Classification of behavior problems in dogs: Distributions of age, breed, sex and reproductive status

Abstract

One hundred and seventy behavior problems were observed in 105 dogs referred for behavior-problem management by practicing veterinarians. Ninety percent of the observed behavior problems were classified within three major categories: aggression; stimulus reactivity; separation-related. Aggression and stimulus reactivity problems were further sub-divided by their predominant behavioral components, i.e. excessive approach or avoidance in relation to the target stimuli. The mean age for dogs presented for problem behavior was 3.4 years, which did not differ as a function of diagnostic category ( P > 0.05). The distributions of different types of aggression seen in dogs and the most frequent pair-wise combinations of different types of aggression in the sample were described. Significantly more intact males and neutered females were referred for aggressive and stimulus reactivity behavior problems ( P<0.001), but dogs with separation-related problems did not differ ( P > 0.05). The value of identifying the predominant components of behavior problems for clarifying the direction of behavior change was discussed.