Understanding Fear and Stranger-Directed Aggression in Companion Dogs
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Understanding Fear and Stranger-Directed Aggression in Companion Dogs by Hannah Flint A thesis presented to The University of Guelph In partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Population Medicine Guelph, Ontario, Canada © Hannah Flint, June, 2017 ABSTRACT UNDERSTANDING CANINE FEAR AND STRANGER-DIRECTED AGGRESSION Hannah Flint Advisors: University of Guelph, 2017 Dr. Lee Niel Dr. Jason B. Coe Stranger-directed aggression is both a public safety and animal welfare concern. The objectives of this thesis were to identify risk factors for stranger-directed aggression in dogs, to assess the effect of targeted owner training on the accuracy of ratings of fear in dogs, and to identify behaviours associated with fear in puppies. Risk factors for stranger-directed aggression were first analyzed using an existing dataset of responses to the Canine Behaviour Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ). Fear of strangers, non-social fear, sex and neuter status, age at evaluation, age acquired, where acquired, and breed group were significantly associated with stranger-directed aggression. There was also correlation in this behaviour among dogs from the same participant and country (n=14,310 dogs; 10,951 participants; 67 countries). To further explore the similarities from dogs with the same owner, a survey including the C- BARQ, as well as additional questions relating to dog characteristics, temperament, training, environment and owner demographics and personality was distributed. Dogs’ stranger-directed aggression scores were significantly associated with fear of strangers, impulsivity, sex, reason for neutering, training methods, history of abuse, quantity and quality of socialization as a puppy, where kept when left alone, how exercised, breed group, owner extroversion, and whether owners could accurately identify the absence of aggression from videos (n=2,760 dogs; 2,255 households). As fear was found to be associated with stranger-directed aggression, it is important that owners are able to accurately recognize it in dogs. Using a targeted training tool, based on fear behaviours owners were able to reliably identify, recognition of mild to severe fear in videos of dogs improved, but owner ratings of their own dogs’ fearfulness were not consistently altered. Finally, to identify fear behaviours shown by puppies, an approach/avoidance test was developed and used to categorize puppies’ responses to fear-provoking stimuli. Lowered posture, lowered tail, freezing, flinching, retreating, barking, and paw lifting were found to increase with non- social fear in puppies. These results can help with identification of dogs at risk of developing stranger- directed aggression, and can direct owners to appropriate training and prevention strategies. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to thank my advisory committee for their guidance throughout my program. My sincere thanks go to my primary advisor, Dr. Lee Niel, for providing me with the opportunity to pursue my passion for dog behaviour research, and for always being available to meet to discuss the numerous issues inherent with research in this field. Your patience and support were greatly appreciated and valued, and I will miss our long talks about dogs every week. I would also like to extend a special thanks to my co-advisor, Dr. Jason Coe, for his valuable insight and contributions. He has provided me with essential guidance, helping me learn more about the complexities of survey-based research. I would also like to thank my committee member, Dr. David Pearl, for his help with all the different statistical analyses required for this thesis, as well as providing insightful and prompt feedback suggestions during the project development and thesis writing processes. Further, I would like to thank my committee member, Dr. James Serpell, for providing me access to the extensive C-BARQ dataset, as well as providing his valuable expertise on dog behaviour research during the project development and thesis writing processes. My sincerest thanks go to all the volunteers and research assistants who helped me with data collection. I must also thank all the dog owners whose participation was essential for this project. My thanks to them enduring my long surveys, or bringing in their puppies to be exposed to fear-inducing situations. I would like to thank my friends in the OVC companion animal behaviour and welfare lab. Their support, advice, and numerous coffee breaks, have been invaluable in getting me through my PhD. My sanity would not be intact without them. Further, I would like to thank my family. Without their support, and thoughtful debates on dog behaviour and psychology, my thesis would not be what it is today. Most importantly, I would like to thank my dog Ripley for his patience being a pilot dog, and model, for my studies. He has given me great insight and appreciation for the complexities of dog behaviour, and furthered my passion for this field. iv STATEMENT OF WORK Through the advisement of, and collaboration with, Drs. Lee Niel and Jason Coe, and on-going discussion with members of her advisory committee, Drs. James Serpell and David Pearl, Hannah Flint designed the studies and conducted the analyses for the research in this thesis. Chapter 1: Literature Review Hannah Flint reviewed multiple databases for literature relevant to the topics of study. The literature review was written by Hannah Flint under the guidance of Drs. Lee Niel and Jason Coe. Additional input and revisions were provided by Drs. James Serpell and David Pearl. Chapter 2: Risk factors associated with stranger-directed aggression in domestic dogs Access to an existing C-BARQ database was provided by Dr. James Serpell. Hannah Flint performed all statistical analysis with advisement from Dr. David Pearl. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Hannah Flint. This draft was reviewed by Drs. Lee Niel and Jason Coe. Additional input and revisions were received from Drs. James Serpell and David Pearl. Chapter 3: Effect of targeted training on dog owners’ ratings of fear in familiar and unfamiliar dogs In collaboration with, and with advisement from, Drs. Lee Niel and Jason Coe, Hannah Flint designed the methodology and wrote all the study material. Hannah Flint assembled a collection of behavioural videos through recruitment of local dog owners, and through videos collected by Jacquelyn Jacobs from local humane societies with assistance from research assistants. In addition, Hannah Flint contacted Sue Sternberg, a dog trainer, for additional videos of severe fear reactions, which she supplied. Hannah Flint sorted and edited these videos and prepared them for distribution via online questionnaires with the assistance of research assistants. Hannah Flint conducted all participant recruitment through e-mails to dog behaviour experts, and social media. Hannah Flint coded responses, cleaned and organized all data, and performed all statistical analyses with advisement from Dr. David Pearl. The first draft of the v manuscript was written by Hannah Flint. This draft was reviewed by Drs. Lee Niel and Jason Coe. Additional input and revisions were received from Drs. James Serpell and David Pearl. Chapter 4: Stranger-directed aggression in pet dogs: Owner, environment, training and dog associated risk factors In collaboration with, and with advisement from, Drs. Lee Niel, Jason Coe, David Pearl and James Serpell, Hannah Flint designed the methodology and wrote all the study material. Hannah Flint conducted all participant recruitment via social media. Hannah Flint coded responses, cleaned and organized all data, and performed all statistical analysis with advisement from Dr. David Pearl. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Hannah Flint. This draft was reviewed by Drs. Lee Niel and Jason Coe. Additional input and revisions were received from Drs. James Serpell and David Pearl. Chapter 5: Identification of fear behaviours shown by puppies in response to social and non-social stimuli In collaboration with, and with advisement from, Drs. Lee Niel and Jason Coe, Hannah Flint designed the methodology and wrote all the study material. Hannah Flint conducted all participant recruitment through local puppy training classes, distribution of recruitment flyers to local pet stores and veterinarians and via social media. Hannah Flint conducted all behavioural testing with the help of volunteers and research assistants. Hannah Flint developed an ethogram, edited and coded all videos, cleaned and organized resulting data, and performed all statistical analyses with advisement from Dr. David Pearl. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Hannah Flint. This draft was reviewed by Drs. Lee Niel and Jason Coe. Additional input and revisions were received from Drs. James Serpell and David Pearl. Chapter 6: Conclusion and general discussion The first draft of the chapter was written by Hannah Flint. This draft was reviewed by Dr. Lee Niel. Additional input and revisions were received from Drs. Jason Coe, James Serpell, and David Pearl. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: Introduction, literature review, rationale and objectives ................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 What is fear? ......................................................................................................................................