Dogs walked by men are more aggressive

[Kittilicious]

Dogs being walked by men are four times more likely to threaten and bite other dogs and dogs on a leash are more likely to act aggressively than dogs off the leash.

Dogs Walked by Men Are More Aggressive : Discovery News

Interesting article.

[southernfiction]

Loved the article. Thanks.

[Marnie]

That's very interesting. I wonder what the percentage of men vs women do the dog walking. If more men walk the family dog while the wife finishes up the housework, that would explain it.

[Jax08]

I think it's more likely that men allow dogs to get away with aggressive behavior a bit more than women and also that women are probably more likely to hand off the dog walking of an aggressive dog to their husband.

[Germanshepherdlova]

I know that my dogs behave more aggressively when my DH walks them because he doesn't think it's such a big deal so he doesn't correct them like I do when they bark at people or growl at other dogs as he walks along with them. He thinks that as long as he has control of them he doesn't have to worry about them behaving menacingly. I, on the other hand, need to get any such ideas out of their mind quick before they start pulling me toward a person or other dog and I loose control of them.

[crackem]

I think Jax hit the nail on the head.

[martemchik]

I'm with Jax too, there isn't enough control in an experiment such as this one to make the connection that a dog is more likely to be aggressive if it is walked by a man. I'll admit that I let Rooney get away with a lot more than my girlfriend does, but its because I know that I can pull him away if things get out of line, she on the other hand won't be able to break up a scuffle as easily and will not allow him to say hello to "questionable" dogs. This by no means that Rooney is aggressive, its just that I allow him to be himself and a dog more than she does.

The part about the leashes is very cool though. I already kind of had an incling that they prefer to say hello without leashes and feel much more threatened when one is one them.

[paulag1955]

Originally Posted by martemchik

...its just that I allow him to be himself and a dog more than she does.

Funny you should say that. My husband allows Shasta to get away with several behaviors that I think could lead to aggressive behavior because he says she should be able to "be a dog." I always counter that I want her to be a well-behaved dog.

[paulag1955]

I wonder if breed choice is a factor as well, with men being more inclined to choose breeds that tend to be more naturally aggressive.

[selzer]

I don't know, why it might be, maybe men have harsher voices and are more likely to react forcefully to any sign of aggressiveness which might make a fearful dog, fear-aggressive, and give less warning to their intentions (trained not to), which would back most people off, and perhaps these dogs end up biting more often.

In the past six years since I have been going to training classes with my trainer (I put a LOT of dogs through classes) and spent an average of 1000 dollars per year at $75 per class, puts me at about 13 classes per year x 6 years, which would be 78 classes (usually each of these were six week sessions, and held 6-8 dogs). The owner/handlers were overwhelmingly female. I would say, 7 women to each man would be close. The one time any dog bit the instructor during class, the dog was handled by a man.

So I am not surprised by the finding, at the same time, a sample of one is really no sample at all.