THE THE RELATIONSHIP OF CANINE AGGRESSIVENESS WITH FEAR

AGGRESSIVENESS AND FEAR

Abstract

Aggression and fear are known repertoires of canine behavior. This study aimed to evaluate the association between aggressiveness and fear in dogs and how these characteristics varied among different breeds of dogs. This was a cross-sectional study with data from 27541 dogs, obtained from the Dog Aging Project 2020, available by the University of Washington, in the United States. Two constructs were developed from the item response theory: aggressiveness and fear index. From the medians, the prevalence ratios between dogs with above and below average aggressiveness index were adjusted by the Bayesian generalized linear regression model. Based on the results, 43.8% (CI 95%: 43.3-44.4) of the dogs had above-average aggressiveness. After adjusting for the regression model, a higher prevalence of dogs with above-average aggressiveness was associated with male, neutered and small dogs, especially when above-average fear was involved. The opposite happened for older, purebred dogs that practiced aerobic activities with a significantly lower prevalence of dogs with above-average aggressiveness. Four groups of behavioral characteristics were presented among the evaluated breeds: more aggressive and more fearful dogs, less aggressive and less fearful, and the two discordant ones. The main conclusion of this study was that dogs with above-average aggressiveness were associated with above-average fear.