AGGRESSION:
A dog's bark may be worse than his bite, but most of us would rather not
find out one way or the other. Growling, baring teeth, snarling,
snapping, and biting are all aggressive behaviors, but dog aggression
includes any behavior meant to intimidate or harm a person or another
animal. Although these messages are among the handful of communication
tools available to dogs, they're generally unacceptable to humans.
Because humans and dogs have different communication systems,
misunderstandings can occur between the two species.
But from a dog's perspective, there's always a reason for aggressive
behavior. A person may intend to be friendly, but a dog may perceive
that person's behavior as threatening or intimidating. Dogs aren't being
schizophrenic, psychotic, crazy, or necessarily "vicious" when
displaying aggressive behavior.
Because aggression is so complex, and because the potential consequences
are so serious, we recommend that you get professional in-home help from
an animal behavior specialist if your dog is displaying aggressive
behavior..
Types of Aggression
Dominance Aggression: Dominance aggression is motivated by a challenge
to a dog's social status or to his control of a social interaction. Dogs
are social animals and view their human families as their social group
or "pack." Based on the outcomes of social challenges among group
members, a dominance hierarchy or "pecking order" is established..
If your dog perceives his own ranking in the hierarchy to be higher than
yours, he'll probably challenge you in certain situations. Because
people don't always understand canine communication, you may
inadvertently challenge your dog's social position. A dominantly
aggressive dog may growl if he is disturbed when resting or sleeping or
if he is asked to give up a favorite spot, such as the couch or the bed.
Physical restraint, even when done in a friendly manner (like hugging),
may also cause your dog to respond aggressively. Reaching for your dog's
collar, or reaching over his head to pet him, could also be interpreted
as a challenge for dominance. Dominantly aggressive dogs are often
described as "Jekyll and Hydes" because they can be very friendly when
not challenged. Dominance aggression may be directed at people or at
other animals. The most common reason for fights among dogs in the same
family is instability in the dominance hierarchy..
Fear-Motivated Aggression:
Fear-motivated aggression is a defensive reaction and occurs when a dog
believes he is in danger of being harmed. Remember that it's your dog's
perception of the situation, not your actual intent, which determines
your dog's response. For example, you may raise your arm to throw a
ball, but your dog may bite you because he believes he's protecting
himself from being hit. A dog may also be fearfully aggressive when
approached by other dogs..
Protective, Territorial, and Possessive Aggression: Protective,
territorial, and possessive aggression are all very similar, and involve
the defense of valuable resources. Territorial aggression is usually
associated with defense of property, and that "territory" may extend
well past the boundaries of your yard. For example, if you regularly
walk your dog around the neighborhood and allow him to urine-mark, he
may think his territory includes the entire block. Protective aggression
usually refers to aggression directed toward people or animals whom a
dog perceives as threats to his family, or pack. Dogs become
possessively aggressive when defending their food, toys, or other valued
objects, including items as peculiar as tissues stolen from the trash..
Redirected Aggression:
This is a relatively common type of aggression but one that is often
misunderstood by pet owners. If a dog is somehow provoked by a person or
animal he is unable to attack, he may redirect this aggression onto
someone else. For example, two family dogs may become excited, and bark
and growl in response to another dog passing through the front yard; or
two dogs confined behind a fence may turn and attack each other because
they can't attack an intruder. Predation is usually considered to be a
unique kind of aggressive behavior because it's motivated by the intent
to obtain food, and not primarily by the intent to harm or intimidate..
Individual Variation
The likelihood of a dog to show aggressive behavior in any particular
situation varies markedly from dog to dog. Some dogs tend to respond
aggressively with very little stimulation. Others may be subjected to
all kinds of threatening stimuli and events and yet never attempt to
bite..
The difference in the threshold prompting aggressive behavior is
influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. If this threshold
is low, a dog will be more likely to bite. Raising the threshold makes a
dog less likely to respond aggressively. This threshold can be raised
using behavior modification techniques, but the potential for change is
influenced by a dog's gender, age, breed, general temperament, and the
way in which the behavior modification techniques are chosen and
implemented..
Because working with aggressive dogs can be potentially dangerous,
behavior modification techniques should only be attempted by, or under
the guidance of, an experienced animal behavior professional who
understands animal learning theory and behavior.
What You Can Do:
First, check with your veterinarian to rule out medical causes for the
aggressive behavior..
Seek professional advice. An aggression problem will not go away by
itself. Working with aggression problems requires in-home help from an
animal behavior specialist..
Take precautions. Your first priority is to keep people and other
animals safe. Supervise, confine, and/or restrict your dog's activities
until you can obtain professional guidance. You are liable for your
dog's behavior. If you must take your dog out in public, consider a
cage-type muzzle as a temporary precaution, and remember that some dogs
are clever enough to get a muzzle off..
Avoid exposing your dog to situations where he is more likely to show
aggression. You may need to keep him confined to a safe room and limit
his contact with people..
If your dog is possessive of toys or treats, or territorial in certain
locations, prevent access and you'll prevent the problem. In an
emergency, bribe him with something better than what he has. For
example, if he steals your shoe, trade him the shoe for a piece of
chicken..
Spay or neuter your dog. Intact dogs are more likely to display
dominance, territorial, and protective aggressive behavior.
What NOT to Do:
Punishment won't help and, in fact, will often make the problem worse.
If the aggression is motivated by fear, punishment will make your dog
more fearful, and therefore more aggressive. Attempting to punish or
dominate a dominantly aggressive dog may actually lead him to escalate
his behavior to retain his dominant position. This is likely to result
in a bite or a severe attack. Punishing territorial, possessive, or
protective aggression is likely to elicit additional defensive
aggression..
Adapted from material originally developed by applied animal
behaviorists at the
Dumb Friends League, Denver, Colorado. All rights reserved.
If you have questions or need our services, please contact the shelter
at
618.346.5213 or contact us today via
e-mail
Copyrights 2009 WARREN BILLHARTZ ANIMAL SHELTER OF
COLLINSVILLE. A KTLLC Communications Solution