Nekhbet, Cosmolo and others, do you notice a lot of instances at training where if the dogs owner is hyper and highly strung the dog seems to be as well?? I notice it all the time, time and time again we have owners with dogs who you would expect to be quite ok behaviour wise and they just arent and you take particular notice of the owner and realize that the dog is basically mirroring the owners behaviour and I find that is a really hard thing to combat cause how do you change the way people are or the way they act. I just feel sorry for the poor dogs.

So I definaltly agree with owners behaviour influencing dogs behaviour over breed.

Yes, I do find some dogs pick up on the owners highly strung state & get themselves into a state also.

I normally explain to owners that dogs are sensetive & can be influenced by their moods, and try to give them exercises to help them relax (the owners). If the reason they are extremely tense has nothing to do with dog training (ie, is an outside influence or something else going on in their life) I might suggest they take a break from training until they are feeling more able to cope, because stress is a block to learning.

If people realise their own mental state affects the behaviour of the dog, they (more often than not) will factor that into the equation

[Guest Willow]

[quote name

[Guest Willow]

Maybe because of the lack of committment/ preparation willow? Do they mean present bought for someone else or for one self?

Wrong choice of dog, unprepared/uncommitted recipient, lack of knowledge of dogs needs.. a whole host of issues could be created by giving a dog as a gift.

The study result is not exactly a revelation is it..

[Guest Willow]

[quote name

[Guest Willow]

Maybe because of the lack of committment/ preparation willow? Do they mean present bought for someone else or for one self?

Wrong choice of dog, unprepared/uncommitted recipient, lack of knowledge of dogs needs.. a whole host of issues could be created by giving a dog as a gift.

The study result is not exactly a revelation is it..

True, but I wouldn't have thought aggression would be the most common behavioural problem brought about by this kind of situation.

[Cosmolo]

If the dog is bought as a gift, the owner is unprepared and the dog is then left in a yard without training and socialisation, i think aggression could definitely result. Its just a question of whether you blame the aggression on the initial buying as gift, or the resulting lack of training and socilisation. Either way- a bad result for the poor dog

Also just to clarify, i was referring to people who experience more clinical anxiety in my last post, rather than those whose moods vary- not sure which you were referring to tlc? Either way, whether the person is clinically anxious or swings in and out of anxiety in certain situations- it certainly influences the dog.

[tlc]

I just mean the owner being a naturally highly strung person.

Also I agree with the wrong type of dog for the person, prime example, I did a one on one private lesson with a lady the other day she has a 8 month old beagle with only basic puppy school (4 weeks) and nothing since, she thought it about time she taught him something as he is destructive, pulls on the lead, destroys the garden, boisterous etc etc the list goes on. On asking 101 questions I find out she just liked the look of a beagle and really that was the soul reason she got him. She harly walks him and she is gone from the house a lot and he spends a lot of time on his own. It was a typical Cesar moment when I said to her the dog neewds excersise discipline and then affection. He was a lovely boy he played nicely with my lot and had a great nature, but no manners at all. While we stood talking he jumped up and I told her to ignore him, so then he started to nip and bite at her clothes and i said ignore or step out of his way no talking and no eye contact, so then when he got nothing out of it he started humping her leg... I was like do you let him get away with that? She said I just dont know what to do with him. Anyway thumbs up to her for finally doing something to help the dog and herself and after our lesson she went away not feeling so hopeless and she came to training on Sunday and her and the dog both enjoyed it immensley and in this case definatly a case of owners behaviour influencing the dogs behaviour, but easily fixable. A different scenario than a highly strung persons behaviour influencing the dogs behaviour.