How to Understand Why Your Dog Is Aggressive and What to Do About It
American culture is obsessed with dogs. Cute, fluffy, loyal and funny animals are everywhere in our social media feeds and in our homes. But when your dog usually starts to behave aggressively, it can come as a surprise. The reality of a snarling, biting dog doesn’t match the adorable balls we see on Instagram, or the lovable companions that are scattered around the movies with twitching tears.
You are not alone if your dog is occasionally – or even regularly – aggressive, but you need to call for reinforcements and find out what is going on before anyone gets hurt.
Admit the problem, but don’t be ashamed.
The first time your dog gets aggressive, you have a problem. Dog behavior expert Christina Schusterich, owner of NY Clever K9 , tells Lifehacker that immediate intervention is required the very first time your dog takes action and advises you to seek professional advice. Tips from bright TV hosts won’t help, nor will trying to “hang out” with your pet at your local dog park.
Unless you identify the cause and work with someone who knows how to deal with dog aggression, the problem will not go away. You put yourself, other people, and other dogs at risk by downplaying the problem and insisting on bringing your puppy to the park. Be aware that injury to someone, including your dog, could occur and this could even have legal consequences. Your landlord may force you to evict you, or the court may even order your dog to be euthanized.
It is imperative that you sort it out and seek help, but when you do, don’t play down what’s going on.
“In general, people will call me when the dog gets worse,” says Schusterich, who has worked on rehabilitating aggressive dogs for the past two decades. She regularly sends emails and calls from people who have been dealing with this problem for a long time, but still tend to downplay what is happening.
“When I get an email, I’ve learned to read between the lines,” she says. “A pinch is a bite, so this is one way to minimize it. Another way is they just omit things. They will say that their dog is “agitated.” They will use many similar euphemisms. “
She said that most dog owners downplay or outright lie about their pet’s behavior, and it doesn’t help the expert understand what’s going on or prevent it from flaring up. Schusterich makes it clear that despite what some well-known trainers might say on TV, the dog’s aggressive behavior is not the owner’s fault, so get that thought out of your head. Let go of shame and embarrassment now. You didn’t. (We’ll look at some of the factors that were likely to be in place in a minute.)
“Aggression is non-negotiable,” she adds. “Judging by their posters and actions – this has been studied for years – this is an aggressive dog. This cannot be avoided. This is the first thing I say to my clients. “
What else does Shusterich tell them? “An aggressive dog is not the opposite of a good dog. Every dog has aggression. Every person has aggression. “
Find out what is causing the problem
“Dogs are not aggressive 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” says Schusterich. “There are times when they are aggressive.”
She highlights resource conservation, stranger aggression, and leash aggression as three common situations in which dogs can act. You will know the dog’s aggressive body language, which is not the same as humans, but predictable. Pay attention to how your dog behaves, whether it becomes stiff and gazes, whether its fur stands on end, shows its teeth, or snaps its teeth in the air. Obviously, any bite is also aggression, and Shusterich clearly understands that a bite is a bite, regardless of whether it cracks the skin or not.
Your dog may not exhibit all of them, and as she notes, just staring is not aggression in and of itself. Watch for stiffness and “gaze”, for example, if you are walking the dog and you see another dogman coming towards you. Your job is to be alert and read your body language, note behaviors and postures, and communicate them honestly when you see a behaviorist.
It’s okay to give your dog the right to hesitate or, as many do, to minimize what you see. Look for other dog owners in your area. Watch out for the language of their bodies. If they pull their dog away from yours, what threat do they see that you are not? Is it “gaze” or tousled fur? Is your dog showing teeth to another pet? Leash aggression is especially common in urban settings, says Schusterich, so keep that in mind.
What to do – not to do
We have already established that your dog’s aggression is not your fault. The real reason depends on a number of factors.
“There are critical developmental periods in a dog’s life, [and] the most critical of them are when puppyhood,” says Schusterich. “They shouldn’t be weaned before eight weeks, and before 15 weeks is the time you need to train them for other dogs, people, sights, sounds, noises – everything. After that, you will fight against the tide. Not that it could not be fixed, but this period is over. “
Shelters and shops can and will lie to you about how early the dog was weaned or whether the puppy was isolated in its early weeks. Sometimes they don’t even know. If you weren’t present at the puppy’s birth and saw with your own eyes that he was breastfeeding for eight weeks and socializing correctly, it is impossible to be sure, but if this is not the case , your dog may experience constant fear, and this fear can manifest itself in the form of aggression. …
“Socialization,” says Schusterich, “is one of those internet phrases that don’t mean anything.” Taking an aggressive 2-year-old dog to the park does not socialize the animal, but “puts other dogs in danger and exacerbates the problem of behavior,” she warns.
“Why not? This is not a period of socialization. There is a way to fix this, but you have to use a technique called systematic desensitization and counterconditioning, which is a proven behavior modification technique that is a science that has been around for a long time, ”she says.
What can you do right now
Aside from trying to socialize, Schusterich has heard of some wild ways people have tried to make their pets less aggressive, including “helicopter dogs” or waving them around to show them who is in charge. But your dog cannot be fought by force; they act this way out of emotion, primarily fear, and something that may have happened to them as a puppy.
This goes without saying, but please do not fly the dog in the helicopter. Find a behaviorist and be honest about what’s going on. They’ve seen it all before, even if you have n’t seen how it reflects on social media when your friends post about their seemingly well-behaved mates. Nobody advertises when their pet isn’t perfect, but that doesn’t mean it’s rare.
What you can do right now is reduce your risk. Do not force an aggressive dog on a leash to walk another dog outside. Keep the dog with the aggressive behavior of strangers away from guests, even if the dog whines or guests beg to see them. Do not exacerbate the fear your animal is already experiencing in situations where it has demonstrated that it is uncomfortable. It is cruel to the dog, dangerous to everyone, and a real burden to you.
You made a commitment to this dog when you got them, and don’t forget about it. If you can’t afford a behaviorist or don’t want to be disturbed, don’t leave your child in a cage all day and don’t let the chips fall where they can, and give him the freedom to actually bite someone, which could lead to cause significant harm to that person, but also to the dog that is being repressed. If there is more aggression than you think you can handle, be honest about your feelings and behavior, as you would about dogs. For a fee, you can take your dog to a shelter, and while it can be painful for your pet to lose his identity if you are unwilling or unable to do what needs to be done – and pay for it – this may be the best option. Do not be an egoist. Let this dog have every chance of a good life. If you live in the city center and work many hours, but your dog is aggressive with a leash, he may need to be somewhere where he doesn’t need to be kicked out on a leash just to go to the toilet. If you cannot solve the problem in any other way, it is your responsibility to safely and responsibly hand them over to the care of knowledgeable, compassionate people who can solve them.
As Shusterich says, dog aggression does not deprive him of the right to be a “good dog.” Your dog needs help and guidance, an expert scientific approach and all your love.