Vet Times The website for the veterinary profession https://www.vettimes.co.uk DO BREED-SPECIFIC TRAITS EXIST AND THUS JUSTIFY LEGISLATION? Author : Jennifer Dobson Categories : Vets Date : July 4, 2011 Jennifer Dobson discusses the effects the Dangerous Dogs Act has on veterinary practices, and muses on the relevance it has to canine development Summary Breed-specific legislation (BSL) controversially pre-supposes that certain breeds are inherently dangerous, and that those not so proscribed are less so. This brings into question whether there is breed-specific behaviour. Any breed-related behavioural traits are much more malleable than physical characteristics, deliberately or accidentally particularly at significant developmental stages and during formative periods, prior to social maturity. It would seem more accurate to refer to breed-typical than breed-specific behaviour. Owners vary greatly in their ability to handle dogs, for a number of reasons, and are likely to be a much more significant single influence on how their dog develops to maturity, physically and behaviourally, than just its breed, with some owners actively seeking to develop antisocial behaviour in their dogs, and to be attracted to a certain type of breed. Banning by breed encourages keeping similarly behaviourally inclined, but physically slightly different, dogs to get round the appearance-dependent legislation. BSL very heavily penalises well-behaved, responsibly owned individuals of the proscribed breeds. Possibly pre-emptive legislation aimed at owners likely to be irresponsible, or to misuse their dogs, may be a better way of preventing injuries from dangerous dogs, while also benefiting the dogs themselves if it prevents them from being kept in situations contrary to good welfare. Key words legislation, breed, owner behaviour, development 1 / 7
BREED-SPECIFIC legislation (BsL) is based on the premise that certain specified breeds, namely the pit bull terrier, the fila brasileiro, the Japanese tosa and the dogo argentino, are fundamentally dangerous due to their physical build and behaviour. This controversially presupposes these types are inherently dangerous, without taking context or triggering stimuli into account, and that those not so proscribed are not, or at least not in the same way or to the same degree. Not only does this bring into question whether there is breed-specific behaviour, but even if accepting that it does exist, there can then be great difficulty in identifying a dog as being not only of a certain breed, but a certain type, which includes crosses of that breed, or a mixture of others that can be crossed to bring out the salient physical features of the banned breed. On one side, supporters of BSL regard the Dangerous Dogs Act (DDA) a helpful pre-emptive attempt to avoid dog-related injuries to people. However, opponents of the act consider a dog should be judged not on how it looks, but on how it behaves, hence the campaigning slogan of Deed not Breed. However deed could only be considered retrospectively, and so serious injury may have already occurred or at least a risky near miss. Behaviour is only a small area of the breed identification part of the DDA, but it is a major consideration when assessing whether the dog poses a continuing risk to the public and whether it should be destroyed or is of good enough temperament to be given a contingency destruction order and be added to the Index of Exempted Dogs. This is assuming the owners convince the court of their intention to responsibly follow all the exemption conditions. How does BSL and breed-related behaviour affect veterinary practices? The DDA affects veterinary practices in certain localities virtually every day, with veterinary staff sometimes having to decide how to fill in entries, which may later become part of court evidence, relating to the breed or type of the dog in veterinary practice records and on official signed documents, such as vaccine certificates and pet passports. Additionally, some vets, along with experts from other fields such as dog breeders or show judges are called upon to provide expert evidence in court as to the type or breed of a dog. Vets and veterinary clinics are regarded as a source of advice about dogs, including sometimes advice about different breeds or crossbreeds. In many cases, owners will choose a breed because they, rightly or wrongly, believe there is a greater chance of predicting how their dog s temperament will turn out. 2 / 7
The Kennel Club s website, aims to help owners choose the right breed for their circumstances, based on breed characteristics. People may select or discount certain breeds based on factors such as whether that breed is typically reserved or outgoing; quiet or vocal; friendly or wary with strangers; highly energetic or laid back. In addition, physical, practical and aesthetic preference factors such as colour, size and coat type are also likely to be considered. In the best scenario, this advice-seeking allows experienced staff to help guide the prospective owners towards a suitable dog for their lifestyle, taking into account exercise levels and physical prowess of the prospective owner, along with the type being considered, grooming commitments, size, available accommodation and potential inherited medical problems. Even in the more commonly encountered scenario when an owner turns up with a newly acquired pet the clinic can be a source of informed advice about any areas that may need particular care or attention in its upbringing, due to knowledge of any particular breed-related behaviour. This could be a tendency to need a higher than average level of mental stimulation (such as border collies) or exercise (such as Siberian huskies), with due regard for the dog s age and physical development, which can vary with breed size for example, heavy giant breeds needing particular care, such as Newfoundlands. Does canine breedspecific behaviour exist? It is obviously easier to see and assess the external phenotype than behavioural characteristics, the latter being dependent on stimuli including developmental trigger stages to bring them out, and the former being what tends to win the conformational show ribbons (so long as the dog can be prevented from biting the judge). Therefore, the phenotype can tend to be the side of the equation more rigorously pursued by breeders, particularly when breeds are kept less for their original function than their appealing looks, to the point that working cocker spaniels may look quite different to the show variety as do working and show Labradors. Internal and external physical characteristics develop as the dog grows up. Although based greatly on genetics and so largely predetermined, they also depend to some degree on how the dog is reared: food, exercise, health status and whether the dog is neutered or entire. Behavioural characteristics are also founded in genetics, including some of the mood-influencing physiology, but behaviour is much more malleable than physical characteristics with regard to being deliberately, accidentally or incidentally manipulated particularly during formative periods and prior to social maturity. 3 / 7
This, in itself, varies between breeds, with smaller breeds tending to be behaviourally mature earlier (at around 18 months), and breeds such as large mastiffs often not being socially mature until they are around three years old. What affects behavioural development? Aside from the well-known fear and optimum socialisation periods, Scott and Fuller (1965) found in their research that they had very good success with dogs of different breeds in teaching retrieving skills when conducted at nine weeks of age. However, if this training was left until 32 weeks, it was much more difficult to achieve, irrespective of whether the dog in question was of a retrieving breed so the age proved more significant than the breed. Coppinger (2004) also recognised there could be windows of opportunity at certain stages, when behaviour could be triggered and strengthened or extinguished, depending on access to experience at that time. As an example, he recounts that, aside from the need to rear livestock, protection breeds among sheep realise their potential from a few weeks of age. When aiming to avoid predatory chase behaviour, if animals exhibiting early signs of it were immediately removed from the sheep pasture, such behaviour may be permanently dropped from their repertoire. He also noted that if the sheep don t run, there is no trigger to allow the guardians to chase, so despite having that potential, they lack the environmental trigger and thus can t reinforce that behaviour. With the exception of emotional significant events or very specific training, most dogs character tends to be fairly wellestablished by the time they are about three years old. Behaviour modification can affect learned behaviour, but it does not change genetics, and it can generally be more difficult to alter learned behaviour acquired and wellestablished during the formative period (up to social maturity) than that learned later. There is also the mutually reinforcing interplay of behaviour being affected by external stimuli, such as other dogs or the presence of potential prey items, which leads to physiological changes such as raised adrenaline and arousal. One effect of this raised adrenaline can be to make the dog more focused on, and reactive to, the significant external stimulus, leading to more internal adrenaline release in a positive feedback loop until the cycle is broken by the behavioural sequence being concluded or aborted for some reason. Breed-specific behaviours those that occur in one breed and one alone are very rare, with one 4 / 7
example possibly being the basenji s lack of a bark. However, these dogs are not actually voiceless, and there are other breeds that will yodel in a similar fashion (albeit, they may well also bark at other times). The basenji s unusual physiological characteristic of only having a single season a year is not a renowned feature of other breeds, but may still be found in particular individuals of other breeds, and possibly in some wolf/dog hybrids, as it is also a feature of wolves. A desirable breed trait in one circumstance can be undesirable in others. Breed-typical behaviours are a major reason why certain breeds were developed enabling them to do a specific job, such as tracking, herding or guarding. Different individuals within a breed or type may have stronger, weaker or absent breed-typical behaviour. Alternatively, as individuals, they may exhibit breed-atypical behaviour, such as the few highly aggressive cavalier King Charles spaniels I have encountered professionally (these individuals had been cleared by their referring vets for syringomyelia and other pain-related conditions). Typically, and when taken as a whole, rather than as specific individuals, some breeds such as border collies are more intensively and impulsively reactive than some others, such as Bernese mountain dogs, which is useful when working sheep, but problematic if the dog is nipping children while trying to herd them. Dogs with a historic background of useful, controlled aggression for guarding or security work, such as German shepherds, can sometimes be inclined to need greater than average socialisation with a wide variety of people to ensure the aggression does not become uncontrolled and dangerous. This can also apply to other guarding breeds. Dogs such as beagles, and some other nose-motivated breeds with a higher than average inclination to follow a scent, can work very well when hunting, with followers going after the line the dogs take. However, it can be more challenging to establish a reliable recall with such a pet than with other dogs that are not so distracted or motivated about following a scent. Role of owner ability Most veterinary staff are made aware daily of how owners ability to manage their dogs, and their dogs behaviour, varies greatly. An accomplished, experienced owner can bring out the best from a difficult dog, and channelling its problematically determined behaviour more productively can result in a dog capable of performing above the average level for example, a confident, outgoing and athletic dog that happily jumps up on to the examination table, avoiding anyone having to lift a heavy, twisting weight. That same dog, with a less accomplished owner, may be using that same extrovert confidence and athleticism to determinedly resist being lifted, to wriggle and wrestle its way off the table (making 5 / 7
examination less than optimal) or to jump up and hurt people with overexcited nips or claws. No bad dogs? The end product of how a dog behaves is the balance of its own genetically programmed tendencies and how that dog has been influenced by its environment, including how it has been brought up by its owners the nature/nurture interaction. Given that there are an estimated eight million dogs in the UK (RSPCA, 2011) it would seem remarkable if none of those got to a point of being irretrievably, and sometimes dangerously, mentally unstable, be that as a result of genetics, upbringing or both. However, far more often, problem dogs arise as a result of inexperienced owners taking on too much dog for them, like a novice rider being overhorsed. This would manifest itself as owners not recognising and addressing early signs of potential problems, or nervous owners who get a dog for protection without having the confidence themselves to inspire respect for their directives from the dog. Alternatively, there are irresponsible owners who are either in denial about antisocial aspects of their dog s behaviour, or who recognise there is an emerging problem, but don t want to invest the time, effort and possible financial outlay for professional help to address it. Additionally, in some areas there are well-reported, increasing problems with owners who want macho status dogs who will do their fighting for them be that against people or other dogs. These dogs are actively trained and encouraged to behave in an antisocial, aggressive and intimidating manner by like-minded owners, sometimes through encouragement via rough musclebuilding games or by forcing the dogs to aggressively defend themselves. For various reasons, including failing to live up to their owners projected image, these dogs can themselves be victims of aggression and abuse. Some of these owners may consider having an illegal breed as bestowing extra kudos and rebellion. Summary To summarise, there are breedrelated behaviours that can combine with physical characteristics, to make certain behaviours more likely, more significant when expressed or more likely to be intensely expressed in some breeds than others, but these are not likely to be exclusively specific to any one breed rather, they may be similarly exhibited in other dogs bred for similar function. Therefore, banning a particular breed or type is likely to be ineffective, particularly as owners wanting such a dog may switch from a banned breed to a nonbanned breed, with very similar behaviour characteristics, but whose physical appearance puts it beyond the scope of the DDA. BSL also very heavily penalises well-brought up, well-bred and responsibly owned individuals of 6 / 7
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) the proscribed breeds, while not providing protection from high-risk individuals of non-proscribed breeds. Overall, owners, in terms of knowledge, anticipation, responsibility, social regard, upbringing and training of the dog are likely to be a much more significant part of the dangerous dog equation than the breed. Those factors include managing what the dog is exposed to at significant developmental stages, and using knowledge of all these factors to ensure the owner acquires a suitable dog for his or her circumstances in the first place. Unfortunately, of course, certain dog types can appeal to certain sections of society, and thus acquire a reputation associated with how they are used in those situations. What next? Going forwards, the options include possibly pre-emptive legislation aimed at owners who are likely to be irresponsible or misuse their dogs. This may be a better way to prevent human injuries from dangerous dogs, and could also benefit the dogs if it prevents them from being kept in situations not conducive to their good welfare. References Coppinger L and Coppinger R (2004). Dogs: A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behaviour and Evolution, Crosskeys Select Books, London: 118-119. RSPCA (2011). Citing Pet Food Manufacturers Association (PFMA) Pet Statistics 2009 (www.rspca.org.uk/allaboutanimals/pets/dogs). Scott J P and Fuller J L (1965). Genetics and the Social Behaviour of the Dog, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London: 219. 7 / 7