Dogs Are Aggressive If They Are Trained Badly

[waynevan]

Dogs Are Aggressive If They Are Trained Badly

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090424114315.htm

ScienceDaily (Apr. 24, 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.
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.
"Failure to observe all of these modifiable factors will encourage this type of aggressiveness and would conform to what we would colloquially call 'giving our dog a bad education'", Pérez-Guisado explains to SINC.
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.
According to Pérez-Guisado, certain breeds, male sex, a small size, or an age of between 5-7 years old are "the dog-dependent factors associated with greater dominance aggression". Nevertheless, these factors have "minimal effect" on whether the dog behaves aggressively. Factors linked to the owner's actions are more influential.
To correct the animal's behaviour, the owner should handle it appropriately and "re-establish dominance over the dog", the researcher adds. In terms of physical punishment, Pérez-Guisado points out that "this method cannot be used with all dogs given the danger involved, although it could be used to re-establish dominance over puppies or small and easy-to-control dogs". However, "it should never be used as justification for treating a dog brutally, since physical punishment should be used more as a way to frighten and demonstrate the dominance we have over the dog than to inflict great suffering on the animal", the vet states.
According to the researcher, "dogs that are trained properly do not normally retain aggressive dominance behaviour". Pérez-Guisado attributes this "exceptional" conduct to the existence of some medical or organic problem, "which can cause changes in the dog's behaviour".

[Techgod]

It makes little difference to me if they are trained or born aggressive.

As far as banning breeds to stop attacks it makes me laugh as a talking point. If they can not enforce the current law against letting your dangerous animal loose to attack people, I seriously doubt they can enforce a ban on anyone other than those not causing the problem.

Same thing with gun control. Too dangerous to go after the gangs and criminals who use guns. It is much much easier to punish the lawful who always comply.

[waynevan]

It makes little difference to me if they are trained or born aggressive.

As far as banning breeds to stop attacks it makes me laugh as a talking point. If they can not enforce the current law against letting your dangerous animal loose to attack people, I seriously doubt they can enforce a ban on anyone other than those not causing the problem.

Same thing with gun control. Too dangerous to go after the gangs and criminals who use guns. It is much much easier to punish the lawful who always comply.

I too think the notion of banning a breed of dog is preposterous and that is why I posted this. It is strong scientific evidence that the friggin owners are the problem, not the breed.

If the media would spend a quarter as much time trying to educate people about how to properly train their dogs, (in direct response to each and every attack) they might actually save some lives in the long run.

[khigh]

Thank you for posting that study. I work with/have a German Shepherd (Alsatian) that outweighs me by 20 lbs and he could tear someone apart, except for the fact that he has been working and training for almost 7 years now.

One of my good friends from work runs one of the best bully breed rescues in the US and several of her pits and am staffs have gone off to be therapy dogs and great search and rescue dogs.

It's all in the training.

[waynevan]

Thank you for posting that study. I work with/have a German Shepherd (Alsatian) that outweighs me by 20 lbs and he could tear someone apart, except for the fact that he has been working and training for almost 7 years now.

One of my good friends from work runs one of the best bully breed rescues in the US and several of her pits and am staffs have gone off to be therapy dogs and great search and rescue dogs.

It's all in the training.

There have been some rather heated threads here on these forums about pit bulls, obviously due to the horrific maulings that we sometimes see in the news. I have no compunctions with putting those dogs down, though if they can be saved and there are resources like you mention to do that, that's all good too. The entire issue could be put to rest if people knew the dang facts.

[RickRhetoric]

All animals are inherently aggressive by nature. If you suddenly shrank to a size smaller than your dog or cat, they'd eat you alive.

No! No Spot, no! No fluffy, no! Arrgghhhh!

[bella-day]

A dear friend of mine has one of the best behaved dogs I've ever seen...Rosco just happens to be a pit.

She's a tiny sliver of a woman who happened to work as a vet tech for over 20 years.

One piece of advice that she gives regarding establishing dominance (pack wise) over a dog is something you start when they are a puppy.

It's called pecking. That is nothing more than cradling your puppy in the bend of your arm on his back as you would cradle a baby. Get them in that position and rub their tummies.

She says this is something you should do every day for weeks. For a woman, it establishes you pack position as Alpha female...Alpha male for a man of course.

It's something I've done with our pups and I can tell you it works like a charm. Ours are chihuahuas which makes it easier.

But Rosco, the 80 lb., very muscular, male Pit Bull is living testament to this technique.

When his very feminine 100 lb. master speaks...he listens and does as he is told.

He's a joy to be around.

[birdonawire]

A dear friend of mine has one of the best behaved dogs I've ever seen...Rosco just happens to be a pit.

She's a tiny sliver of a woman who happened to work as a vet tech for over 20 years.

One piece of advice that she gives regarding establishing dominance (pack wise) over a dog is something you start when they are a puppy.

It's called pecking. That is nothing more than cradling your puppy in the bend of your arm on his back as you would cradle a baby. Get them in that position and rub their tummies.

She says this is something you should do every day for weeks. For a woman, it establishes you pack position as Alpha female...Alpha male for a man of course.

It's something I've done with our pups and I can tell you it works like a charm. Ours are chihuahuas which makes it easier.

But Rosco, the 80 lb., very muscular, male Pit Bull is living testament to this technique.

When his very feminine 100 lb. master speaks...he listens and does as he is told.

He's a joy to be around.

Wow I never knew that and it's something I do to puppies it was just a loving thing to do to them. :D

Our pit is about 70 lbs now and she is very well behaved the only real problem is she is still a puppy and when someone she really loves comes to visit she thinks she can still sit on their laps. :lol:

[bella-day]

Wow I never knew that and it's something I do to puppies it was just a loving thing to do to them. :D

Our pit is about 70 lbs now and she is very well behaved the only real problem is she is still a puppy and when someone she really loves comes to visit she thinks she can still sit on their laps. :lol:


It's something I've always done for the same reason you do. She pointed it out to me and explained the theory behind it one day while she was visiting and saw me do it to one of our pups.

I've always had very good luck with dogs and I honestly wonder if that is not the reason...I've been cradling them and rubbing their tummies to show affection.

But if you watch a mother dog with her pups you will notice it is something she does frequently as well. This lady says it is a non-aggressive technique to the mother dog uses to teach her pups to respect their limits.

[birdonawire]

It's something I've always done for the same reason you do. She pointed it out to me and explained the theory behind it one day while she was visiting and saw me do it to one of our pups.

I've always had very good luck with dogs and I honestly wonder if that is not the reason...I've been cradling them and rubbing their tummies to show affection.

But if you watch a mother dog with her pups you will notice it is something she does frequently as well. This lady says it is a non-aggressive technique to the mother dog uses to teach her pups to respect their limits.

Apparently the technique works even if we didn't know what we were doing. :mrgreen:

I have owned a few of the so called vicious breed dogs and never had a aggressive one, protective yes aggressive no.

The pit we have now will be a year old next month and she is one of the sweetest and smartest dog I have ever owned! Well, she actually belongs to my son but "Grandma" is one of her favorite people. :lol:

[captusa]

There have been some rather heated threads here on these forums about pit bulls, obviously due to the horrific maulings that we sometimes see in the news. I have no compunctions with putting those dogs down, though if they can be saved and there are resources like you mention to do that, that's all good too. The entire issue could be put to rest if people knew the dang facts.

We've discussed this before and we seem to disagree on very little and you are at least as knowledgable about breeds and far more knowledgable and able in training.
Breed does make a difference but you can make any dog bad and breeds that have people aggressive traits can be controlled.
Despite their respective reputations none of the dogs you mentioned are generally people aggressive.
Felas, Neopolitan Mastiffs and Anatollian shepherds are breeds that have those tendencies and I agree with you that any dog can be trained and any dog can be made to be either bad or dangerous (fear-biters)

I consider people aggressiveness as an anamoly for the Pit-Bulls and if I ever encountered it in a dog I had, I would hope I would have the strength to put it down.

I know several people in Pit-Bull rescue but I don't know if any dog that has attacked a human for no reason has been rescued.

[khigh]

It's something I've always done for the same reason you do. She pointed it out to me and explained the theory behind it one day while she was visiting and saw me do it to one of our pups.

I've always had very good luck with dogs and I honestly wonder if that is not the reason...I've been cradling them and rubbing their tummies to show affection.

But if you watch a mother dog with her pups you will notice it is something she does frequently as well. This lady says it is a non-aggressive technique to the mother dog uses to teach her pups to respect their limits.

It's something I always try to do. Now, with the Shepherd, I got him when he was five, but the first time he showed any sort of "bad look" towards me, I rolled him over on his back and stood over him. It's a dominance thing. The groomers at the shop I work at do the same thing. I have never seen any of them hit a dog, but if it becomes aggressive on the table, they will roll them over on their back and say no. It works 99% of the time.

I now am also raising two puppies. One cocker spaniel- she is 13 weeks old and thinks she is Alpha! She has established herself above the Shepherd in the pecking order, but knows that I am still the Alpha female. Then, I found a 5 week old lab/mastiff mix. He is very beta.

The order keeps getting switched up, but I don't care what their dominance order is as long as they know that I am Alpha. It's really interesting to watch pack order change on an almost daily basis.

[janer]

There is an interesting show on Animal Planet - Dogs 101. They will discuss a certain breed in terms of behavior, grooming issues, health problems and sociability. Different breeds do have different behavioral tendencies, but I don't think there are any "bad dogs", just dogs that react to having been badly treated.
The "pecking" is submissive posturing - a dog that is belly up is in its most vulnerable position (exposing its vital organs) - when a dog goes "belly up" he is telling you that you are in charge. Also, he would like to have his belly rubbed.

[notluzn]

Even the best owners can have a dog act out in Instinct. I've seen it. To think dogs can't go off on their own is just being Ignorant to the 100th power

[Creefer]

So why is it then that all the bad people have pitbulls? Just coincidence? Or perhaps the breed is very deadly in the hands of bad owners (and even good ones), much more so than other breeds?

[notluzn]

Also reading just about everyones statements about the Dog rolling over. Instinct at it finest. Remember you can train a Lion and Tiger to stand up, jump through fire hoops ,but it's still a killing machine and can snap even with the "WORLDS BEST TRAINERS." I think Pit Bull's is a fire cracker waiting to go off. Once they get a hold of you, you are screwed. Not all dogs can do that and you can fend them off. Don't always blame the owner for bad behaved dogs chewing peoples arms, legs and faces off.

[notluzn]

So why is it then that all the bad people have pitbulls? Just coincidence? Or perhaps the breed is very deadly in the hands of bad owners (and even good ones), much more so than other breeds?Because they know they can kill people in minutes. Not all dogs can do this. These dogs will jump through windows to kill you. Good or Bad owner doesnt matter.

[captusa]

So why is it then that all the bad people have pitbulls? Just coincidence? Or perhaps the breed is very deadly in the hands of bad owners (and even good ones), much more so than other breeds?

When the Pit-Bulls were used just for pets and fighting, a human aggressive dog was an extreme rarity.
I assume when some junk yard dobby jumped out of a pick-up and tried to garb a 35-45 lb Pit and ended up hamburger the Pit-Bull started replacing the mean dog in the pick-up.
Those owners favored and bred more people aggressive dogs.
When the drug dealers bought and trained them for zero-tolerance attack dogs (like SAC dogs) they and many of their decendents contributed to the population of Pit-Bulls without their characteristic acceptancwe of people (and children).
I have had several NYC policeman calmly pet my pit and mentioned having to shoot others.

I have been involved with Pits (no fighting) for over 40 years.
When I took my 1st to the most prestigious animal hospital in NYC (Animal Medical Center at 59th street) the vets had never seen one before and were extremely impressed with how easy the dog was to work on.
Now they are 2nd only to mutts in population of dogs in NYC.

[captusa]

Wow I never knew that and it's something I do to puppies it was just a loving thing to do to them. :D

Our pit is about 70 lbs now and she is very well behaved the only real problem is she is still a puppy and when someone she really loves comes to visit she thinks she can still sit on their laps. :lol:

I'll bet your dog is often in your way and pretends to be oblivious to the fact that you are trying to get around him.
Most pet pits love to do that.
I have also noticed that the good pits (they all used to be good) do not get more aggressive when people are afraid of them like other large or capable breeds.

Beware of friendly dog signs are often appropriate.

[Army Wife]

So why is it then that all the bad people have pitbulls? Just coincidence? Or perhaps the breed is very deadly in the hands of bad owners (and even good ones), much more so than other breeds?

Personally I think its an image issue..the stupid need of some dudes to boost their lacking image with a dog that makes them look like they are all that. The dog looks intimidating with their large heads and deep barking heavy muscles and with what seems only the sorry owners being trumpeted via their dogs acting out aggressively you end up with what we have today.
Winston (he's an Am Staff) is one of the biggest mooshes you have ever seen but he does look like he could take your arm off. Would he do that not that I can tell, he is more interested in chewing on his Nylabone than going after someone. The most dangerous thing about him is his tail, which is always wagging in greeting.

I guess you can say I believe that dangerous dogs for the most part are not born but created by stupid humans who have no clue how to raise a well rounded dog.

[Zouave]

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

They are NOT surprising to anyone knowledgeable.


The terribly abused pit bulls of sadist and dog murderer Michael Vick have been rescued and rehabilitated and are living happy lives with new families.

Yes, you read that correctly. ;)

Thus we see, again, that even the hardest cases can be saved with enough time and patience, and that "putting down" these dogs is merely a matter of convenience for the human, not a necessity.

[khigh]

Also reading just about everyones statements about the Dog rolling over. Instinct at it finest. Remember you can train a Lion and Tiger to stand up, jump through fire hoops ,but it's still a killing machine and can snap even with the "WORLDS BEST TRAINERS." I think Pit Bull's is a fire cracker waiting to go off. Once they get a hold of you, you are screwed. Not all dogs can do that and you can fend them off. Don't always blame the owner for bad behaved dogs chewing peoples arms, legs and faces off.

Do you say the same about Rotties, German Shepherds, Dobermans and Chow Chows? You are more likely to be attacked by a chihuahua than a pit, but more likely to go to the hospital or die after a pit bite. Granted, my parent's Chihuahua caused me to go get 14 stiches in my lip.

I work with a tracking/search and rescue group. We went out today and our group is now up to 4 German Shepherds, 2 Labs, a Basset Hound, a Cocker Spaniel, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, and an American Pit Bull Terrier. The only one that made a move to attack the horse that was working with us was the Basset Hound. Granted, when they were allowed free time after we finished our trail, the Shepherds had a great time rounding up the cattle. 144 acres and 3 ponds to play in and they choose the 20 acres that is covered in cows.

I am more likely to approach an "aggressive" breed of dog at the pet shop I work at than a Pomeranian, Chihuahua, or Mini Schnauzer. Those are the breeds you really have to watch for. The inbreeding to make them smaller usually causes mental problems.

[khigh]

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

They are NOT surprising to anyone knowledgeable.


The terribly abused pit bulls of sadist and dog murderer Michael Vick have been rescued and rehabilitated and are living happy lives with new families.

Yes, you read that correctly. ;)

Thus we see, again, that even the hardest cases can be saved with enough time and patience, and that "putting down" these dogs is merely a matter of convenience for the human, not a necessity.

The Bully Breed rescue here got 3 of Vick's pits and all of them are in loving homes. One is now a therapy dog at a Children's Hospital. It was one of the bait dogs, though, not one of the more aggressive ones.