Understanding Your Dog's Aggression
There is an explanation for your dog's aggression. The question is, of course, what is the dog's reason for being aggressive? What is the source of the aggression? Once we understand that, we can move to rehabilitation.
Because there may be serious consequences to a dog's aggressive behavior and it may be difficult to identify the source of the behavior, it may be a good idea to consult a dog behavior professional to help you figure out the source of your dog's aggression.
Remember that you are responsible for your dog's actions, so take precautions to keep your dog and everyone else safe. This might include avoiding situations where your dog's aggression is triggered, supervising your dog at all times, restraining your dog with a muzzle, etcetera, until the aggression is under control.
Types of Aggression
- Dominance Aggression:
This type of aggression is rooted from a dog seeing himself as the pack leader, the top dog. When anyone challenges this dog's authority or status, he will respond in an aggressive manner. Various behaviors can challenge a dog’s dominance status, such as reaching to grab his collar, petting him over the head, moving him from his favorite spot, etc. Your dog might be friendly and sweet when not challenged, but will become the Hulk when disturbed.
If a dog perceives himself as the leader of the family ("pack"), it is a result of his humans not exercising leadership over him. It is very important to create stability in the dominance hierarchy of the family. If a person has leadership over a dog, that person has control of the dog. To learn more about this, read on Dog Leadership.
- Fear-Motivated Aggression:
Fear-motivated aggression is triggered when a dog believes he is in danger of being harmed. The aggression is then, a defense mechanism used by the dog to protect himself. The harmful situation your dog perceives might not be real. For instance, a strange dog may approach him to play, but your dog might think he is going to attack. It does not matter whether there is real danger or not. If your dog perceives the situation as such, he will react in an aggressive manner to protect himself.
If you notice that your dog is fearful in certain situations, correct his aggressive behavior and stay close to him with a calm, assertive energy to make him feel secure and more relaxed. This is what a pack leader does.
- Protective, Territorial, and Possessive Aggression:
These types of aggression are all very similar and involve the defense of a dog's valuable assets.
Territorial aggression is usually associated with defense of territory such as a house, yard, or even neighborhood.
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Protective aggression involves a dog’s protection of his family ("pack") by directing aggressive behavior toward people or animals that the dog perceives as threats.
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Possessive aggression occurs when a dog is defending his "possessions" (i.e. food, toys, etc.).
Again, make sure you assert yourself (an the rest of the family) as pack leaders for the dog. The dog should understand that he owns nothing. Everything belongs to you. He should not feel the necessity of protecting anything. That is your job.
- Redirected Aggression:
This happens when someone or an animal provokes a dog, but the dog is not able to attack. Out of frustration, the dog may redirect his aggression towards someone else or towards another animal. This type of aggression is common and often misunderstood by dog owners.
- Predatory Aggression:
Things in motion usually trigger this type of aggression, and it is associated with the instinctual hunting and stalking prey drive of some dogs. They tend to attack when the victim or object moves away. This aggression type is usually considered to be a unique kind of aggressive behavior because it is motivated by the intent to obtain food, and not primarily by the intent to harm or intimidate.
Do not let the dog chase anyone or anything when he is in this state. Correct him and block him from whatever he is after. Remember that you are the pack leader, and your dog will follow you.
- Pain Aggression:
This usually occurs when dogs experience pain that is above their tolerance level. Some aggressive behaviors are involuntary reactions to injuries or illness, which can cause a problem during grooming. If you touch a dog on the wrong spot, he might snap at you to get you to stop. Aggression is the way they communicate their pain. A veterinary check up might be in order.
- Maternal Aggression:
Maternal aggression is most often seen most often in females that are nursing a litter of puppies. This is an instinctive reaction that usually occurs when a person or animal approaches the puppies. The dog is concerned with protecting her litter and may nark, growl or snap when she feels her puppies are in danger. The aggression usually diminishes when the puppies are weaned and almost always stops completely when the litter is gone.
