Dog Aggression: Treating Canine Aggression

MoreFrom HelloLife

• Safely and quickly starts relieving pet anxiety and related symptoms such as nervousness and fear
• Provides safe, non-drowsy relief naturally, without the side effects commonly associated with other pet anxiety medications

Learn more about Anxietrex

When understanding the behaviors of dogs, it is important to remember that dogs do not behave like people. Dogs work within a pack order that determines social rank based by body language. There are two types of ranks:

• Alpha status (the dominant status)
• Omega status (the submissive status)

When a dog comes to live with a human family, they tend to look at people as members of the pack, trying to establish their place in the social order. This is largely through challenging more submissive members in order to secure their place. Canine aggression can cause problems for the entire family. It is important to recognize the early signs of canine aggression and take steps to modify the behavior.

Types of Canine Aggression

There are several different types of aggression:

• Defensive or induced by fear, pain or punishment
• Dominant
• Possessive
• Territorial
• Intra-sexual (male-to-male or female-to-female)
• Predatory
• Parental

It is possible that a dog can exhibit more than one of these types of aggression.

Behaviors of Canine Aggression

When a dog attempts to establish dominance, they may display several behaviors. These behaviors can vary based on the type of aggression. Dominant-aggressive dogs have more confident behaviors, standing tall on their toes, with their ears up and forward. Their tails are carried high and wag slowly and stiffly from side to side. They will often emit a low growl, pursing their lips and exposing teeth. Other behaviors include placing paws on the shoulder of another dog, mounting people's legs, and pushing children aside when going through a door. This type of dog is extremely demanding of attention. They are also possessive of their sleeping areas, will stop eating when approached, and will not obey commands (especially submissive commands such as "down" or "stay"). Defensive-aggressive dogs have more ambivalent behavior. Their body language is more submissive (ears back against the head, avoids direct eye contact, lowered head and body, tail tucked between the legs) and are fear biters; they tend to snap if cornered and bite at people who turn and walk away.

Taking Steps to Prevent Aggression

It is important to never allow any dog to achieve a dominant status over an adult or child. Dogs must understand their social ranking and should never be allowed to challenge people. This is why it is necessary to match the right breed personality to the right owner when choosing a dog. When a puppy is brought into the house, it is important that they are handled gently, especially between three to four months of age. They should be hand fed by children and adults, and taught to take food gently. Bad behaviors should be strongly discouraged, but never punished. Once a dog learns that aggression entitles further dominance, they become difficult to deal with. Deny the rewards of aggression, restrain the dog from repeating the action, and teach alternative behavior.

Be the Master

The longer you wait to curb aggressive behaviors, the more difficult, if impossible, it may be to get a dog's aggression under control. With proper conditioning, rehabilitating a dog can be possible for restoring the family order.

Sources:

http://www.k9aggression.com/Aggression/aggression_main.html

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/aggres1.html

Photo Credit: jpctalbot