Can dogs be tested for aggression?

Is there such a thing as temperament or aggression testing for a dog? There is a local dog I've seen being 'walked' which is extremely reactive with other dogs. I've spoken to the owner and found that it's a fairly young Kerry Blue that was a breeding bitch and has had a couple of litters. In the presence of any other dog she will be on her her hind legs lurching, barking and growling. The owner is inexperienced and has no control, but is using the services of Bark Busters to train her.

A few weeks ago I was walking Lola to the park and this other dog yanked the lead out of her owners hand, raced across the road, inches in front of a bus and attacked. Lola escaped with bruising and puncture wounds on her thigh. There was no warning and no escalation. The owner was concerned enough to phone later and ask after Lola and I asked that in future she walk her dog with a muzzle. Since then I heard from other dog owners (it's quite a dog-dense area) that this dog was being walked without a muzzle, then a week later that the dog had attacked again and this time the victim needed surgery.

I saw the dog this morning near my home, yowling and lunging at a well-mannered Akita. My dog was definitely anxious.

The problem is that the owner believes that her dog can be trained to behave, whereas I believe that it is one of those rare things - a genuinely aggressive dog. Are there any professionals who can do an assessment and find out what this dog's limits are?

And what would be the outcome of this test??

I would like the owner to have a realistic idea of what is possible for this dog. I think that at least wearing a muzzle would keep other dogs safe.

I find this very confusing. At first read it sounds as if you want some outside expert or authority to 'prove' to this dog owner that her dog is untrainable or a 'rare genuinely aggressive' dog?

If it were possible to do this - and you got the result you hope for, confirming your idea. What would the next step be?

Or are you just trying to be friendly and save this woman money she is wasting (in your opinion) on trying to train the dog to behave better?

On reading it again I see it actually attacked and wounded your own dog. Why didn't you take the matter further then? Or at least insist she keeps it muzzled if you don't pursue it?

To begin with dogs can be and are tested for temperament. There are many such tests including

Blue Cross
Pet Partners
Pets as Therapy

The above are assessments to determine how suitable a dog is for their programmes.

There are also various puppy tests such as

Volhard aptitude tests
CARAT (suzanne clothier)

In addition there is the temperament test pioneered by the Rottweiler Club to demonstrate stable individuals (this can be done on any breed).

This is just a sample.

Dogs which are the subject of legal action are often also assessed by qualified individuals.

There is not an issue in having a dog with a poor temperament as long as the behaviour of this dog does not impact on others.

My question is, why did you not report the attack on your dog to the Dog Warden and the police and get witness statements from those who must have been around in this busy area and also report the phone call?

If you had perhaps the attack on the other dog might have been prevented.

Aggression is merely a behaviour, something WE are all capable of, it does not necessarily DEFINE a dog (or a person)

I would perhaps suggest to the owner that she approaches an APBC registered behaviourist for help. I believe Bark Busters are a franchise of trainers and the skills of the employees can vary greatly as it's not too difficult to join up.
http://www.apbc.org.uk

Aggression can happen for many reasons and without knowing why the dog is behaving this way, you can't rule out a fix. A fear-aggressive dog, for example, may attack before it is attacked but if the fear is dealt with then the behaviour changes. If the dog is constantly being walked in a dog-dense area then, if the behaviour is fear-based, I can imagine the dog is in a constant state of stress and only going to continue to act this way/get worse until the owner deals with it properly.

Dog wardens don't deal with dangerous or aggressive dogs. I didn't contact the police as a criminal act had not been committed. If the Kerry Blue owner had done as asked the second attack would have been prevented.

The attack to my dog occurred at 8am on a Sunday morning - a quiet time in this area - but luckily there was a witness and I have been talking to him about what to do as the next step.

Thanks for the other information

I had a fear-aggressive/reactive Kerry Blue bitch who sadly died in July.

I had lots of well-intentioned so-called trainers or behaviourists who "labelled" her as aggressive because of her breed and also other dog-owners said she would not change as it was "in her head" I just hope "Bark-busters" whoever they may be are not going to provide a "quick-fix" solution to this dog's problems. Things like this take time and commitment but are not necessarily unchangeable given these two things.

Getting the right help made the difference and whilst she never liked large dogs I could have her so well-behaved and ignoring other dogs on walks you would never guess there was a problem. She also got mixed with nice,calm dogs when appropriate and in the end she actively liked small dogs.

However, I always had her on-lead so she could never practice any aggressive behaviour with other dogs. She was let off-lead on an enclosed tennis court and very quiet field where I could see other dogs before they approached. There is no way I would be so irresponsible as to putting other dog owners in danger of their dog getting frightened. I am fairly sure Cherry would never have bitten-it was all bluster because she was scared but I would never have put this to the test. Sadly Cherry got attacked by a Rottweiller and obviously this was not helpful in changing her view of big dogs. I reported this to the dog warden and police.

You should have reported this incident with this dog to the dog warden before someone else's dog gets hurt. I am really sorry to read this about your dog-it is horrible thing to happen. Sadly when we were looking for a new dog recently the rescue told me that all the bitches would be not good with other dogs. Whether this is poor breeding or lack of training and socialisation as a pup I don't know.

We did get the dog that needed us in the end and now have 2 dog-friendly Kerries thankfully.

Dog wardens are responsible for dealing with dog related legilsation, look here:

http://www.ndwa.co.uk/thedoganimalwardensrole.aspx

The dog has committed an offence under Section 2 of the Dogs Act 1871 see here

http://www.doglaw.co.uk/dangerous.php

If you fail to report incidents then they will continue, simple as.

Perhaps it might be helpful if you attended a Dog Law Seminar.

This might assist you in differentiating facts from what you "believe"

Hi Smokey
I've looked at both of the links. The Dog Warden link states that they deal with enforcing dog related legislation. When I spoke to the representative for this area she said that they will "pick up stray dogs if not dangerous or aggressive and deal with lost dog requests".

Section 2 of the dogs act is only for bringing a civil case and the police have not the power to act. I confirmed this by speaking to a police officer. The event has been logged, but the police cannot become involved unless a person is harmed. I have previously been involved in a case under section 3(1) of the Dangerous Dogs act, where I was bitten and my dog was attacked and subsequently died. In that case they decided they could not be sure which dog had bitten me and I was never called as a witness.

The more recent incident has been logged with the police, but they then referred me on, first back to the local Dog Warden (who won't do anything) then to the RSPCA (!).