There are several approaches to evaluate aggression and dominance status; round-robin approach, standard opponent method, isolation-induced fighting, resident-intruder test, and social dominance test
<isolation-induced fighting>
Male animals are singly housed in the home cage for one month. Isolation increase the likelihood of attack behaviors.
<resident-intruder test>
The test is conducted in a large home cage in which the female and pups are within the cage during the test. It is the modification of isolation induced fighting in which the standard test is conducted in the home cage of the test animal. The standard component is the intruder, prompting territorial attacks from the resident test animal in his home cage.
<Social dominance>
Dominant and submissive postures are scored, along with approach/avoidance behavior, for two mice during a brief paring in a specialized chamber. The social dominance tube test employs two start boxes. Two animal of the same gender are placed at opposite ends of the tube. If one is dominant to the other, the dominant animal will approach while the subordinate backs away.
