AGGRESSION

Dogs are individuals just the same as humans are. There are many types of different breeds of dogs not forgetting the many Cross breeds that exist. Dogs were domesticated by humans initially to be used as guarding and hunting companions. Today we use dogs in almost every aspect of our lives, work and play. We still use dogs as herding animals for Sheep and cattle, some breeds doubling as guard dogs for the same herds. We also use dogs in security services guarding property. As rescue dogs we use them to help find people trapped in snow or lost on the hills. We also use them to sniff out danger like drugs or explosives. Recently we’ve even seen how dogs can detect illnesses in people.

The more enthusiastic of us take dog ownership a bit further and take up a hobby where we can do something together like Canixross, where we run with our dogs in cross country running competitions, or Agility, running our dogs over obstacles set out in a course against a time clock. We go to training classes to learn road safety and basic obedience. We make dogs a very important part of our daily lives. But sometimes we run into issues were they don’t exactly behave in a way we find acceptable. Most of the time we misunderstand what is happening and often even encourage the unwanted behaviour because of our in-ability to understand what is exactly going on in the mind of our normally faithful companion. If our dogs could talk, there would be no problems. We could sit them down, explain the rules, and let them know what was socially acceptable and what was not.

So what do we find socially unacceptable or breaks the rules? Barking at the Postman every day or to our family members or friends when they visit is annoying. Or taking forever to find a suitable place to pee whilst out for his morning walk on a cold wet morning before we head off to work. Growling or snapping at us if we approach them whilst they are eating or chewing something belonging to us like a shoe or sock or their dinner. The dog that barks or lunges at other people or dogs we pass in the street is also socially unacceptable. But if we were to examine these unacceptable behaviours and try to understand them from the dog’s point of view we may begin to understand where they are coming from and possibly help us to help them modify their behaviour.

Possibly the most distressing behaviour to us humans our dog exhibits is aggression. To someone who is naturally afraid of dogs, the sight of an approaching dog, barking and snapping can be truly frightening. Even to someone who is used to walking dogs and handling dogs, a powerful breed like a German Shepherd or Rottweiller can be a pretty foreboding sight when it is full on. Not least because of their unfair reputations for being aggressive breeds. The press is quick to highlight incidents involving ‘Aggressive’ dogs, particularly where they involve incidents with humans. 

There are many types of aggression here are just some of them;

Dominant Aggression            -           This dog tends to be a bully, is unpredictable and most often is only under control from one member of the family usually the male. This dog can be friendly one minute and aggressive the next. He is indiscriminate and will launch at other dogs he passes. Typically an owner in an attempt to justify this type of behaviour may say “He doesn’t always do this”. Truly dominant dogs are not bullies, they are relaxed & confident in their attitude & are skilled communicators hence they have little need to use aggression.

Fear Aggression         -           A nervous and frightened dog. Reacting to noises or situations that it has not encountered before. Will recoil from approaching people or dogs. This dogs reaction to something it fears can range from barking, growling and snapping to biting. This dog is likely to get bolder as it gets older. If it learns that aggression “works’ to distance the object of fear then the action is reinforced & will be repeated. If rehearsed frequently enough then aggression becomes the default response.

Territorial Aggression           -           This dog will protect its territory and be a danger to anyone or anything that enters it. This dog might bark, lunge or even bite said intruder. Its territory may include the house, the garden, the car, even the bed which you sleep on.

Possessive Aggression           -           Normally a mild mannered dog that turns into Cujo the minute someone approaches anything the dog considers valuable. It might be his dinner, favourite toy, or even you its owner. Again this dog will snarl, growl, bark or even bite if warnings are not heeded.

Punishment Aggression        -           Quite simply this type of aggression is usually because the dog is being overly punished and reacts out of fear. Hitting a dog will lead to it biting you eventually. Common sense really. You can only bully someone or something for so long before it lasses out.

Pain Aggression         -           If someone is in pain then they tend to be short tempered. Dogs are no different. When they are in pain dogs can tell us not to touch them there. So they react by growling or whipping their heads round or yelping. Often this occurs when we touch them in a sensitive area like their ears or underneath. All they are doing is protecting the area in pain.

Maternal Aggression -           A mother protecting her litter. Nothing more natural than that. A mother must trust a human before it will let them near her new born pups. In the wild a mother will fight to the death to protect her young.

Redirected Aggression          -           Normally happens when we humans try to get in the middle of two dogs having a set to. When dogs are fighting their adrenaline levels rise and they are completely focussed on each other. Trying to grab hold of your dog whilst its in that state can sometimes lead to your dog accidentally biting you. Not advisable. Also, if the dog is unable to reach the stimulus (frustration) it will redirect its attention & aggression to the nearest available thing – often the owner!

Dog Aggression          -           Mostly occurs between the same sexes. Can be hormone related,competitive, dominant, territorial, fearful or possessive. In fact any of the factors above can trigger a dog on dog attack.

The first point to note about dog aggression is that dogs that lunge and or possibly bite are not fundamentally different from those that don’t. There are no differences in the genes of a biter to a non-biter So why do dogs lunge or attack other dogs when they meet? There are many reasons for this, both through human intervention and through their own inbuilt instincts and characters. If we look at the non human reasons, we can see that there are a number of things that can lead to dogs being aggressive to other dogs. Firstly it could be because they are bred that way. Some dogs are bred purely for their fighting prowess or guarding instincts, some for herding and hunting. All of these traits can lead to aggression in dogs. Guarding and herding instincts for example can lead a dog to want to protect its owner when out for a walk from an approaching dog.

This can be reinforced by the handler tensing up, but we will come back to handler intervention later. Other possible reasons why dogs show aggression to other dogs, maybe because some dogs are simply afraid of approaching dogs.  With others the problem may not manifest itself until they hit their teenage years. Some male dogs react to other male dogs and similarly female with female. Yet again some dogs react to a specific breed or colour of another dog. Or one dog may be in pain and therefore defensive.

So there are many reasons why dogs will attack other dogs without the intervention of humans.

However, probably the most common cause of dog on dog aggression is as a result of human intervention. As owners our ideal picture when we first decide to buy a dog is that of going for a walk on a summers night with this perfect being walking by our side completely relaxed at one with the world, our dog looking up lovingly at us as we stroll along our street exchanging pleasantries with our neighbours and their dogs as they pass by, sounds idyllic. In reality however what can happen is that walking the dog for some owners can be a very daunting and anxious activity. What normally happens in this case is that the first time an owner takes his/her dog out for a walk they come across another owner and dog coming in the opposite direction. Immediately our dog pulls forward on the lead to do what comes naturally and that is to investigate the other dog. This is a natural behaviour in dogs and is part of a ritual that all dogs go through. Dogs are desperate to engage with other dogs to find out who they are, what sex they are, if their coming into season. They do this by performing some very thorough rear sniffing. The less informed owner may tend to find this behaviour anti social. Their reasoning for that is they liken it to themselves greeting another human and immediately bending down and sniffing their crotch area. They would expect either a thump on the ear or a shriek and a shout for help or the police. So because they find it antisocial then they don’t allow their dogs to do it. It is therefore important that owners understand that dogs have different social etiquette & accept that dogs must be allowed to be dogs & not “little people”. This then can lead to immense bottled up frustration on the part of their dog, particularly in its early years of learning how to approach another dog. What will happen here is that because the dog cannot carry out its natural instincts it doesn’t learn how to say hello ie doesn’t learn communication skills in general. So the next time it comes across another dog it may try harder because it was held back last time, meaning from the other dogs point of view it might be coming on a bit strong, leading that dog to present a defensive posture. By now the owner is seeing a pattern develop. Every time they meet another dog his/her dog lunges forward trying desperately to get to the other dog. So in anticipation of this the owner tenses up at the sight of another dog and shortens the lead to the point were the dog is straining hence forcing the dog to adopt an upright posture which does not correctly communicate the dog’s emotions & intentions. Things escalate from there and the dog then kicks off because it is so frustrated. And so it goes on with the levels of frustration and anxiety rising every time they go out for a walk. The dog also begins to associate oncoming dogs as a reason for his owner becoming tense and nervous. The owner may also exacerbate things by giving a correction during these encounters. Now the dog not only associates emotional frustration but possibly pain and tension in their owners every time they meet another dog. So much for the summer evening walks.

I have first hand experience of that with my male black Lab Ben. I was always pulling him away from going into other dogs spaces or keeping the lead taught so that he could only go nose to nose and almost always resulted in Ben kicking off growling and becoming all macho. Only when I became more experienced and understood what was going on did it stop. I now quite happily let Ben greet other dogs on a loose lead carefully watching the other handler and dog to see if it is reciprocated in kind. If not, I prepare for the kick off. This form of leash aggression can be very common. Another common occurrence is when a dog who would normally want to move away from another dog because as I stated before, some dogs are just fearful, and so will want to move out of harms way. However because they are on a lead they cannot. Dogs have two emotional responses to confrontation, they either run or attack. This is known as flight or fight response. If your dog is a dog that would normally move away from a situation and cannot because it is restricted by the lead it will very easily switch responses to fight mode. And the key to success here in the dogs mind is ‘get in first before the other guy’. Another reason maybe that the dog has had an early bad socialisation encounter as a pup and now associates any greeting with this bad experience.

Rosie Barclay BSc (Hons) MPIl CCAB in her book Good Dog? Bad Dog?  

Comments that, the dog in this situation will not understand that the reason their owner is so stressed is because of the dog’s behaviour, and what they potentially might do to the other dog.

It only associates that every time another dog approaches world war three breaks out. The key thing in this is that this behaviour is as the result of an emotional response to a situation not a well thought out planned attack. The owner in this scenario is only reinforcing this response by their actions. What tends to happen at this point is that the owner will then take every precaution to ensure these incidents are few and far between. How do they do that? Well mostly they will change their habits of where and when they walk their dogs. So they are up at ungodly hours, walking in desolate places were no soul can be seen, and only with people and dogs they absolutely trust wont kick off with their own dog so, reduced opportunities to socialise & learn better communication skills.

To summarise then, aggression can be dangerous if left unchecked. What may start out as boisterous behaviour as a pup can quickly become something more concerning as the pup matures. Aggression between dogs can be as a result of many different things. It may be sibling rivalry, breed specific, fear, dominance, a bad early experience. Or it can be as a result of inexperienced handling, or a multitude of all of the above. The key to successful retraining is to understand what the underlying cause might be.

How do we prevent dog on dog aggression?

Proper socialisation has a profound effect on how our pup will turn out in adulthood. There are far reaching benefits of early socialisation of your puppy. Other influences include, what we feed our dogs. Much like the warnings we are given as parents to our children about the additives, in particular the amount of ‘E’s we give them. What we feed our dogs can affect their energy levels and their general health. Certain ingredients have also been implicated in aggression, Remember a dog that does not feel great can just like humans be less tolerant if feeling unwell or in pain through bad digestion. So by proper socialisation, with proper greeting routines, meeting as many different dogs as possible we can educate our pups to be very sociable and friendly and not to fear other dogs regardless of their breed or colour. We must also be mindful of early experiences and be on guard when these greetings take place so that our pup does not have a bad experience. If it does we must deal with it there and then and immediately try to turn it into a positive experience. By ensuring we as handlers don’t over react, and we continue the socialisation process. Its not the first time I have heard someone say “oh I don’t let him go upto another dog now, the last time he nearly got bitten”. In my local club we have very few ‘pups’ of less than 3 months. Most handlers that turn up with their juvenile dogs say “we didn’t want to bring them until they were old enough to train”. Which usually means when they have lost control or they are being dragged along the street. It is vital to their learning that they encounter as many dogs as possible from the earliest of ages. Provided it’s a safe and controlled environment. “Free for all” puppy classes cause more problems than they solve.  Once they have had their injections they should be enrolled into Puppy socialisation classes. There they will learn vital life lessons like meeting and playing with other dogs, bite inhibition and how to read other dogs body language.

But what do we do for dogs that are already passed the puppy stage and show aggressive behaviour when out walking on the leash. A method I use myself and which I discussed in an earlier unit is the redirect method. By teaching your dog to focus on you and getting it to perform an alternate behaviour your dog will learn to be less focussed on the approaching dog and more on you. Particularly if you are rewarding the redirect with a nice treat or his favourite toy. Soon your dog will learn to not only ignore the approaching dog but begin to associate it with a positive experience. Classical conditioning, The redirect could be to have your dog lie down. Not only does it redirect the dog but puts it in a less threatening position to the approaching dog lowering the tension. The most important factor in any retraining is to remain calm, relaxed and positive.

In the book ‘Culture clash’ by Jean Donaldson, Jean offers her method of retraining. She calls it Desensitization and Counterconditioning. By building their confidence and removing the motivation for aggression. Basically the method here is to teach your dog to associate any oncoming dog with a truly positive experience. By rewarding it with what it considers to be the highest reward. And may well be different for every dog. With some it may be high reward treats like liver or chicken or maybe cheese. What ever turns your dog on? The key to success is to find the lottery win for your dog and to ensure that the timing of the delivery of the reward is extremely accurate. Once you have that you are on the road to success. Jean recommends rewarding the dog regardless of its response when the meeting takes place, until the “lunge rates reduce by 50%”. So by not reacting negatively or taking punitive action even if your dog kicks off you are beginning to teach your dog that encounters may not all be bad. Once you have a change in behaviour then you switch to the counterconditioning were you maybe use a clicker to reward only the calm responses rather than all the responses. You could also use a sound eg a tongue click as a conditioned reinforcer – that is often easier than having to hold, clicker, rewards as well as remaining in control of the dog.

Depending on the breed, the size of your dog and your ability to control the dog if and when it lunges, it may be necessary to buy a muzzle until such times as you have modified its behaviour to other dogs. Make sure you can deliver the reward through the muzzle. Also consider a head collar eg Halti which closes the dog’s mouth if it lunges & can be used to redirect eye contact away from the approaching dog as needs be. Although they are not nice and can give off warning signs, sometimes it’s better to be safe than sorry. The last thing you would want is for you dog to inflict any serious damage on another dog because you were slow to react. And if your training is consistent and offering the right reward, you can be sure the muzzle will only be for a short time. The key elements for me are awareness and experience. By being aware of what your dog is capable of and accepting the true scale of aggression and being alert to your immediate surroundings many ‘confrontations’ can be avoided. By taking appropriate preventative actions, we can anticipate and prevent nasty incidents. Look for approaching dogs and handlers. Look how your dog is reacting. Does he raise his head, tail? Does he stiffen whilst walking, or stop and lower his head, fixating on the approaching dog. These are the signs to be looking out for. An experienced handler will know when his dog is happy and relaxed by the way it walks holds its head watching it sniff in the air or on the ground not fixating on anything, a happy stride. Handlers should get to know this state and then watch for the changes, and they should act immediately they notice a change in the dog’s level of arousal. It is the changes in these things that give away what they are probably thinking. As I said earlier we cant sit them down and speak to them because they don’t understand. But by observing them and walking with them, not just walking beside them, interacting with them on the walk, we can learn to interpret their actions and take appropriate counter measures.

 I was watching Crufts last night on the telly and their Chief Vet was asked a question about what makes a bad dog. He replied “bad breeding and bad handlers”. I have tried to touch briefly in this study on some of the things associated with bad handling. I personally think there are more inexperienced handlers than bad handlers. A dog with issues in inexperienced handler’s hands can be a bad mix. On a positive note though media is helping to raise the awareness of how responsible dog ownership is a must in our society. Back when I was a young lad nothing was thought of letting your dog out the house in the morning to roam the streets until it came back for tea at night. Now we have increased legislation and public awareness and social responsibility regarding dogs. Like them or not, programmes on the TV like “Dog Whisperer, Dog Borstal or Its Me or the Dog”. Are being beamed into every living room in the country and making people aware of what is acceptable and what is not. Unfortunately they encourage the idea that there are “quick fixes” & some advocate the use of inappropriate training & handling technique.

In summary

Dog on dog aggression can be as a result of many things. Breeding traits, handler inexperience, or emotional state of the dog. We can take some preventative actions by proper puppy socialisation from when the pup is only weeks old. This by far is the best course of action and will have the most lasting effect on your dog. We can also, with a lot of hard work and patience, retrain adult dogs not to lunge, attack or fear other dogs by redirecting, desensitizing and counterconditioning your dog. It is important to remember that, if we have a dog that is aggressive, seek help. There are a lot of recognised bodies that will be willing to offer advice on where to get help. Association of Pet Dog Trainers, British Institute of Pet Dog Trainers, Kennel Club, even rescue organisations like Dogs Trust, RSPCA, SSPCA to name but a few. There are numerous sources on the Web but caution should be taken about using resources that are not accredited.

For socialisation the best source of help is the local training club only if it is run correctly & by qualified, experienced & up to date trainers. There the pup will be allowed to socialise with many dogs and people. Having an aggressive dog is not the end of the world and we don’t have to just say “oh well there is nothing I can do”, there is. But we need to try to understand them first if we are to achieve all we can achieve with mans best friend.

Dogs are animals and not humans. A fact that most people when asked, will readily agree with, however, their actions are sometimes at odds with this fact. We have in the main, successfully domesticated and integrated this animal into our homes. Most people however, not just dog owners, don’t fully understand them. And that is when problems arise. Many dogs have had their lives ended because they attacked an adult or child. But very few people understand why the dog attacked, or ask “what could have been done to prevent it?” 

References

Good Dog? Bad Dog?  Rosie Barclay BSc (Hons) MPIl CCAB

‘Culture clash’ Jean Donaldson

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