New pioneering research reveals that dogs with undesirable behaviours such as aggression, over-excitability, excessive barking and a tendency to run away are more likely to die at a younger age.
The Royal Veterinary College conducted the study —published in Animal Welfare—using its world leading analytics program, VetCompass™, to explore the de-identified data of a quarter of a million dogs in the UK.
From this data, the researchers found that 33.7 per cent of all deaths in dogs (or roughly 21,000) aged under three years in the UK are due to undesirable behaviours, most notably aggression and poor road sense.
Thy also found that male dogs and smaller dogs are more likely to die from undesirable behaviours than female or larger dogs and that certain breeds—for example, cocker spaniels, West Highland white terriers and Staffordshire bull terriers—are more predisposed in this regard.
“This study is the biggest study ever undertaken on behavioural reasons for deaths in young dogs in the UK,” study supervisor Dr Dan O’Neill said.
“It suggests the importance of good socialisation of puppies by breeders, of sensible breed selection by owners and of careful dog training after acquiring a dog, to ensure that the lives of dogs and owners are fulfilling for all parties involved.
“Dogs with behaviours that their owners find unacceptable are at risk of compromised welfare, either because of their own underlying emotional motivations for the behaviour (e.g. anxiety or fear), or because of how their owners might seek to resolve the problem (e.g. the use of punishment such as beating or electric shock collars),” Dr O’Neill added.
“Greater awareness of the scale of this issue can be the first step towards reducing the problems and making the lives of thousands of our young dogs happier.”
