Dogs are always fearless. But some dogs are fearful and this Fearfulness is a common behavioural disorder in dogs. When talking of fear in dogs, a new study has shown that urban dogs are more fearful than the rural ones.
A recent survey on behaviourism of dogs showed that dogs living in urban environments were more fearful than those living in rural surroundings. The University of Helsinki conducted the study. For the study, they used database of about 6,000 dogs. This data was collected from a set of data of behavioural survey of about 14,000 dogs.
In the survey, they found out that a difference is seen in the dogs with respect to the surroundings that they live. They claimed that dogs living in urban surroundings were more fearful than those living in rural environment. Moreover, they also said that inadequate socialisation of puppies to different situations and stimuli were also linked with fearfulness.
Another finding is that fearful dogs are less active. Owners of fearful dogs do not want to expose their pets to stressful situations, the study said.
Among the breeds, Shetland Sheepdogs and Spanish Water Dogs were seen to have the most social fearfulness. Wheaten Terriers were the bravest breeds. As dogs’ behaviour was related to the breed, the researchers said fear and gene were related in some way. They said that further study was needed in this.
The researchers also said that an active lifestyle along with diverse socialisation in puppyhood would change the behaviour of the digs. These could reduce social fearfulness, they added.
