Thursday, April 19, 2012

Timeline

Annotated timeline of publications
and events associated with faculty at TiHo

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Institute of Animal Welfare and Behavior
University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover (TiHo)

Institut für Tierschutz und Verhalten
der Tierärztlichen Hochschule Hannover (TiHo)


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Revised: April 21, 2012  03:04 EST
Revised: April 24, 2012  02:46 EST
Revised: April 27, 2012  11:53 EST
Revised: May 04, 2012 00:59 EST
Revised May 14, 2012 22:27 EST
Revised June 02, 2012 20:06 EST
Revised Nov 10, 2012 22:58 GMT
1997
Behavioural testing for aggression in the domestic dog.
Applied Animal Behaviour Science 52:243-263. Netto WJ, Planta DJU.
"Aggressive behaviour in dogs is an increasing problem in The Netherlands. In an attempt to find a solution to this problem the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Conservation and Fisheries has financially supported a study aimed at developing an aggression test for dogs. The primary goal is to use the test as an instrument for excluding very aggressive individuals of certain breeds from breeding."

June 26, 2000
Six year-old Volkan Kaja of Hamburg, Germany is savaged by two dogs, a pit bull and an American Staffordshire Terrier.

July 7, 2000
Lower Saxony passes the Dangerous Dogs Act (Niedersaechsische Gefahrtierverordnung GefTVO); this law included provisions of Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) directed at a proscribed list of dangerous dogs.

August 14, 2000 -- May 16, 2001
The Veterinary School at Hannover conducts the original study which yields data from 415 listed dogs and their owners (dog-owner teams) for statistical analysis.

March 3, 2001
TiHo established at the Veterinary School, Hannover.

May 28, 2002
Fighting Dogs: History, application, attitude problems, "Bull Races" -- a literature study.
Andrea Steinfeldt (dissertation).

June 6 (July 3), 2002
Provisions of the Dangerous Dogs Act of Lower Saxony are annulled by the Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht) in Berlin.

November 20, 2002
Untersuchung des Verhaltens von 5 Hunderassen und einem Hundetypus im Wesenstest nach den Richtlinien der Niedersächsischen Gefahrtierverordnung.
Angela Mittmann publishes her doctoral thesis, a report on the testing of dogs restricted by the state of Lower Saxony, Germany. The test used by the faculty of the Veterinary School at Hannover was based on the earlier test developed by Netto and Planta (1997).

Dec 26, 2002
This discussion page (on a German pit bull discussion forum) makes several references to aggression testing of Golden Retrievers. "Andreas" refers to Johann's dissertation testing Golden Retrievers (see below, 2004) using the exact title, two years before its publication date, and three weeks before testing begins (see next entry).

January 17, 2003 -- November 18, 2003
70 Golden Retrievers were evaluated. These dogs served as a comparison group to the 415 listed dogs which were tested earlier.


May 27, 2003
Temperament Testing According to the guidelines of the Dangerous Animals Act of Lower Saxony, Germany (GefTVO) of 5th of July 2000 of five breeds of dogs and the pit bull type. Differences between biting and non-biting dogs.
Sandra Bruns (dissertation).


September, 2003
Behavior genetics of canine aggression: behavioral phenotyping of golden retrievers by means of an aggression test.
L. van den Berg. Behavior Genetics 2003; 33:469-83.

November 27, 2003
Specific intra-aggressive behavior of five breeds of dogs and the pitbull-type temperament during the testing according to the guidelines of the Dangerous Animals Act of Lower Saxony, Germany (GefTVO) of 07.06.2000.
Andrea Böttjer (dissertation).

November, 2004
Assessment of the behaviour of Golden Retrievers in comparison to the behaviour of dogs considered dangerous according to the Dangerous Animals Act of Lower Saxony, Germany (GefTVO) of 5th of July 2000.
Tina Johann (dissertation).

May 25, 2005
Untersuchung einer Bullterrier-Zuchtlinie auf Hypertrophie des Aggressionsverhaltens.
Assessment of a Bull Terrier breed line regarding the possible occurrence of hypertrophic aggressive behavior.
Jennifer Hirschfeld (dissertation).

May 2008
Is there a difference? Comparison of golden retrievers and dogs affected by breed specific legislation regarding aggressive behaviour.
S.A. Ott, E. Schalke, A.M. von Gaertner, H. Hackbarth. Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research 3: 134-140.
(NOTE: Stefanie Ott reexamines existing data from Mittmann (2002) and Johann (2004). This paper is currently available on www.fairdog.dk)

May 2008
Is breed specific legislation justified? Evaluation of the temperament test of Lower Saxony.
E. Schalke, S.A. Ott, A.M. von Gaertner, A. Mittmann. Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research  3: 97-103.
(NOTE: This paper is also currently available www.bestfriends.org)

April, 2009
Assessment of a Bullterrier bloodline in the temperament test of Lower Saxony: comparison with six dog breeds affected by breed specific legislation and a control group of Golden Retrievers.
Ott S, Schalke E, Hirschfeld J, Hackbarth H.
Dtsch Tierarztl Wochenschr. 2009 Apr;116(4):132-7.

October 19, 2009
Aggression and Dogs: No significant difference found between breeds. E Schalke.
(NOTE: This document appears to be a pastiche. It appears on the Animal Farm Foundation website [click here], and Dr Schalke is presented as the author. SRUV has asked Dr Schalke to confirm that she is indeed the author and we are awaiting a reply.)

May, 2010
Assessment of a Bull Terrier bloodline regarding possible hypertrophic aggressive behaviour in situations of dog-dog contact of the temperament test of Lower Saxony.
Esther E Schalke, Stefanie S Ott, Jennifer J Hirschfield and Hansjoachim H Hackbarth.
Berl Munch Tierarztl Wochenschr. 2010 May-Jun;123(5-6):192-7.
"In conclusion, there were no indications for inadequate or disturbed aggressive behaviour in this Bull Terrier breed line. Furthermore, the broad majority of dogs proved to possess excellent social skills as well as the ability to communicate competently and to solve conflicts appropriately."

May 22, 2010
Four dogs savage a three-year old infant in Oldisleben-Sachsenburg, Germany. News coverage in the UK describe the dogs only as attack dogs but in German accounts they are clearly identified as four Staffordshire bull terriers.
Thuringia Interior Minister Peter Huber claims that dog lists (BSL) do not prevent attacks. On March 31, 2011, the owner received a suspended sentence of one year plus 80 hours of community service.

September 22, 2010
Development of a specific behaviour test to evaluate the impact of dog-owner relationship and dog-owner attachment on the behaviour of the dog.
Stefanie Ott (dissertation).

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Notes:

See TiHo Index for a complete list of posts on TiHo.

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