Aggression problems anyone?

[German Vanegas]

There are different types of aggression but all have one thing in common: they must not be tolerated.

Aggression can be the result of incorrect breeding or rearing or even both. It occurs more frequently in some breeds than others and is often misunderstood. Often a much lower standard of behavior is accepted from a small dog. But remember that small dogs can inflict a great deal of damage too. If you have ever seen a Terrier kill a rat, you will know how much damage a small dog can inflict. Obviously, a powerful Rottweiler is a greater force to reckon with.

I would just like to say at this point. IF YOU HAVE AN AGGRESSION PROBLEM DON'T WAIT. ASK YOUR VET FOR A REFERRAL TO AN EXPERT IMMEDIATELY. Prevention is better than cure!

Let's imagine that your dog is starting to take over your household, won't get off the furniture when told, growls if you go near his food bowl, and so forth. Is there anything you can do? Quite a lot. First you have to lower his status in the pack order. You are the one and only leader of the pack to begin with. Once you have done this he will be more amenable. You will then be able to train him and avoid any future problems with aggression since you will have established yourself as pack leader. In extreme cases neutering may help to control some behavioral problems. But real life is not quite as simple as this. You may not have realized what sort of a situation you were allowing to develop with the young pup. It is cute when a baby puppy growls over his toy and won't give it up. But if that same animal, now a one hundred pounds eighteen month old male, refuses to let you rescue your Persian rug from his playful jaws, you might feel intimidated if he were to growl and refuse to give it up. It can be a truly frightening experience...

Games of tug must always end with you taking permanent possession of the toy. But if there is any doubt, then tug is not a suitable game. The pack leader (which must be you) must always control the games.

Obviously you would not want to select a pup whose mother was anything but friendly or one who ran away to hide every time he was approached. But sometimes you are landed with a pup who has the potential to be nervous. What do you do in such case? For a start you take that pup out and about to expose him/er to a thorough socialization. Carry him everywhere until his disease preventive injections are completed but don't deprive him of any stimuli whatsoever. A good breeder will already have accustomed the pups to as many different sights and sounds as possible. Now it is up to you to make sure his/er education is complete. Pups of a few weeks are much easier to socialize. Leave it until later and you will be struggling, if it ever will work.

Even a bold puppy can be a problem if he is not well socialized early on. With a shy pup it is even more essential, it is an absolute must. If you can find a well run puppy kindergarten class then by all means join. Be careful to make those social experiences as pleasant as possible. With a nervous youngster it could be disastrous if he were attacked by an older dog. Not all adults tolerate puppies so you need to be careful. The fearful youngster will soon discover that he can growl and possibly cause other dogs to leave him alone. Then as he matures he may well become the sort of dog who will instinctively attack another dog on the 'get him before he gets you' principle.

If his particular fear is people (and who wouldn't recoil if a dog snapped at them?) your pup could mature into a dangerous adult. Imagine owning (or being owned) by a dog who might suddenly decide to take a pot-shot at your neighbor or the friendly pup he meets when you are out for a walk. You might even feel you can not take him out at all. People have even been known to exercise the aggressive dog in the middle of the night just so they didn't have to meet anyone else.

However there are some things you can do to ease the situation once it has developed. One thing you do not do with an aggressive dog is show aggression yourself. This will only serve to escalate the problem whatever kind of aggression he is showing.

First you have to decide what type of aggression you are dealing with. These are the most common of all:

Dominant Aggression.
If your dog is dominant, you will know because he will gradually have taken over your home to suit his convenience. The dominant aggressive dog might select your visitors, attacking those he decides he doesn't want around. Outside he may attack other dogs who dare to get in his way when out for exercise where he has probably chosen the route.

This dog suffers from a superiority complex. Don't hesitate to lower his status and in this case consider having him castrated to reduce his aggression. This should be done at about 6 months of age if it is to have a significant effect. I would prefer that you get a well-bred pup and then you properly raising him to avoid such extreme measure. I personally recommend neutering mainly to prevent accidental matings and the proliferation of unwanted dogs, not to solve aggression or behavioral problems... but there are some very bad cases, including considering to put the dog to sleep.

Find a good training club once you have gradually taken control of your dog and learn how to train him. The recall is a particularly important exercise for the aggressive dog. It should be ultra-reliable!
Try to avoid situations which might provoke aggression if at all possible. Once you have become the pack leader you should be able to prevent him from attacking people. You simply place the dog in a down and take control of the situation.

Territorial Aggression.
This is another form of aggression shown by the dominant dog. He will guard whatever he sees as his property. It could be the house, car or the garden. Again, this dog should not be allowed to own property. His access to toys should be controlled by you.

People often make the mistake of allowing the dog to spend many hours outside, believing, wrongly that he needs to have plenty of freedom to run, play etc. The fact is that most dogs left in the garden simply lie down and wait to be allowed to rejoin the owner (the dog is after all a pack animal) or they learn to defend what they see as their own territory against all other living creatures. Try to make sure that your dog sees the garden, car, etc. as your territory as well as the house.

You can safely train your dog to be a watchdog that performs alarm security duties, or a protection trained dog that defends you, your family, and property, without thinking that he owns you or the property itself. There is the difference. My dogs patrol my property, but they KNOW is mine not theirs.

Nervous Aggression.
Just because a dog is afraid of people or other dogs it does not follow that he is not a problem. A nervous aggressive dog can be lethal.

Some people attempt to cure this type of aggression by forcefully checking the dog. This is one way to guarantee that the behavior will escalate instead of correcting it. A dog which attacks from fear has to learn to trust. A show of aggression towards him will have the total opposite affect.

The dog which attacks people can learn to trust if he is taught to associate people with something pleasant. You can arrange to meet people you can trust in the park and get them to offer titbits or toys, whatever is the most likely to work for your dog.

At all costs avoid the dog-haters. People out walking with sticks are perhaps best avoided. One particularly unpleasant man decided to make an unprovoked attack on one of my dogs one day, simply because he was off lead in the middle of the wood. I think I managed to convince him that I was a much greater risk to him than my dog!!

In the home it is tempting to let your dog crouch behind the furniture but this can cause more problems if he feels threatened in his safe place. It is better to let your visitors come in and sit down before bringing your dog in on the lead. The visitors must not look at the dog or make any attempt to befriend him.

Later, they can produce toys or food and the dog, once he is sure they are not interested in him, will gradually learn that they can be approached for something pleasant. You have control and can quietly praise him if he makes friendly overtures.

In extreme cases a dog can be muzzled to prevent any bites but if you do this you must first accustom him to wearing one and never leave him on his own for long if he is wearing a muzzle. If he learns to play so much the better. It is no good worrying that your dog may no longer be able to protect you once reformed.

A nervous aggressive dog is more of a liability. A dog who is friendly towards strangers is much more likely to differentiate between a friend and the rare person who might be out to threaten you in some way.

The difficulty with teaching the nervous aggressive dog that he must not attack other dogs is finding quiet even-tempered dogs to help with the teaching process. Here your best plan might be to take him to a club where he will meet other dogs under control.

Under no circumstances should dogs be put at risk of attack, so it is best to accustom your nervous aggressive dog to a muzzle, plain leather collar (never use choke chains they will only make things worse) and possibly also a halti head collar. Then you can find a place to sit quietly where your dog can observe other dogs without being able to hide but also without feeling threatened.

If you can feel that the dog is learning to relax he can be praised and rewarded. If he is tense then the halti can be used to guide his head so he does not look directly at the other dogs. In a training club you have a chance of allowing him access to other dogs who are under control and not posing a threat so your dog can learn to relax.

Away from a controlled environment it is more difficult but not impossible to reform the nervous aggressive dog. It goes without saying that he should be on a lead when other dogs are about. But the lead should be slack. Tension will only bring out the dog's aggressive tendencies. Offer titbits or toys whenever other dogs are near, use the halti to turn your dog away from them and praise quietly if he shows no sign of aggression. Soon he may associate the sight of other dogs as a sign that something pleasant is in the offing.

If a strange dog does approach too closely take charge and if the owner doesn't remove the offending animal then do something yourself. A water pistol is a good deterrent. Once your dog realizes he will not be threatened by another dog he may gradually lose his fear.

But the fearful dog is most often this way through breeding. No amount of correct socializing is going to eradicate fear completely if it is an inherited trait. There are plenty of good natured animals around. Try to make sure that your pup is from good tempered parents and you have a chance of rearing a dog who does not have aggression problems on reaching maturity.

REMEMBER: IF YOU HAVE AN AGGRESSIVE DOG ALWAYS SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP. Thank You!

[This message has been edited by German Vanegas (edited September 12, 1999).]

[katheyt]

Great post ! Now the graduate level question . Can there be multiple forms of agression in one dog, and how and in what order do you solve them?

[German Vanegas]

Katheyt,
As a general rule you find one form of aggression on a given dog. If you have a dog with several forms of aggression, there is always one strongly more pronounced that the other one, so you start working your "way down" by identifying the one that troubles the most...