Inadequate socialisation, inactivity, and urban living environment are associated with social fearfulness in pet dogs

Abstract

Problematic behaviours are severe welfare issues for one of the world's most popular pets, the domestic dog. One of the most prevalent behavioural problem that causes distress to dogs is social fearfulness, meaning fear of conspecifics or unfamiliar people. To identify demographic and environmental factors associated with fear of dogs and strangers, logistic regression was utilised with a large dataset of 6,000 pet dogs collected through an owner-filled behavioural survey. Social fearfulness was associated with several factors, including urban environment, poor socialisation during puppyhood, infrequent participation in training and other activities, small body size, female sex, and neutering. In addition, we identified several breed differences, suggesting a genetic contribution to social fearfulness. These findings highlight the role of inadequate socialisation, inactivity, and urban living environmental in fear-related behavioural problems in dogs. Improvements in the management and breeding practices of dogs could, therefore, enhance the welfare of man's best friend.

Figure 1

The effects of breed, socialisation, interaction between sex and sterilisation, body size, and living environment on fear of dogs in the logistic regression analysis. (a) Breeds differed in the likelihood of showing fear of dogs, with Chihuahua being the most and Pembroke Welsh Corgi the least fearful breed. (b) Dogs that had less socialisation experiences at the age of 7–16 weeks were more afraid of other dogs. (c) Intact males were less likely afraid of dogs than intact females, but no difference was observed between neutered males and females. In addition, intact individuals were less fearful in both sexes when compared to neutered individuals. (d) Small sized dogs were more likely fearful than medium and large sized dogs. There was also a difference between medium and large sized dogs. (e) Dogs living in a more urban environment had a higher likelihood of showing fear of dogs. Grey lines (b,e) and error bars (a,c,d) indicate 95% confidence limits. N = 5,973.

Figure 2

The effects of breed, sex, sterilisation, socialisation, living environment, and body size on fear of strangers in the logistic regression analysis. (a) Breeds differed in their likelihood of showing fear of strangers, with Spanish Water Dog being the most and Wheaten Terrier the least fearful breed. (b) Female dogs were more afraid of strangers than male dogs. (c) Intact dogs showed less fear of strangers than neutered dogs. (d) Dogs that had less socialisation experiences in the age of 7–16 weeks showed more fear of strangers. (e) Dogs living in a more urban environment had a higher likelihood of showing fear of strangers. (f) Small sized dogs were more afraid of strangers than medium sized dogs. Grey lines (d,e) and error bars (a,b,c,f) indicate 95% confidence limits. N = 5,932.