Do you have a dog that always growls, bites, and sometimes attacks other dogs and humans? For sure, you have thought that your dog has aggressive tendencies. You might’ve tried to change your dog’s behavior by various ways but is still “aggressive” until now.
What is aggression?
In order to understand aggression itself, you have to first know that aggression is a natural response to threat. This may root from a fear or trauma itself. An expert would even say that a dog’s aggression is a behavior or set of behaviors that can be used to increase the distance from and/or to eliminate a threat.
Whenever a threat is introduced, the responses could be fight, flight, or submission. You may categorize aggression as a “fight” response.
Basically, when you approach the definition as mentioned, you would eventually realize that there really is no “aggressive dog”. No dog would always exhibit aggressive actions without the potential threat. Thus, understanding and accepting that aggression is just a basic response caused by the presence of a threat is good.
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Just as how most basic responses are, aggression follows a dog’s instincts. Therefore, it is very hard to make it go away. It cannot be trained immediately. The threat is still there, but eventually the dog’s response to the threat diminishes. The dog’s response just changes, but still the instinctual actions to the fear caused by the threat is still present.
What are signs of dog aggression?
- Growling
- Tense body and stiffening
- Dog backs away, moves away, or looks away
- Lowering of head
- Dog cowers
- Lunging
- Sometimes yawning
- Bares teeth
- Licks lips
- Slow, careful movements
- Pinned back ears
- Pulled tight lips
- Hairs raised on its back
The most recognizable behavior among these is growling. When a growl is enough to ward off a potential threat, the dog will not go for a full bite. The growl itself is a warning that we should take note off, but it is a good thing in itself since any threat may be able to get off with just a warning.
You may also opt not to punish your dog whenever he displays aggressive behaviors as it adds to their fear and cause anxiety. Punishments will just cause his aggressive behaviors to show more often.
Dog’s developmental ages and impact on aggression
The things that threaten your dog now may have been different from before. As mentioned, your dog’s fear and anxiety towards certain things could’ve developed into threats. At a young age, your puppy may have encountered negative experiences that stemmed into causing aggressive behaviors in adulthood.
The puppies should have been vaccinated in their so-called “socialization period” during 6-14 weeks of age. This is to ensure that they are immune to any potential diseases during this age where they should encounter different smells, places, and environments. The positive experience that they had during this age is very helpful for avoiding aggression towards adulthood.
At around 6-14 months of age, your dog should now be going through adolescence. This is also a very important stage as it serves as a turning point for most dogs. Do your best to be gentle and patient to your dog while you are making sure that your dog has no negative experiences during this stage.
Stay away from unwanted social situations like unruly dogs or bad people. It is recommended that you stick to a normal routine for your dog during this stage to avoid stress.
Aggression towards other dogs and other humans
Like mentioned before, aggression is just a response to a threat. When your dog is aggressive towards other dogs, then that means your dog is frightened or threatened. The first two things you should consider is time, and distance from the threat. Remember these following guidelines for when your dog is aggressive to another dog. Try to observe the frequency of the behavior afterwards.
- Try to create distance between the threat trigger and your dog.
- Calm your dog, but don’t yell at or punish him.
- Once calmed, wait for your dog to observe the threat from a safe distance away.
- Allow your dog to decide on his own to investigate the threat slowly or to go away from it.
The same procedures are to be followed if your dog is aggressive towards other people. Always resolve the threat in a calm manner without any anger. Also remember to not give your dogs treats as he may mistake it as a reward for his aggressive behavior. This will only make your dog favor aggression even more.
Many people assume that by giving out treats, dogs would calm immediately. But instinctual aggression could not be shut off by using the reward system. Instead, try to trigger the other side of his brain where his feral instincts are not located.
You can do this by making use of his favorite smells, like the smell of his favorite food or the smell of his favorite toy. By allowing your dog to smell “good” things, you may able to calm your dog bit by bit.
Fixing aggressive behavior
Like mentioned before, this behavior is instinctual. Therefore, it cannot be fixed. What can you do is try to change their usual response into something else. Let’s say that your dog is afraid of the pizza delivery guy. So, every time the pizza comes in, your dog starts growling and barking so loud.
You can try giving out treats once you have noticed that the pizza delivery guy is near. Once the delivery guy is gone, you can stop dropping treat for your dog. By doing this frequently, you will notice that your dog will react less every time.
This is because the pizza delivery guy is no longer a threat, but rather an association to giving out delicious treats for your dog. You may continue giving out treats in lesser amounts until there comes a time that your dog no longer fears the pizza delivery guy.
Should you seek professional help?
If you are not able to do this alone, you may ask help from a professional dog trainer or from those experienced with having aggressive dogs. Seeking help from others won’t make you a bad owner, you are able to help your dog overcome aggression even more.
Especially if your dog has instances of biting or hurting another person or animal, you should find assistance. You and your dog’s life are important and it’s best to seek help if you and your canine friend’s quality of life has reduced.
Is your dog’s aggressive behavior frustrating you to no end? CLICK HERE to watch this FREE Step-by-Step Video from Doggy Dan!
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