Dog Aggression – Fear, Fact, Fiction and How To Cope

We read about it regularly in newspapers and magazines. Incidents make the evening news on TV with some regularity too. It is a persistent threat that lives in many of our homes and roams our neighborhoods — dogs sometimes lashing out, causing serious injury and sometimes death, to another dog, animal or even human being.

The fact is, the number of reported dog bites against humans are stunningly rare given the number of dogs living with us in our homes.

Statistically, dog owners stand a less than 0.003% chance of being bitten and injured by their dogs. Perhaps more surprisingly the chances of being attacked and killed by a dog are less than 0.0000004%. Why is that statistic so surprising? Because you have about the same chances of being killed by a coconut! It seems kind of strange that a culture that has developed the dog for centuries would be so fearful of dogs, given the facts.

Perhaps some of our concerns are genetic, some are cultural, and certainly some are the products of urban myth and speculation. Dogs do have sharp, pointy teeth. They have claws. Some breeds have large heads and powerful jaws capable of snapping human bones. In essence, they are animals with all of the right equipment to do us serious bodily harm.

Now, having said that, a car is a machine that is capable of killing us far more quickly than a dog and yet we step into cars willingly every day with rarely a second thought. Perhaps this is because we have a better understanding of cars and therefore feel we have better control of our interactions with them.

I think the answer to our fears about dog aggression lies in understanding dogs better. If we know when, why, and how our dogs respond aggressively to us and other dogs, we can be better equipped to prevent incidents of dog aggression and to deal with them when they do occur.

Heath Issues

Health issues are one of the major causes of dog aggression. This is particularly true if we are dealing with aggressive behaviour that comes about as part of a change in the personality of a dog. Anything from a cracked tooth causing chronic pain to allergic reactions to more serious medical conditions like tumors or chemical changes could be at the root of why your dog is growling and keeping you at bay with bared teeth.  After all, dogs are domesticated animals; they were bred to co-exist with humans. A breakdown in the way they relate to human caregivers can be an indication that some underlying health issue has triggered a more primitive survival response.

Dog owners are always wise to look at health issues first if they note a new aggressive behaviour. Has there been a recent injury? A change in eating or elimination habits? A visit to the veterinarian is certainly a low cost way to head off any difficult aggression incidents before they happen. Perhaps more importantly, behavioural remedies such as discipline or punishment are likely to make the situation worse instead of better. A dog that is not well may feel more vulnerable and more threatened by scolding or punishment and may be more likely to lash out in defense.

Finding Frustration

Frustration is a major behavioural cause of aggression in dogs. One form of frustration that should be familiar to most dog owners is called “barrier frustration” and the most common form of it is leash aggression.

Dogs have a natural resistance response to physical force. Pull on the leash and the dog will strain and pull back. Push a dog and it will lean into your pressure. Fence fighting is another form of barrier frustration where dogs separated by a fence and unable to interact will bark and snap at each other.

Confusion: Cause and Effect

In addition to these physical forms of frustration, consider mental forms of frustration. Confusion is a major source of frustration in dogs. Inconsistent responses to behaviour (e.g., sometimes punishing and other times allowing or laughing) can lead to a dog that never knows when a punishment is coming.

Being punished for behaviours that have not yet been properly taught can be equally frustrating. In essence the dog is continually off balance and cannot make sense of cause and effect in their world. In the best case, the dog withdraws inward and reduces overall behaviour to avoid confusion. In the worst case, the dog lashes out in frustration.

Environment/Experiential

Finally there can be environmental or experiential causes for aggression. We cannot know precisely how dogs think and so we cannot always know why they find a particular noise or sight frightening. But fear is a powerful motivator and frequently invokes a “fight or flight” response and the accompanying release of adrenaline. Owners would do well to note items or events that provoke fear responses in their dogs.

One common treatment of fear respones is to confront the dog with the fear-inducing stimulus over and over until the dog no longer reacts fearfully. This unfortunate technique, sometimes called “flooding“, can do more harm than good if the dog’s tolerance is pushed past the limit.  A sufficiently terrified dog can lash out with very little warning. “Flooding” literally backs the dog into a corner and makes them choose between surrendering or lashing out in a last ditch attempt to rid themselves of the fear inducing item or experience.

Under Pressure

Taken individually, it can be easy to spot and deal with any of these causes for aggression in our dogs. But these pressures all too rarely occur individually in our daily lives.  In fact, we can encounter situations where the obvious thing stressing our dog is something they have encountered before without getting upset. And this is where it can get confusing. The pressures that cause aggression in our dogs are additive, they can come together in different configurations to push our dog past their tolerance limit and cause them to act out with aggression.

Consider the case of a dog who was frequently cornered as a puppy in order to be picked up. Over time, the dog has learned to sit quietly while cornered in order to be picked up. This same dog was sometimes punished by having his food bowl taken away during meal time. The dog now warily tolerates people near his bowl if they do not reach for it.

And let’s say, for our example, that this dog has little or no experience with small children. For the sake of this example, let’s assume the dog’s owners are having company around the dog’s meal time. In an effort to keep the dog out of the way, the owners place the dog’s food in the corner of the kitchen where he can eat in peace.  When the three-year-old boy who is visiting comes over and bends down to pet the dog while it is eating, the dog lashes out and bites the child.

The owner is immediately horrified by her dog. “He has never ever bitten a child before! I don’t understand!” But we could all see it coming, couldn’t we? A dog who doesn’t like being cornered and doesn’t like someone reaching for its food is approached by something strange, a small human, that looks like it could be reaching for its food.

Any one of these things — being cornered, having the food removed, being faced with a small child —might have been tolerated by the dog. But taken together, it was all too much. The dog was pushed beyond its ability to tolerate the situation. If the dog also happened to be in pain, the situation could be worse still.

Triggers of Aggression

The key to proper management is understanding the potential triggers for canine aggression. There are many valid reasons why a dog might act aggressively in self defense. Changes in physical or mental health, frustration, confusion, or fear could all be causes of aggressive acts. As responsible owners, we have a tremendous amount of control of these things. Careful training and socialization can reduce the fear component.

Good training and consistent behaviour towards our dogs can reduce confusion and frustration. And good stewardship in looking after our dogs’ health and welfare can keep them safe and help them feel secure about their environment.

Dog aggression is not a genetic disorder that can be dismissed as “a problem with the dog”. While there can be a genetic component to aggression, it is only an occasional and minor factor in most aggression incidents.

If we take precautions to understand our animals and give them what they need to be successful in our lives, we can reduce the chances of them ever acting out in an aggressive fashion. Should your dog begin to show aggressive tendencies, first consult a veterinarian to rule out health causes and then consult a qualified dog behaviourist or trainer to help you determine if your dog is frustrated or confused by some aspect of  home life.

Most dogs are happy and agreeable companions unless something is upsetting their world. As their partners, we owe it to them to investigate what may be causing their distress before assuming they just enjoy having a go at us!

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Recent Eric Brad CPDT-KA Articles:

• The Dog That Changed My Life
• Keeping Your Dog Informed
• Teaching Your Dog to Not-Behave
• The Simple Complexity of Dog Training
• What The Dog Wants