Dealing With Dog Aggression

Dog aggression can manifest in behaviors such as growling, snapping, baring teeth, and biting. The underlying intent on the part of the dog expressing the aggressive behavior is to intimidate a person or another animal.

If you try to understand aggression from the dog’s point of view, there is always a reason for the behavior. He generally feels threatened in some way.

He might interpret a friendly gesture from a human as an intention to do harm. Or he might think another animal, or a human, is after his food.

Overcoming aggressive behavior in dogs can be a complex issue, and it is often a job better left to a professional.

Territorial aggression, protective aggression, and possessive aggression are all closely related aggressive traits are based in a defense of a resource.

Territorial aggression is about the dog protecting his “turf.” This may or may not be confined to the yard.

Here's a short video on how to deal with an aggressive dog.

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Even if the dog only leaves the yard on a leash, he may still consider his turf to be anything within the boundaries of his urine marks. Protective aggression is generally aggression intended for animals or people that the dog sees as a threat to his pack.

It is important to note that a pet dog might consider his human family his pack. Possessively aggressive dogs do so out of defense of food, toys, or some object they have decided is “theirs.”

Dominance aggression in dogs manifests in situations related to pecking order in the pack. Again, dogs perceive their human “family” as part of the pack, and they may actually see themselves as having a higher status in the group than the humans.

When your dog has a certain perception and he feels you are encroaching on his status, he may challenge you. Maybe you want him to get off the furniture, and he simply doesn’t want to.

He may growl, snap, or even bite if you permit it. Hugging a dog or grabbing for it’s collar may also be interpreted as challenges to status and could result in such behavior.

Redirected aggression is common in dogs, but often misunderstood by owners. This occurs when a dog is prompted to be aggressive towards another animal or a human that it is unable to attack, so he redirects his aggression at a different animal or human that he is able to attack.

A common example of this is two dogs who share the same yard are provoked by a third dog on the other side of the fence.

Because the two dogs in the yard are unable to attack the third dog, they may become excited and attack each other.

All of these types of aggressive behaviors can be modified, but due to the dangers of working with aggressive dogs, and the complexity of animal behavior in general, dog behavior modification should be left to the professionals.

However, you may be able to modify the behavior by establishing yourself as the pack leader.

I highly recommend two books, Jan Fennel’s, The Dog Listener:, and Cesar Milan’s, Cesar's Way. They are complimentary books and I suggest reading both of them. If the aggression problems continue , consult a professional.

Do not attempt to punish a dog that demonstrates aggressive tendencies. You could actually do more harm than good. It also may result in you being attacked by the dog.

You should first consult a veterinarian to determine if a medical problem is causing the aggressive behavior.

If the problem is not medical, you should then consult with an animal behavior specialist. This is best done at your home with the dog in its normal surroundings.

You are ultimately responsible for the behavior of your dog. Make sure people and other animals are safe around your dog, or you could find yourself paying a doctor bill, or even being sued in court. Spay or neuter your dog. Dogs with intact genitalia are more likely to display aggression.

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Article written by:

Edie MacKenzie