Assessing and Interpreting Dog Behaviours

Every day during the course of their duties, police, first responders, and other frontline public safety workers encounter unknown and potentially aggressive dogs. In these situations, the ability to assess and interpret an animal’s behavior and body language will contribute to safe, successful, and humane encounters.

Assessing and Interpreting Dog Behaviours provides knowledge about how to interpret and assess dog behaviours and provides tactics to diffuse potential risks.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Explain what contributes to the appearance of aggressive behaviour in dogs
• Assess and interpret dog body language
• Identify how a person’s body language can diffuse a dog encounter
• Identify other tactics to diffuse a dog encounter
• Explain what to do if a dog is aggressive, despite attempts to diffuse the situation