Behaviour first aid: risk assessment, safety and management of canine aggression

Authors: Landsberg G
Publication: Proceedings of the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) Annual Conferences, Volume 2014 AVA Annual Conference, Perth, Issue Behaviour, May 2014
Publisher: Australian Veterinary Association

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Abstract: Before canine aggression can begin to be treated, a behavioural consultation is required to determine the diagnosis, prognosis, and what must be implemented to safely manage the problem. Prevention of further repetition of the problem is essential to ensure safety as well as to prevent further aggravation of the problem which is further conditioned each time the dog is exposed to the stimulus with an unpleasant outcome (owner response or stimulus response) and each time the pet is negatively reinforced by removal of the stimulus (see learning and conditioning below). The different presentations of aggression, including stranger directed, owner directed, aggression to strangers, owners, unfamiliar dogs, family dogs and pain induced, which may have different underlying mechanisms.1,2 In a recent study of veterinary behaviour cases, owner directed aggression was the most frequent complaint (39%) and aggression to unfamiliar people (22%) with 1.4 diagnoses per pet.2

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