An investigation into the effectiveness of various professionals and behavior modification programs, with or without medication, for the treatment of canine aggression

Dinwoodie, Ian R.; Zottola, Vivian; Dodman, Nicholas H.

doi:10.1016/j.jveb.2021.02.002

Cited by 18 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Among the included studies, most were conducted in the Northern Hemisphere, with only three from Australia43–45 and one from NZ46 (online supplemental table 1). Study designs included 15 observational cohort studies46–59 and 27 interventional studies, 18 of which were predesign and postdesign with no control group,43 45 60–75 five non-randomised studies with a control group,44 76–79 three cross-over studies,56 61 80 and one randomised controlled trial (RCT) 81. One study had inadequate information given to determine the study design 65.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dog bites were measured from a variety of data sources including hospital admissions, emergency department (ED) or primary care presentations, household surveys, or reports to animal management or public health services. Dog aggression was measured in 15 studies 55 56 59–61 63 66–68 72 73 78 80 81 85…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seven studies focused on education; with five on public education,69–71 77 79 and one each directed at children,62 and dog owners 78. Eight studies investigated predominantly dog-training,53–55 60 72 73 76 85 with a further six studies investigating predominantly medication or diet 56 61 66–68 80. Some studies investigated multiple interventions.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies investigated multiple interventions. In particular, legislation changes were often accompanied by education,57 74 75 75 84 and studies on dog training methods often included medication as part of the strategy 55 60 72. Studies were clustered by the predominant intervention.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Systematic review of dog bite prevention strategies

et al. 2022

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BackgroundThe prevention of dog bites is an increasingly important public health topic, as the incidence of serious injury continues to rise.ObjectivesTo evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to prevent dog bites and aggression.MethodsOnline databases were searched (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase and Google Scholar), using the search terms: dog/s, canine, canis, kuri, bite/s, bitten, aggression, attack, death, fatal, mortality, injury/ies, prevention, intervention, for studies between 1960 and 2021. All study designs were considered. Outcomes of interest were the incidence of dog bites or dog aggression. Non-English studies, and those without full-text access were excluded.ResultsForty-three studies met the review criteria, including 15 observational and 27 interventional studies. Fifteen studies investigating dog-control legislation, including leash laws, stray dog control and infringements indicated this can reduce dog bite rates. Breed-specific legislation had less of an effect. Six studies investigating sterilisation, showed while this may reduce dog bites through a reduction in the dog population, the effect on dog aggression was unclear. An alcohol reduction programme showed a significant reduction in dog bite rates in one study. Seven studies assessing educational approaches found that intensive adult-directed education may be effective, with one study showing child-directed education was not effective. Eight studies on dog training (two police-dog related), and six evaluating dog medication or diet were generally low quality and inconclusive.ConclusionsMultiple strategies including effective engagement with indigenous communities and organisations will be required to reduce dog-bites and other incidents involving dog aggression. This review provides some evidence that legislated dog control strategies reduce dog bite rates. Available evidence suggests greater restrictions should be made for all dogs, rather than based on breed alone. Due to a burden of child injury, protection of children should be a focus of legislation and further investigations. Prevention strategies in children require redirection away from a focus on child-directed education and future research should investigate the effectiveness of engineering barriers and reporting strategies.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Systematic review of dog bite prevention strategies

et al. 2022

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“…In addition, it is possible that the reported UBs were found to be caused by other health problems, which were detected by their veterinarian, and treatment of which also treated the UB. A study in the USA recently reported that 15% of dogs presented with an UB for veterinary care had an underlying medical problem that potentially contributed to the UB [ 65 ]. The role of pain-related health problems as a cause of UBs is increasingly reported, including noise phobias [ 66 ] and aggression [ 67 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Veterinary drug therapies used for undesirable behaviours in UK dogs under primary veterinary care

et al. 2022

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Undesirable behaviours (UBs) in dogs are common and important issues with serious potential welfare consequences for both the dogs and their owners. This study aimed to investigate the usage of drug therapy for UBs in dogs and assess demographic risk factors for drug-prescribed UBs within the dog population under primary-care veterinary care in the UK in 2013. Dogs receiving drug therapy for UB were identified through the retrospective analysis of anonymised electronic patient records in VetCompass™. Risk factor analysis used multivariable logistic regression modelling. The study population comprised 103,597 dogs under veterinary care in the UK during 2013. There were 413 drug-prescribed UBs recorded among 404 dogs. The prevalence of dogs with at least one UB event treated with a drug in 2013 was 0.4%. Multivariable modelling identified 3 breeds with increased odds of drug-prescribed UB compared with crossbred dogs: Toy Poodle (OR 2.75), Tibetan Terrier (OR 2.68) and Shih-tzu (OR 1.95). Increasing age was associated with increased odds of drug-prescribed UB, with dogs ≥ 12 years showing 3.1 times the odds compared with dogs < 3 years. Neutered males (OR 1.82) and entire males (OR 1.50) had increased odds compared with entire females. The relatively low prevalence of dogs with at least one UB event that was treated with a drug in 2013 could suggest that opportunities for useful psychopharmaceutical intervention in UBs may be being missed in first opinion veterinary practice. While bodyweight was not a significant factor, the 3 individual breeds at higher odds of an UB treated with a behaviour modifying drug all have a relatively low average bodyweight. The current results also support previous research of a male predisposition to UBs and it is possible that this higher risk resulted in the increased likelihood of being prescribed a behaviour modifying drug, regardless of neuter status.

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