Owner reported prevalence and severity of canine aggression in the United States: A descriptive study

Abstract

Canine aggression is a behavior problem of significance for the safety of people and other animals. The prevalence of various aggressive actions has been reported by various authors, but there is a considerable range of values given. In addition, data was determined is several ways, using a variety of questions, and comes from numerous countries where different breeds and ways of raising dogs exist. For that reason, the data from 43,517 dogs enrolled in the Dog Aging Project (DAP), entered by their owners, was used to understand the extent of owner perceived agonistic behavior in dogs living in the United States. Ten behavior questions were used under the section of titled “Aggression” and were divided into four multi-question categories (i.e., aggression to unfamiliar people, familiar people, unfamiliar dogs, and familiar dogs). All questions were rated by the owner on a five-point Likert-type scale between 0 (no aggression), 1 and 2 (moderate aggression), and 3 and 4 (serious aggression). Data were analyzed to determine the prevalence of dogs showing all levels of agonistic behavior by category in response to the ten questions. Overall, 57.5% of all dogs in the study received at least one rating of level 2 (moderate) or higher in severity. Aggression towards unfamiliar people was shown by 38.8% of dogs, towards familiar people was shown by 5.4% of dogs, towards unfamiliar dogs was shown by 49.9% of dogs, and towards familiar dogs was approximately 14.5%.