Thoughts on R+
Aggression – What is it really?
I have had an interest in dog behavior for many years. In the last 3-5 years my interest grew to include aggression because some of my dogs were biters from an early age. So, I began learning. The more I learn, the more I realize that the general impression of aggression in dogs is misunderstood.
We hear about dogs being banned from cities, individual dogs being confined, and some being required by law to wear a muzzle in public (this really isn’t that bad–I’ll explain later). City and county councils regularly ban dogs because they have bitten someone. Some unlucky and misunderstood dogs are euthanized.
As I have been learning about aggression I have come to a realization that many dogs with aggression issues don’t really have a mean streak, although there are some, they don’t know how to respond. Aggression is based in the underlying feelings of the dog. Not all dogs are happy go lucky, happy to meet the world dogs. Or in human words a Type A personality. Dogs’ personalities vary as much as human personalities vary. There are outgoing, shy, mean, reserved, confident and the not so confident dogs.
How these dogs respond to daily life depends a lot on their personalities. Dogs that are shy, reserved, lack confidence, and scared react in different ways. Some of these dogs respond to life’s events with the attitude that it’s better to scare things off before the scary thing can hurt them. Others respond by crawling away, shaking, panting, shrinking, and freezing, just hoping the scary thing will go away.
All of these dogs need to learn how to respond (so do the confident dogs). They need to develop the life skills so they can cope. It is like the 3 year old kid that lashes out in anger or is too afraid to approach things. We don’t let them continue these behaviors, we try to help them. It should be the same for our dogs and other pets.
“A human-directed bite should not lead to a hasty
decision to euthanize the dog. While true behavioral
disease does exist, with treatment most dogs who
have bitten can enjoy a rich and wonderful life as their
families learn to understand them better, and they
become easier to manage.” ACVB*
The problem is that most guardians don’t know how to help, or even that they can help. For children, parents have doctors and school staff to help. For animals this is where the experienced trainer comes in. Not all trainers are willing or able to help in these cases. But they are out there!
Experienced trainers can help guardians determine the best way to help their dogs.
For more information about aggression and finding an experienced trainer, check out these resources:
International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC)
JE Dog Training 