Different Types of Aggression

Aggression is one of the main reasons that dogs are euthanised or rehomed; at least 30% of all dogs in rescue centres are there because of the incidence of aggressive behaviour in one form or another. It is actually unusual to have a dog that is aggressing to have just one type of aggression; most dogs have more than one of the following types of behaviour.

It would be prudent, before embarking on any program of aggressive behaviour modification, to rule out any medical reasons for that behaviour, especially if there is a sudden change in the dog’s temperament. Their are some fifty-odd different medical reasons why a dog may be showing aggressive tendencies, these range from Pain to Thyroid Dysfunction, Epilepsy to Hypoglycemia and Diabetes. The following is a list of the more common aggressions and why they may be occurring. This is only a part of the total types. Because of the constraints of space it can only be a fleeting reference. I have covered fully in previous articles in DM “Food Guarding “and “Object and Possession Aggression” Read more

Rage Syndrome

Sadly, out of the blue, certain breeds of dog display unpredictable outbursts of aggression known as ‘rage syndrome’ and ‘low threshold dominance aggression’.

These dogs will be perfectly civil with strangers and in the show ring, but then will suddenly attack family members for no apparent reason, their eyes becoming dilated and sometimes changing colour during and after an attack.

The dog will not respond to any attempts to stop it, often appearing confused afterwards, but will return to its usual self in time. Read more

CAR AVERSION and ANXIETY

Anxiety and Sickness in cars is actually quite common, despite popular belief these behaviours are generally not caused through motion sickness or balance problems. It is my belief that this debilitating problem is caused through anxiety and fear.

I believe that carsickness and anxiety cases are initially, caused on that first journey when the puppy is taken from the litter to your home. We tend to get our puppies right at the start of the first fear period, which is between eight to ten and a half weeks. Read more

Bite Inhibition

Puppies have painfully sharp little piranha like teeth, almost like hypodermic needles, fortunately the jaw muscles are extremely under-developed, One of the main reasons why you should never play tug with a young puppy is you could dislocate the jaw and misalign or damage the teeth.

Nature has given them these underdeveloped muscles to enable pups to play-bite safely. Whilst very young and still with his brothers and sisters and he bites too hard in play he gets blasted with a ear piercing “yelp” which makes him immediately back off, he waits a while then starts to play again, but a strange thing has happened, the biting is a bit softer. The same thing when feeding from the mother, the pup uses too much pressure she yelps and moves away end of milk bar. He is then gentler the next time round and a valuable lesson has been learned. Read more

Coprophagia – animals eating feces

Coprophagia is the medical term for when a dog eats either its own faeces or that of another animal. There are three types of Coprophagia…

1. Autocoprophagia eating its own feces…
2. Intraspecific Coprophagia eating feces from within its own species ie another dog.
3. Interspecific Coprophagia eating faeces from another species (ie cat, deer, rabbit, horse, etc)

Read more

Bone or Toy Guarding

I find this problem mainly in the gundog breeds dogs such as Labradors, Springers, and Golden Retrievers but have also come across it in Shar Pei’s Staffs and English Bull Terriers, and most of the guarding breeds.

I think genetics, and early learned responses whilst still with the mother and siblings can have an affect on this behaviour. If we really think about it object, toy, or bone guarding is a natural action and reaction to a situation where possession may mean survival. The problem we have is we perceive it as unacceptable or dangerous behaviour.

The way the situation is handled at the outset will have an enormous effect on the overall outcome, and in some cases determines the dog’s fate. Head on aggression and punishment in this scenario is both dangerous and pointless.

Try this:

1. Remove the cause of the dog’s guarding behaviour. If it’s a specific type of bone or treat, the simply make sure that you do not stimulate this behaviour by never giving those objects again.
2. Basic obedience training can help by teaching either: “Leave it” “Drop” or “Dead” and use various objects such as shoes, socks, tissue this is always best started when the dog is a puppy. I also never play tug with my dogs accept in very special circumstances ie a timid or shy dog, As I believe this can also stimulate a guarding reaction.
3. Give you dog something you can carefully remove from a distance, for instance you could tie some string round an object or bone then when the time is right use the trigger words “Leave it” “Drop” or “Dead” At the same time as removing the object with the string, immediately treat the dog puffed jerky, cheese or dried liver is ideal. Then give the object /bone back and repeat the exercise
4. Trade with him, a barter system of swapping objects can help in this case. He picks something up you offer him a tasty favourite treat in return, then give the item back to him. Do not treat or praise him whilst he is growling or threatening, as this can be seen as praising the
5. To punish object guarding either verbally or physically will probably only serve to remind him that he was right not to give up the object and will probably lead to you being bitten and he/she being rehomed or worse still put down. Remember growling is a warning, a threat that he is not happy with a situation, if overtly challenged then he may feel it necessary to back it up with an attack.

This can only be taken as general advice and cannot replace a behaviourist who is experienced in aggression, and these types of behaviour, Object guarding in isolation may in some cases be easily cured, but coupled with other aggressive or dominant tendencies may point to a much more serious problem The tips above will at least get you started in the right direction, but further coaching from a professional may be necessary and judicial.

© Copyright: Stan Rawlinson (Doglistener) one of the leading Dog Behaviourists and Obedience Trainers in the UK. Who has owned and worked dogs for over 30 years, starting with Gundogs then moving on to the behavioural and obedience side of Pet Dogs. He now has a successful practice covering London, Surrey and Middlesex. Visit his Web Site for more information and details of his work. www.doglistener.co.uk

Food Guarding

We work very hard training our dogs to fit into our lifestyle and our family unit, we think we have done great, then just as we are congratulating ourselves on a job well done the growl starts, it may be as we pass the bed, food bowl, or pigs ear, or even as we remove a toy or tissue.

This is a common problem, often called food guarding, or resource guarding. In reality it is a natural innate tendency for dogs to protect what they perceive as theirs. Possession to a dog is 9/10ths of the law, some dogs will resource guard anything, and that includes us.

This happened to me recently. Kai my white German Shepherd, they are also known as the Swiss Shepherds, he is about 13 months old, lovely temperament nice nature, growled as I walked past his food bowl. To say I was shocked would be putting it mildly. I have never owned a resource guarder or possessive aggressive. I have treated dozens, but never owned one.

Kai is a rescue who had five homes in the first 8 months of his life before my daughter who was dog walking him thought that he should join our extended family. 5 homes!, not exactly the best of starts, he had a bit of baggage but nothing that a bit of TLC and positive reinforcement could not put right.

Unfortunately, I had no impact or influence on his previous owners, or what they did or believed with regard to feeding, possessions and training. The myths and beliefs that surround this common problem are many fold. There is the “let him know who is boss brigade” and the “if he had done that to me I would have belted him” Others that will tell you he is dominant. Dominance and dominant behaviour is a somewhat outdated term in modern canine behaviour therapy. It is too easy and simplistic to label everything as a bid for power and control. The term suggests that the dog is personally threatening you in a bid for top dog slot. Which I assure you is not the case with possession aggression.

Jean Donaldson a US based behaviourist has written a book called * “Mine” a guide to resource guarding in dogs. A practical how-to guide on resource guarding/aggression – food bowl, object, bed, crate, owner, guarding. Though written primarily for trainers with the owner seen as the third party, it is still an excellent book; in it she lists a number of myths and untruths.

• Resource guarding is the result of giving a dog too many privileges
• Resource guarding behaviour is abnormal
• Resource guarding is driven largely by genetics therefore cannot be altered
• Resource guarding is a symptom of dominant and naturally aggressive behaviour

These beliefs/myths probably get more people bitten every year than probably any other single behavioural problem I encounter. The belief that the dog is being disloyal and biting the hand that feeds it is unfortunately commonplace, once again *2 anthropomorphism raises its ugly head. This problem is also one of the key reasons why some dogs are euthanised.

Back to young Kai. When he growled, (just a low almost subliminal rumble, but a subtle threat no less). I did not react or even look at him nor chastise him in any way. To challenge him at that time would have suggested that the growl wasn’t sufficient to warn me off, so lets up the anti and perhaps a snarl or a snap would be in order. I am of the belief that violence begets violence, therefore why challenge if there is no need to.

I waited until his next feed time; I feed my dogs twice a day therefore it was that evening. Instead of using one bowl, this time I used two. I prepared his food as normal in one bowl, and then got him to sit and wait. I then put the empty bowl down.

The look of confusion on his face was classic, he looked round the bowl nudged it to see if his food was underneath then sort of semi collapsed and just looked at me totally bemused. It was at that time; taking a long handled wooden spoon, I tossed a small portion of his food into the bowl. The reason for the spoon was if he were to grab at anything, he would grab the spoon and not my fingers.

I proceeded to feed the whole meal in spoonfuls, what I was telling him was that by me getting access to his bowl was a condition of him being fed., I continued with this method for three days. Sometimes this may take much longer depending on the severity of the guarding.

After the three days, I could tell by his posture and body language that he was relaxed and comfortable with me near his bowl. I gradually decreased the distance between myself and the bowl on every spoonful until I was standing next to it. I then started to put a small amount of his food in the bowl before putting it down rather than spooning it in, then gradually increased the amount over a few days until I was putting all the food in at one go.

Once I had reached this stage, I started adding a very tasty titbit whilst he was eating, I usually use a chunk of cheese or frankfurter, I started this from a little distance away and gradually decreased the distance. What he learns during this exercise is your approach to the bowl is no threat, in fact quite the opposite it is positive as it means he is going to get something really special and tasty.

This is a positive reinforcement technique that requires no aggression, threats, or force; these rarely if ever work in the case of possession aggression. You must make sure your dog is relaxed at all times, if you hit a problem then you have gone to far to fast, go back a couple of stages and work back up to the area where the problem or behaviour was being displayed, take your time there is no need to rush, its not a race.

If I wanted to analyse why Kai growled in the first place I would only be guessing at the trigger. Without talking to all the previous owners to see what they had done then its pure conjecture, though I can imagine a number of possible scenarios. As an educated guess someone probably thought it was the right to take his bowl away whilst he was eating, just to show the dog that he could, this can often create a seed of doubt in the young dog’s mind that his food could be stolen, and he may therefore start to feel threatened or uncomfortable when you are in close proximity.

This seed of doubt could germinate with the onset of maturity and could blossom into full-blown food guarding. If I had lashed out or acted differently to the first threatening growl then things may have turned out very differently. As it happens Kai has never growled or showed any inclination to guard since.

If you are training a puppy not to guard then start training him not to touch the food until you give permission, to achieve this start with the pup on the lead. Put the food down as normal, then as the head goes to the bowl give a slight check on the lead and say “Leave It” this may take a few checks. Make sure this check is really light and gentle, then as the dog looks to you for permission, immediately praise by using a trigger word such as “Good” or a Clicker and treat with a tasty titbit then say “Take It” or “OK” this is the release command.

Continue with this training until you can do this whilst off lead. The object of this exercise is to train him not to touch on command, once you have done this you can then stop him eating on command by using the “Leave it” . Once you have reached this stage then occasionally approach his bowl and put in a tasty treat, he should never have, doubts that your proximity to his bowl is positive never negative.

Stan Rawlinson May 2005 ©

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Stan Rawlinson.
Dog Behaviourist & Trainer
www.doglistener.co.uk
enquiries@doglistener.co.uk
H 0208 979 2019
M 07976 153161

© Copyright: Stan Rawlinson (Doglistener) one of the leading Dog Behaviourists and Obedience Trainers in the UK. Who has owned and worked dogs for over 30 years, starting with Gundogs then moving on to the behavioural and obedience side of Pet Dogs. He now has a successful practice covering London, Surrey and Middlesex. Visit his Web Site for more information and details of his work. www.doglistener.co.uk

Canine Communication and Body Language

By Stan Rawlinson

A couple of years ago a Japanese electronics company came up with a Gizmo which they claimed could convert dogs barks, yips and whines into human language, thereby allowing us to understand “Doggie” speak for the first time. I was on a radio program recently, discussing the merits and usefulness of a new dog collar that was also a mobile phone. You could ring up and converse with your dog at any time and enjoy a nice cosy chat. You might as well text your pet for all the good phoning it would do; the mostly likely outcome of this idea would be to startle and frighten your pet. Read more

Tips to Help Solve the Three Most Common Dog Barking Complaints

By Cynthia Alexander

Many dog owners find themselves frustrated, deeply concerned and even embarrassed by their dog’s constant barking. Currently, there are approximately 63 million dogs owned by 44 million Americans. And just over one third of those owners complain of excessive barking.

Allowing your dog to bark excessively can be hazardous to it’s safety. I should know, I lost my dog because of it. I found out that excessive barking is one of the major reasons that people end up losing their dog. It’s a problem that nobody likes to talk about or admit to. Read more

Turn Fido into the Perfect Host

By Louise Louis

1. Run some practice sessions.

The sound of a doorbell or knocking can send many dogs in a tizzy, exacerbated by a dog’s instincts to guard his home from strangers. If your dog isn’t familiar with these sounds, do some practice sessions. Have a friend come over and ring or knock on the door.

Don’t immediately leap up and run for the door. Be calm and walk toward
the door at a normal pace. Remember your dog senses your excitement so
you want to remain controlled in your behavior. Read more

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