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Stranger Aggression

Stranger-directed Aggression refers to threatening or aggressive responses to
strangers approaching or invading the
dog’s or owner’s personal space,
territory, or home.

Affected Genes: LIGR3, CD36

Inheritance: Complex Inheritance

Variant(canFam6):
chr10:2497363,
chr18:19980308

General Information: Dogs can be aggressive towards strangers for various reasons, with fear typically being the underlying emotion. Unfamiliarity can cause dogs to feel threatened and seek to create distance to feel safe, a behavior often more pronounced in breeds bred for guarding, such as mastiffs, or certain herding and terrier breeds. Lack of proper socialization as puppies can also contribute to increased aggression towards strangers. Additionally, anxiety, stress, territorial behavior, and other factors can drive dogs to exhibit aggressive behaviors.

How to Read Your Dog's Results for this Trait:

Likely More Aggressive: Likely to exhibit threatening or aggressive responses to strangers approaching or invading the dog’s or owner’s personal space, territory, or home range

Possibly More Aggressive: Possibly exhibits threatening or aggressive responses to strangers approaching or invading the dog’s or owner’s personal space, territory, or home range

Likely Less Aggressive: Unlikely to exhibit threatening or aggressive responses to strangers approaching or invading the dog’s or owner’s personal space, territory, or home range

References:
Zapata I, Lilly ML, Herron ME, Serpell JA, Alvarez CE. Genetic testing of dogs predicts problem behaviors in clinical and nonclinical samples. BMC Genomics. 2022 23(1):102.