Understanding Dog Aggression: A Natural Instinct We Can Manage
Aggression served dogs well in the wild — it helped them hunt, protect themselves from other animals, and guard resources like food. Centuries of selective breeding have softened and refined this trait, yet the basic truth remains: dogs are physically built to cause serious harm (those teeth say it all), because that is how they survived and evolved. Instinct is powerful, but as devoted owners we are far from powerless. When prevention was not possible, there are still practical steps we can take to recognise aggression and respond to it effectively.
Common Types of Aggression
Aggression in dogs takes several forms — you can explore dominant dog aggression and other varieties in more depth. The two most frequently seen aggressive behaviours are:
- Aggression directed at strangers
- Aggression directed at family members
These two kinds of biting aggression arise from very different causes and call for different approaches to treatment.
Aggression Toward Strangers
It is usually easy to spot a dog who is uneasy around unfamiliar people. He may be jumpy and on edge — unable to settle, fidgeting constantly, springing up at the slightest noise, pacing and barking or whining. Or he may be extremely still, planted in one spot and staring intently at whatever worries him: a visitor, the mail carrier, or someone approaching while he is tied up outside a shop.
Why It Happens
A major reason a dog dislikes strangers is simple: he has never had the chance to get used to them. Your dog depends entirely on you to widen his world — without plenty of outings, how could he realistically feel relaxed in an unfamiliar situation? A dog who bites from fear is not necessarily aggressive; learn more about fear biting.
What You Can Do
Getting your dog accustomed to the world and everything in it is called socialization. It is an enormously important part of raising a dog — in fact, it is hard to overstate how much it matters. Socialize your dog from a young age (generally once his vaccinations are complete) by exposing him to a wide range of new experiences, new people, and new animals.
Socialization and Obedience Training
Through socialization, your dog learns from experience that new sights and sounds are fun rather than frightening. He has to discover that these things are safe for him, and the lesson needs to begin in puppyhood to truly take hold. The more kinds of people and animals he meets, the more relaxed, happy — and safe around strangers — he will become.
How can you socialize your dog so he does not develop a fear of strangers? Start with puppy preschool, a general term for a series of easy group-training classes for young dogs. In these classes, roughly ten puppy owners join a qualified trainer to teach their puppies basic obedience commands such as sit and stay. The obedience work is valuable and sets your puppy on the road to becoming a trustworthy adult dog, but the real highlight of puppy preschool is the play sessions. They are an ideal setting for learning good social skills: a whole group of unfamiliar dogs (which teaches him how to interact with strange dogs), a whole group of unfamiliar people (which teaches him that new faces are nothing to fear), all in a safe, controlled environment.
Socialization does not end with puppy preschool, though. It is an ongoing effort throughout your puppy's and dog's life: he needs to visit many new places and environments. Just remember not to overwhelm him — start slowly and build his tolerance gradually.
Aggression Toward Family Members
A common reason for aggression toward members of his own human family is that the dog is trying to defend something he considers his from a perceived threat — you. This is known as resource guarding, and although it may sound odd, there is much more going on than a dog simply protecting his kibble.
What Is Resource Guarding?
Resource guarding is fairly common among dogs. It refers to overly possessive behaviour: snarling at you when you approach while he is eating, or giving you a hard, direct stare when you reach out to take a toy away. All dogs can be possessive at times — it is in their nature. Sometimes they guard things of no real value, but more often resource guarding becomes a problem over items of clear, understandable value: food and toys.
Why It Happens
It comes down to dominance. Dogs are pack animals, used to a highly structured environment in which each animal holds a rank in a hierarchy of position and power relative to every other animal. Each dog knows every other dog's rank, so he knows exactly how to behave in any situation — whether to back down, push the issue, or intrude on another's turf.
To your dog, the family home is no different from the pack. He has ranked each family member and has his own sense of where he fits. If he perceives himself as higher on the social ladder than other family members, he will become cheeky. If his sense of his own importance is seriously inflated, watch out for dog aggression. Why? Because dominance and aggression are the exclusive rights of a higher-ranked animal. Resource guarding is a classic example of dominant behaviour. If your dog clearly understood that he is not the leader of the family, he would never try to stop you from taking his food or toys — a lower-ranking dog always defers to the higher-ranking members of the pack.
What You Can Do
The best treatment for dominant dog aggression is consistent, frequent obedience work. Even two fifteen-minute sessions a day will make it perfectly clear that you are the boss and that doing what you say pays off. Reward him with treats and generous praise for obeying, and isolate him (a "time-out" outside the house or alone in a room) for misbehaviour. Train regularly, keeping obedience sessions short and productive — no more than fifteen minutes, perhaps two or three times a day.
A Helpful Resource
For more on handling dog aggression and dominant behaviours, plus detailed information on many other common dog behaviour problems, take a look at Secrets To Dog Training. It is a complete owner's guide to owning, raising, and training your dog, covering every aspect of dog ownership. To get the inside word on preventing and dealing with problem behaviours like aggression and dominance, Secrets to Dog Training is well worth a look.
Keep Exploring
Return to the dog aggression overview, head back to bad dog behavior, or visit the Chihuahua breeder home page.
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