Evaluation of aggression and fearfulness in domestic dog (Canis familiaris)

Aggression is the major factor which underlies the attacks of the dogs, decreasing the welfare of these animals, their owners and the society. It is also undesirable trait in working dogs, as it reduces operational efficiency and security. It appears that fear-induced aggression in dogs is often implicated. In this study, we have investigated the aggression events, avoidance of various stimulus, body postures and stress-related behaviors based on set of tests, performed under controlled conditions, on the group of 144 police dog candidates. We demonstrated that the use of umbrella conducted in the absence of the clop' handler elicits aggression of the almost 27% of animals. Umbrella test showed the highest correlation between arousal and aggression. Umbrella test enabled to describe fear in analyzed group of dogs: low body - postures was manifested by 42.1% of dogs, avoidance in 11.7%.