Whatever the cause, living with aggression can be incredibly stressful.
Aggression in dogs.
Dogs can become aggressive for several reasons, often linked to their emotions, environment, or experiences.
Aggression comes in many forms including lunging, chasing, barking, growling, snapping, or biting and can be directed at known or unknown humans, other dogs, other animals or even inanimate objects.
Whilst alarming and dangerous, understanding the causes, how to prevent it, and available treatment and behaviour modification options help manage and address the problem effectively.
Escalation often occurs because earlier subtle signs of aggression are ignored or not recognised such as yawning, blinking or nose licking.
Why are dogs aggressive?
Aggression in dogs can be the result of one or numerous factors including:
Pain. From full anal glands and ear infections to torn ligaments or stomach upsets, there are numerous reasons why a dog might be experiencing discomfort or pain. This can result in the dog not wanting to be touched or even approached and using aggressive behaviour as a defence mechanism.
Medical issues. Many illnesses can cause a change in behaviour including aggression. These include thyroid problems, cognitive decline and effects of some medications..
Fear. A dog that has not been properly or poorly socialised or trained can act aggressively out of anxiety and fear of unknown objects, people, dogs, other animals, places, textures, and noises.
Experience. A dog that has experienced a traumatic event might behave aggressively when confronted with the same or a similar event or generally if the experience has led to generalised anxiety.
Learned behaviour. If aggression has worked in the past to remove a frightening thing the dog will do it again.
Resource guarding. What is considered high value or precious is different from dog to dog but can result in dog guarding. This can include beds, area or space (territory), food, people, toys…. shoes…. the list is endless and very individual to each dog.
Frustration or redirected aggression. A dog might redirect its aggression if it cannot get to the thing that is causing the aggression. For example, a dog might turn on its owner if it intervenes in a dog fight or prevents the dog getting to something precious.
Lack of choice. It is unusual for full on aggression to be a dogs first choice. This usually occurs either because the dog has learned aggression is the only way to resolve a situation as other demonstrations of anxiety have been ignored by the owner or because the dog has been given no other choice but to be aggressive. This often occurs if the dog is cornered and the opportunity to avoid or escape has been removed.
Bad day…or month. Just like humans, sometimes dogs have a bad day. This is often referred to as trigger stacking and is a straw that broke the camel’s back’ scenario. For example, a culmination of poor sleep as the dogs leg hurts, their toy being removed as too noisy, being told off for stealing socks, the boiler making a really scary new sound, and then an attempt to snatch the stolen socks from the dog’s mouth results in a growl, snap or bite.
Diet. The effects of diet are often overlooked or underestimated. Often the cost of the food is not a factor but simply that the diet does not suit the individual dog. This can cause stomach upsets, excess or low energy, skin issues, toileting indoors which can lead to being told off or punished…. again, this list is endless but can be an important contributory or initiating factor when considering reasons for a dog’s aggression.
Poor sleep. A dog experiencing poor or not enough sleep will undoubtedly have a low tolerance level and be more likely to be ‘grumpy’ or aggressive. Reasons for poor sleep range from pain, injury and illness, their bed not being comfy enough or big enough, to lack of a quiet safe space to retreat to during the day. Dogs need more sleep than humans, 12-14 hours daily!
Genetics. This is a controversial one as there is no concrete scientific research and evidence on the percentage balance of the effects of nature versus nurture as an indicator of a dog’s temperament. Even at 50/50 and appreciating how a dog is raised and socialised and the environment it lives in as having a big impact on its behaviour, we cannot ignore genetics, hardwiring, and breed differences and original purpose. All dogs are capable of aggression, but some might need more work on the socialisation and training aspects than other to create a balanced dog.
Early influence. Early maternal influence on a dog’s behaviour has considerable impact. A puppy might be influenced by heavy handling by their mother dog or be affected at cellular level whilst in the womb of a stressed mother dog such as farm bitches making the puppy less able to deal with stressful Situations later in life and more likely to display aggressive behaviour as a result.
They enjoy it! Controversial and rare but it happens. Some dogs enjoy the risk of initiating aggressive encounters with other dogs. It is thought it could be adrenaline linked and akin to humans that actively seek risky pastimes such as bungy jumping. This type of behaviour is difficult to modify as it is self-reinforcing for the dog.
Never punish a dog for being aggressive as it will almost certainly make the behaviour worse as the dog feels further threatened or its anxiety or adrenaline levels are increased which could result in a nasty bite! Smacking or telling off a dog that growls is ill advised as it could result in the dog bypassing that behaviour next time and going straight in for the bite (see back to the aggression ladder).
Preventing aggression starts with early socialisation, clear communication and boundaries, and consistent kind training.
For dogs that already exhibit aggressive behaviour, professional help is recommended to establish why the dog feels aggression is necessary in certain situations before working on a behaviour modification plan.
In some cases, anti-anxiety medication is necessary for successful treatment. A highly anxious or fearful dog is not in the right state of mind to learn effectively. Medication can be short or long term but will help allow training and behaviour modification to begin and stress response to be reduced.