So, I'm in my 3rd year at uni right now studying Animal Science. One of my units, 'Field Project 1 & 2', consists of students finding clients and carrying out a research project for them. It's supposed to prepare us for doing Honours or a PhD.

I'm studying 'People's perceptions of dog breed traits' in response to increased media attention on BSL. It will be done in survey form. I'll also be comparing the results of the layman with those of industry professionals (vets, behaviourists, trainers etc).

I (misguidedly) thought that I would have an abundance of questions to ask people... I was wrong!

So far I'm asking people if they know which breeds are banned in New South Wales, and then getting them to identify those dogs from a poster of similar looking dogs.

I've got some other questions prepared, but I'll be interested to see if you guys can come up with any other questions...

Suggestions??

Jackie, can you list your current questions for us?

- What breed is responsible for the most dog bites in Australia?
- In your opinion, is there a difference between a 'dangerous dog' and a 'restricted breed'.
- The aim of Breed Specific Legislation is to protect the public and reduce the amount of dog bites/attacks in the community. With that in mind, do you believe that it's working?

That's pretty much it, but I haven't clarified them with my supervisor and client just yet.

I like the indentification exercise. There used to be a youtube(?) Video on the Gemini Rottweiler and Pit Bull rescue site where people would try to pick out the pit bulls. Very interesting. Perhaps a question about the types of people who own those breeds? How about the number of a specific breed living in that area?

http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

Here's a link to one source for seeing if anyone can "find the pitbull." Only one of those pictured is actually a Pitbull (although others might also be banned breeds).

And maybe ask what, if any, better options there are than BSL in their opinion.

You don't actually need a lot of questions, just a few good ones.

Jackie,

I took a brief trip through the various summaries of laws restricting breeds in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, and Western Australia, and it was an interesting little walk.

I presume you are interested in discovering the overall awareness of the laws, the restricted breeds, how people see dogs, has the legislation actually and perceptually changed dog bite volumes or prevented bites.

Such a survey would need tweaks for the deltas between your various states. So, two or more questions about a dangerous dog, two or more questions about restricted breed dog, two or more questions about other breed dogs, perhaps a selection list of the dog breeds ranked by the respondent from most dangerous to least, how many people have been prosecuted under the law for handling, confinement, restrictive paraphernalia use such as a muzzle, other dogs that a person might list as a dangerous dog and or a restricted breed, are big dogs more dangerous than little dogs, which breed bites the most, which breed causes the most visit to a doctor, etc.

The laws for the various states seem to point the general way for generic questions. Your paper needs to have a question or questions you intend to answer or shed light on. Essentially, have the various laws on the books led to a safer environment or not? Is it the breed or the owner of the dog who is most likely to be responsible for an incident? How many human dog interactions are repeats? What fractions of the age quartiles are most likely to be injured in a dog incident, what fractions are likely to be injured by a breed of dog, for example out of 15 dog breed specific v. person incidents, 3 American Pit Bull Terrier incidents and involved individuals 1 to 10 years of age, 3 for age 11 to 20, etc.,

How many individuals have actually had a negative experience with a dog of any breed in the past ten years, what was the severity from 1 a bark to 5 stitches.

Pick a specific number of questions if you have to compute the responses by hands or lots if you can correlate answers electronically with a computer. Determine the statistical model for applying your sample, in that the respondents should reflect a legitimate cross section of the population.

I mean, if you're gonna go through the process, the outcome should be a useful picture of where the laws have taken your various states. from the actual incident numbers are you all safer, less safe, no noticeable change in person v. dog rates of interactions. And opinion, given perception often tends to cloud reality, do people feel safer, less safe, have no opinion

This is quick and dirty fun. I need coffee.

And does your insurance industry have a ready or handily accessible data base you might be able to mine for frequencies of stuff?

 Quote: Mike Arnold

And does your insurance industry have a ready or handily accessible data base you might be able to mine for frequencies of stuff?

A bit out of your topic but last year while shoping for insurance. One compagny would not take home with dangerous dogs. Dobes, rott, GSD, APBT and one more that I can't remember. Any way the funny part was when the person showed up to visit and do his pitch sale, he said that Dexter was NOT a dobie because of the long ears! Yet he is the one I got from a breeder

Perception is a lot so what does a dangerous dog look like?

Here's a few cool papers I found while doing some similar research earlier this year:

Abstract:
PDF: http://www.greyhoundpets.org.au/publications/ResearchArticleWhichBreedsareMostAggressive.pdf

 Quote: "Blackshaw, J. K. (1991). An overview of types of aggressive behaviour in dogs and methods of treatment. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 30(3), 351-361."

In 223 cases of dogs presented to a specialist behavioural clinic in Brisbane, Australia, 87 (39%) were for severe aggression. The classes of aggression included dominance (31.6%), territorial (29%), predatory (12.3%), intermale (12.3%), sibling rivalry (7.9%), fear biting (6%) and idiopathic rage (0.9%). The breeds most represented which attacked humans were the Bull Terrier (16%), German Shepherd and crosses (15%), Cattle dog breeds (Blue Heeler and crosses, 9.2%), Terrier breeds (9.2%), Labrador (8%), Poodle and Cocker Spaniel (both 5.7%) and Rottweiler (4.6%). The dangerous dog list put out by the local Brisbane City Council includes the first three breeds mentioned and the Rottweiler as the top four breeds causing aggression problems.

Hospital records in Victoria and Queensland confirm that most damage is caused to humans by Bull Terriers and German Shepherds. Many breeds similar to those in our study are also represented in American data on aggressive breeds.

Treatments included obedience training only, restraint only, obedience and restraint, synthetic progestins and obedience, castration, progestins and obedience, castration and obedience, use of chlorpromazine and as a last resort, euthanasia (12.6%). Entire males formed the largest group (44%), followed by castrated males and females (both 21%) and spayed females (15%).

Several breeds (Boxer, Briand, Samoyed and St. Bernard) only attacked other animals and birds.

This study reinforces evidence that social disruption is caused by aggressive dogs, but it also indicates that many responsible clients seek advice on how to deal with this behavioural problem.

 Quote: "Duffy, D. L., Hsu, Y., & Serpell, J. A. (2008). Breed differences in canine aggression. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 114(3), 441-460."

Abstract
Canine aggression poses serious public health and animal welfare concerns. Most of what is understood about breed differences in aggression comes from reports based on bite statistics, behavior clinic caseloads, and experts’ opinions. Information on breed-specific aggressiveness derived from such sources may be misleading due to biases attributable to a disproportionate risk of injury associated with larger and/or more physically powerful breeds and the existence of breed stereotypes. The present study surveyed the owners of more than 30 breeds of dogs using the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), a validated and reliable instrument for assessing dogs’ typical and recent responses to a variety of common stimuli and situations. Two independent data samples (a random sample of breed club members and an online sample) yielded significant differences among breeds in aggression directed toward strangers, owners and dogs (Kruskal–Wallis tests, P < 0.0001).

Eight breeds common to both datasets (Dachshund, English Springer Spaniel, Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, Poodle, Rottweiler, Shetland Sheepdog and Siberian Husky) ranked similarly, rs = 0.723, P < 0.05; rs = 0.929, P < 0.001; rs = 0.592, P = 0.123, for aggression directed toward strangers, dogs and owners, respectively. Some breeds scored higher than average for aggression directed toward both humans and dogs (e.g., Chihuahuas and Dachshunds) while other breeds scored high only for specific targets (e.g., dog-directed aggression among Akitas and Pit Bull Terriers). In general, aggression was most severe when directed toward other dogs followed by unfamiliar people and household members. Breeds with the greatest percentage of dogs exhibiting serious aggression (bites or bite attempts) toward humans included Dachshunds, Chihuahuas and Jack Russell Terriers (toward strangers and owners); Australian Cattle Dogs (toward strangers); and American Cocker Spaniels and Beagles (toward owners). More than 20% of Akitas, Jack Russell Terriers and Pit Bull Terriers were reported as displaying serious aggression toward unfamiliar dogs. Golden Retrievers, Labradors Retrievers, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Brittany Spaniels, Greyhounds and Whippets were the least aggressive toward both humans and dogs. Among English Springer Spaniels, conformation-bred dogs were more aggressive to humans and dogs than field-bred dogs (stranger aggression: Mann–Whitney U test, z = 3.880, P < 0.0001; owner aggression: z = 2.110, P < 0.05; dog-directed aggression: z = 1.93, P = 0.054), suggesting a genetic influence on the behavior. The opposite pattern was observed for owner-directed aggression among Labrador Retrievers, (z = 2.18, P < 0.05) indicating that higher levels of aggression are not attributable to breeding for show per se.

Just a quick note: "Help Please" is the kind of no-topic topic heading least likely to get the responses you want.... just for future reference.

And back on topic:

 Quote: John Vanek

Here's a few cool papers I found while doing some similar research earlier this year:

Abstract:
PDF: http://www.greyhoundpets.org.au/publications/ResearchArticleWhichBreedsareMostAggressive.pdf

 Quote: "Blackshaw, J. K. (1991). An overview of types of aggressive behaviour in dogs and methods of treatment. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 30(3), 351-361."

In 223 cases of dogs presented to a specialist behavioural clinic in Brisbane, Australia, 87 (39%) were for severe aggression. The classes of aggression included dominance (31.6%), territorial (29%), predatory (12.3%), intermale (12.3%), sibling rivalry (7.9%), fear biting (6%) and idiopathic rage (0.9%). The breeds most represented which attacked humans were the Bull Terrier (16%), German Shepherd and crosses (15%), Cattle dog breeds (Blue Heeler and crosses, 9.2%), Terrier breeds (9.2%), Labrador (8%), Poodle and Cocker Spaniel (both 5.7%) and Rottweiler (4.6%). The dangerous dog list put out by the local Brisbane City Council includes the first three breeds mentioned and the Rottweiler as the top four breeds causing aggression problems.

Hospital records in Victoria and Queensland confirm that most damage is caused to humans by Bull Terriers and German Shepherds. Many breeds similar to those in our study are also represented in American data on aggressive breeds.

Treatments included obedience training only, restraint only, obedience and restraint, synthetic progestins and obedience, castration, progestins and obedience, castration and obedience, use of chlorpromazine and as a last resort, euthanasia (12.6%). Entire males formed the largest group (44%), followed by castrated males and females (both 21%) and spayed females (15%).

Several breeds (Boxer, Briand, Samoyed and St. Bernard) only attacked other animals and birds.

This study reinforces evidence that social disruption is caused by aggressive dogs, but it also indicates that many responsible clients seek advice on how to deal with this behavioural problem.

 Quote: "Duffy, D. L., Hsu, Y., & Serpell, J. A. (2008). Breed differences in canine aggression. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 114(3), 441-460."

Abstract
Canine aggression poses serious public health and animal welfare concerns. Most of what is understood about breed differences in aggression comes from reports based on bite statistics, behavior clinic caseloads, and experts’ opinions. Information on breed-specific aggressiveness derived from such sources may be misleading due to biases attributable to a disproportionate risk of injury associated with larger and/or more physically powerful breeds and the existence of breed stereotypes. The present study surveyed the owners of more than 30 breeds of dogs using the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), a validated and reliable instrument for assessing dogs’ typical and recent responses to a variety of common stimuli and situations. Two independent data samples (a random sample of breed club members and an online sample) yielded significant differences among breeds in aggression directed toward strangers, owners and dogs (Kruskal–Wallis tests, P < 0.0001).

Eight breeds common to both datasets (Dachshund, English Springer Spaniel, Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, Poodle, Rottweiler, Shetland Sheepdog and Siberian Husky) ranked similarly, rs = 0.723, P < 0.05; rs = 0.929, P < 0.001; rs = 0.592, P = 0.123, for aggression directed toward strangers, dogs and owners, respectively. Some breeds scored higher than average for aggression directed toward both humans and dogs (e.g., Chihuahuas and Dachshunds) while other breeds scored high only for specific targets (e.g., dog-directed aggression among Akitas and Pit Bull Terriers). In general, aggression was most severe when directed toward other dogs followed by unfamiliar people and household members. Breeds with the greatest percentage of dogs exhibiting serious aggression (bites or bite attempts) toward humans included Dachshunds, Chihuahuas and Jack Russell Terriers (toward strangers and owners); Australian Cattle Dogs (toward strangers); and American Cocker Spaniels and Beagles (toward owners). More than 20% of Akitas, Jack Russell Terriers and Pit Bull Terriers were reported as displaying serious aggression toward unfamiliar dogs. Golden Retrievers, Labradors Retrievers, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Brittany Spaniels, Greyhounds and Whippets were the least aggressive toward both humans and dogs. Among English Springer Spaniels, conformation-bred dogs were more aggressive to humans and dogs than field-bred dogs (stranger aggression: Mann–Whitney U test, z = 3.880, P < 0.0001; owner aggression: z = 2.110, P < 0.05; dog-directed aggression: z = 1.93, P = 0.054), suggesting a genetic influence on the behavior. The opposite pattern was observed for owner-directed aggression among Labrador Retrievers, (z = 2.18, P < 0.05) indicating that higher levels of aggression are not attributable to breeding for show per se.