Guest Bio

Dr. Helen Howell is a canine behaviourist, researcher, and expert witness specialising in aggression, risk assessment, and breed identification. Her PhD at the University of Lincoln focused on human-directed dog bites and how to assess and mitigate risk. Helen has assessed cases across the UK courts, advised rescues internationally, and worked with a wide range of dogs from game-bred fighting lines in the US to street dogs in India and Sri Lanka. She now concentrates on evidence-based risk assessment and tool development rather than Section 1 breed-typing work.

Episode Summary

Helen explains why traditional, stimulus-provocation style “temperament tests” are poor predictors of real-world risk and outlines a new, evidence-based approach using structured professional judgment. She introduces two tools under development, the DBR24 for comprehensive expert assessments and the DBRT triage tool for frontline professionals, both designed to shift focus from a dog’s appearance to the factors that actually drive bite risk: environment, management, owner understanding, predictability, and safeguarding. The conversation contrasts this with breed-specific legislation in the UK, highlighting subjectivity in type identification, why breed is a weak proxy for risk, and how better home-context assessments, owner capability, and practical management plans more effectively protect public safety.

More information:

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For more on evidence-based training, canine behaviour science, or upcoming events, visit animalbehaviourkent.co.uk or explore our learning platform at abklearn.co.uk.

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