Decoy Assessment · Aggression In Dogs Support Hub

Decoy Assessment

Have you ever conducted a decoy dog assessment with one of your cases?

I’m really interested to hear how many of you are using this as part of your assessment process, and what you’re paying attention to in those initial moments.

Those first few seconds can tell us a lot. Distance, hesitation, approach patterns, recovery, and subtle shifts in body language often give far more insight than the more obvious behaviours people tend to focus on.

It’s also an area where interpretation matters. Without a clear framework, it’s easy to either overestimate risk or miss important information entirely.

For those wanting to explore this in more depth, I have a full presentation available where I cover:

• when a decoy assessment is appropriate

• how to set it up safely and ethically

• what to look for, including commonly missed details

• how to interpret responses without increasing pressure

I’d genuinely love to hear your experiences or thoughts in the comments.

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