Dog aggression - Management & minimisation - UAM position
Summary
Gives UAM position on dog aggression, a template for aggressive incidents and best practice minimisation techniques.
This paper gives a comprehensive and useful outline of the UAM position on dog aggression. It states that to attain best practice in aggression minimisation, measures must take into account all predispositions to dog aggression, being the dog's temperament, competence of the owner and the stimuli at the time of an incident.
Improved incident recording is essential for better management of dog aggression. A national dog aggression database information management system is needed to cost-effectively collect, store and collate aggressive incident report data. A template is given for recording aggressive incidents, with rankings according to the description of the incident and the severity of its consequences. The incidents can include aggression towards people, livestock and other animals.
It is only from well-recorded incidents of aggression that determination of a dog's dangerousness can be made. Further, the paper outlines problems with the use of ‘breed specifics' in the control of dangerous dogs.