title: "Bark parks"--a study on interdog aggression in a limited-control environment.
abstract: As limited-control dog parks become more popular, concerns arise about whether these parks encourage interdog aggression. Systematic observations made at 1 park over 72 hr across 8 months found that 28 conflicts or potential conflicts occurred (< 0.5%). Of these, 14 were clear aggressive episodes. Each lasted less than 1 min (< 0.33% of total observation time). There were 14 other incidents of possible aggression that were ambiguous in nature. Each lasted less than 30 sec (< 0.17%). None of these incidents led to serious injury. Of the 177 dogs observed, only 9 were aggressive toward other dogs (5%): 6 aggressors, once each; 2 aggressors, twice each; 1 aggressor, 3 times. Results indicate that aggression in limited-control dog parks may be relatively rare and probably presents only a limited risk to dogs and their caregivers (owners). In part, this may be because owners who frequent dog parks are self-selecting, self-monitoring, and self-limiting in regard to dog aggression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Butler University, USA. Melissa.Shyan-Norwalt@iams.com
authors.forename: Melissa R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Shyan
authors.forename: Kristina A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Fortune
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression; D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000827:Animal Welfare; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001733:Bites and Stings / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007196:Indiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010067:Ownership; D011998:Recreation; D012149:Restraint, Physical / Q000662:veterinary