The 10- to 20-minute tests, developed by behaviorists and tweaked by practitioners, ask two basic questions: Will the dog attack humans? Evaluators may observe the dog react to a large doll (a toddler surrogate); a hooded human, shaking a cane; an unfamiliar leashed dog or a plush toy dog. A 2015 study of dog-on-dog aggression testing showed that shelter dogs responded more aggressively to a fake dog than a real one. Research has shown that shelter dogs who guard their food bowls, as Bacon did, do not necessarily do so at home. Common-sense owners wouldn’t grab a dog’s food while it is eating.

Source: New York Times July 31, 2017 17:03 UTC