09/05/2017
I'm so fed up with hearing people that should know better referring to 'dominant dogs' when talking about aggression!
The first unit I did at Southampton uni post grad course in companion animal behaviour included an extremely interesting (and eye opening) lecture regarding dominance.
It really shone a whole new light on the subject. To simplify it, if we look at the social structure of wolves, we see that those that have made it to the top (the alphas) don't continuously show aggression or fight! If they did, they'd not be at the top for long. It is those 'trying' to upgrade themselves that have more squabbles.
There is also new research that shows that much aggression is 'fear based' (fight or flight). On a lead it's hard to 'flight' so often 'fight' is an easier option.
You can have two dogs behaving in an almost identical way. Let's say 'rolling around on the floor when asked to sit'. You have to ascertain if the dog is just trying to get out of doing what you've asked 'or' simply doesn't understand it.
It is also disconcerting that some see 'aggression' as 'dominance' without looking into other aspects of the dog's life. It's health status (is it in pain), it's diet (certain foods can cause aggression and anxiety), was it socialised/habituated properly and is that still being continued, is the dog/bitch castrated/neutered and if so what age was it done, what was the breed bred to do, the amount of exercise both physical and mental it gets, it's genetic makeup, the owners energy and interaction (are they always yelling at it, anxious around it, nervous, nurture before allowing dog to drains it's energy in a natural way) and so on....
You can never pigeon hole a dog based on its demeanour.
And no one should ever deal with aggression by using force, pain or being aggressive towards the dog.
No dog is born bad! Even the worst dogs on the planet have a human behind them, even if it's just gene selection.
Aggression is never the issue (no dog wakes up one morning and goes from placid to aggressive)! It's always the result of something else going on in it's environment. Often building over time, and it is 'the triggers' that need to be unravelled. Until you can pinpoint the cause, you can't decide what needs to be done to help the dog and owner overcome its issues.
