Understanding Aggression in Dogs

What is Aggression?

As humans we tend to associate aggression with “bad” people or animals trying to hurt someone. However, the things we label as “aggression” in animals are often a form of communication. Dogs don’t have a voice and must use their bodies, including their mouths, to make their point sometimes. Just as a human might raise their voice for a variety of reasons, dogs use aggressive behaviors in many ways, for many reasons. These include communicating that they are scared, uncomfortable, or in pain and setting boundaries about how others interact with them

When your dog shows aggressive behaviors, that doesn’t make them “bad”, antisocial, or damaged; any dog will use these tools when they feel they have to. Some common dog behaviors that get labeled as aggression are actually play or normal social behavior. In other cases, aggressive behaviors are normal but undesirable (for example, guarding food or a fearful reaction). Of course, this doesn’t mean you can’t do anything to decrease the behavior!

Is it Aggression?

Behaviors that get labeled as “aggressive” can span a large range of things from barking to grabbing clothes to growling to biting. When trying to understand your dog’s behavior, it is important to separate aggression from excitement, play, or normal dog communication.

  • Barking: Barking can be part of an aggressive response but it can also be a sign of excitement or a request for attention and play. To understand more about your dog’s barking, learn to read the rest of their body language using the Canine Body Language page. 
  • Mouthing: Since dogs don’t have hands, they use their mouths for many things, including exploring and play. In particular, it is normal for young puppies to use their mouths when trying to play with people and this behavior can continue in adults if they aren’t taught otherwise. Dogs also mouth on each other during play. They must learn how hard is too hard so they don’t hurt their playmates. 
  • Play: Dog play can look intense sometimes. Some dogs bark and growl during play. Many dogs will mouth and lightly bite on other dogs’ faces when wrestling. One key sign that the dogs are playing and not fighting is that they take turns and take breaks. Look for brief starts and stops in the behavior. You can also interrupt whichever dog seems to be the instigator and move them away. If the other dog is enjoying the game, they will follow and restart play.
  • Corrections: Dogs use some types of aggressive behavior to communicated when they want another dog to back off. These are normal, controlled reactions that tell another dog they are being rude or too rough. While we might think the dog giving the correction is being a problem, actually it is usually the other dog in the situation who has gone past appropriate limits. You can learn more about dog-dog interactions in the Introducing Dogs and the Dog Parks: Are They Right For Your Dog? page.​

What to Do

After pain and illness, most aggression is a dog’s attempt to make something stop or go away. You’ll need to teach them a new emotional reaction and reinforce them for acting differently. 

BEFORE YOU BEGIN: 

  • Schedule a vet visit if your dog has a sudden change in behavior or new aggression. 
  • Aggressive behavior can be a serious safety risk to people and animals. It can also create legal and financial liability. It is highly recommended you work with a professional with experience handling aggression cases using positive reinforcement. 

​ Stop Practicing the Behavior:   

You’ve heard that “practice makes perfect.” The more times your dog practices their aggressive behavior, the better they get at it. Modern dog training techniques don’t rely on triggering the behavior and then punishing it. In fact, this method can backfire and make the behavior worse, as well as result in bites and injuries. 

Don’t put your dog into situations where they are likely to have a problem. Review the handout on Using Management for Dog Behavior Problems to learn more about being proactive to help your dog. 

​ Change the Emotional Reaction  

Most aggression issues come from fear or dislike of something. To change the behavior, you need to change the emotion. This happens through a process called “desensitization and counterconditioning.” Slowly a dog is exposed to whatever scares them but at a level that doesn’t cause the aggressive response. Then that thing is paired with something the dog really loves. Over time, the dog comes to associate the previously disliked or feared thing with new, positive emotions. This is covered in more detail is the How to Help Your Fearful Dog page but note that it also works on dogs that aren’t necessarily “fearful” but who are uncomfortable or unhappy. 

Common types of aggression that can be helped through desensitization and counterconditioning include fearful aggression, resource guarding (protecting things like food and toys), aggression when being touched or handled, and problems with unfamiliar people or dogs. 

Teach a New Behavior  

Once your dog is starting to feel safer, you can give them new skills to help them deal with the situation. Even if your dog’s motivation isn’t fear, these new skills will give them a better way to get what they want. Similar to changing their emotions, they need to start at a place where they aren’t reacting. If your dog is being aggressive, they aren’t thinking. When they are calm, they can learn. Teaching your dog to look at and focus on you can be one useful skill for changing your dog’s behavior.

Teaching a different behavior is especially important when the problem is predatory behavior (chasing, usually directed at smaller animals) or when the issue is more about over excitement or inappropriate play.

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This material was written in collaboration with dog behavior consultant Jessica Char.
Learn more at   www.CanineEngineering.com