Understanding aggression in dogs
Aggression always sounds like a vicious dog at first. Our brain immediately builds a picture of Cujo with this word and this image is usually associated with fear.
We want to see our dogs as these wonderful animals that simply have nothing to do with this evil, this aggression. But that’s not how life works and our dogs, like any other living creature, can show aggression.
That’s why I want to give you a perhaps slightly different and more pleasant view of aggression with this blog article.
Aggression is not a character trait to begin with. So there is no such thing as an always aggressive dog. Such a dog would not survive for long, because aggression is a very high-energy behavior.
So we are talking about behavior that occurs in certain situations and with a certain purpose. Dogs, like humans, are not aggressive for no reason (medical issues in the brain aside).
So what is the reason for aggression? What does the dog want to achieve with it?
Aggression serves to increase distance. This means that the dog wants to create more distance between himself and the target of his aggression.
The emotion behind the aggression is anger, but this usually arises from fear.
The dog is therefore afraid of something (this can also just be a brief startle due to general tension) and reacts with defense. He defends himself against something dangerous.
We feel the same way when we are cut off in traffic, for example.
This somewhat dangerous situation triggers us to a brief moment of swearing or rude hand gestures in the direction of the other driver.
If this scene happens to us on a day when we are cruising along completely relaxed, we will probably be briefly startled and not react with aggression, but simply let the other car drive away.
However, if we are stressed, running late, and feel generally unsafe when driving, we will react more quickly and violently to the same situation.
Exactly the same thing happens with our dogs.
So once again, they are closer to us than we think.
If we all want our dogs to react more calmly, we can first look at the dog’s general stress level.
Is he physically well (pain is a very common cause of aggression)?
Are his needs being met as well as possible (frustration at constant restrictions can also be responsible for aggression)?
Does the dog feel safe in the environment, with the beings present and in the respective situation?
The last point in particular brings us to the issue of trust. The greater the mistrust, the faster an animal will react with aggression in a frightening situation.
So our task is to build a trusting relationship with our dogs so that they can rely on us and feel comfortable in our presence.
Then they won’t need to be aggressive towards us and it will be easier for us to help them not to be aggressive in other situations because we give them the safety they need.
But how do we create such a secure bond?
On one hand, by recognizing our dogs’ needs and satisfying them as well as possible. We won’t always be able to do this, and if we can’t, we can offer an alternative that is at least similar (e.g. chasing a treat instead of the deer).
On the other hand, by being reliable, safe and trustworthy.
We can achieve this by remaining friendly in our interactions with the dog. This is not just about training, but about everyday life.
And sometimes that’s not so easy, because we also act according to our emotions and if we don’t have a feeling for when we become unfriendly and reactive yet, this can quickly lead to actions that we regret afterward.
Don’t worry, we too can practice stopping ourselves before we act rashly and in the heat of the moment.
For our training in particular, we need a large portion of patience, good observation skills (the quickest way to get these is through videos), and the right rewards.
For example, we can use distance as a great reward if our dog normally guards his bowl and this time shows appeasement signals (e.g. licking his nose).
As you can see, aggression can be mastered in most cases and a dog that shows aggressive behavior is not evil but simply doesn’t know how to help himself in the situation.
Nevertheless, living with an aggressive dog can be very scary for us humans and it is therefore much easier not to face this challenge alone.
So if you would like to have a professional at your side who has been through this herself and will work with you to develop the best strategies for you as a team, book a free discovery call right here.
In this call, we will look at how I can support you individually.