Interesting article about Dog Aggression

[MA-Caver]

We've talked about dogs and the handling of aggressive ones... This article gives a good insightful look into the reasons thereof.

http://www.dogcentral.info/common-reason-dog-aggresion/

On the one story where the dog was very aggressive and biting a 4 year old boy just to assert their dominance and rank in the "pack" ... I instantly thought of... getting rid of the dog ... it shouldn't have been tolerated for THAT long. A child is infinitely more important and valuable than a dog and if the dog cannot be trained from the FIRST incident not to exhibit this behavior to it's Alpha leaders' litter then it needs to go! The parents of the boy should've have punished the dog (not by hitting it or anything like that but asserting THEIR dominance over the dog to make it understood that it does not treat it's "litter-mates" that way... especially OLDER litter mates as the boy was 4 and the dog was 3 (ok 21 in dog years), but it still says the boy was there FIRST and the dog's place on the pack ranking is lower.

Read on and post what you think.

 

[Blade96]

the article never said how the dog was treated by the child. Young children can be very unpredictable and he may have provoked the dog. we dont know because the article doesnt say so. But everyone blaming the dog when animals have their own reasons for agression which arent always understood by us so humans claim animals are 'unpredictable'

I agree with the article about why animals are agressive for example. But not all of them. Animals have their own language and like i said humans dont always understand.
Example. Our rough collie (also called the lassie dog) got agressive when my parents would try and cuddle on the couch. She was very close to my dad and got jealous when he cuddled up to my mom. We knew about collies and that they despite a rep for gentleness were bred to guard the sheep and so are guard dogs. Knowing this helped us able to lay down the rules without provoking the collie. and everyone was happy and no one got hurt.

Agressiveness is part of every animal. and a lot of the times it is people's fault (choose the wrong breed for the home, maybe a type that doesnt get along well with kids) and then they wonder why stuff happens. If people did their homework before they get an animal and rasie it up right, there often need not be this stuff happening. My collie bit a young girl who kicked her. She almost bit my uncle but that was because my uncle shoved her when he was drunk and she didnt like it.

the issue is somewhat dear to me because when an animal gets agreesive its the animal that pays the price by being put down when a lot of it is humans' fault, not the animal.

 

[girlbug2]

Yes indeed, doing a bit of research before choosing a dog breed can save a lot of aggravation and heartache. It really bothers me when families with kids get dogs that have a breed reputation for aggression. I won't get more specific than that because I know everybody has their favorite dogs, and can get emotional about the subject against all evidence.

 

[K-man]

What really annoys me about this article is the sensationalism of the pictures. The article is about a Schnauzer. Unfortunately we don't know if the dog is a minature or a standard or a giant Schnauzer because the pictures are of German Shepherds in very agitated states. As the owner of two beautifully natured GSs who rank behind our 18mo grandson in the pack it really pisses me off when articles like this are sensationalised. I am also an instructor at our local dog club. As MA-Caver pointed out, the fault lies with the 'pack' leader. If you have an alpha dog and you aren't doing your job, the dog will take over. Then as Blade said, the dog pays the price for the owner's lack of leadership.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I think it's crap. Dog bites boy, dog gets put down. End of discussion.

 

[teekin]

Bill, do you think this dog was Born this way??? Ever met a bloody minded puppy? or raised this Way? or is it irrelevant?

The dog was just being, well, a Dog. So your going to destroy the animal for being true to it's nature??? That's kind of like blaming you for growing facial hair. The fault allways lies with the owner or previous owners. We are stewards of these creatures. They have NO Choice in how they are reared and treated, what behavioral patterns are set. They can only react to what we teach them.

Lori

 

[Athelus]

99% of all dogs want to fall into the follower position of a pack, lifes much easier this way, they get the comfort of a family, someone else finds food and water for them, they follow instructions. This is how dogs in the wild exist. Either a single Dominant Member or an Alpha Male + Female Hierarchy (though a single dominant dog is more common in canines).

But if no-one fufills this dominant role, then dogs unless they are VERY happy go lucky will attempt to fufill this role themselves as they believe no-one is is in charge of the pack and a pack without a leader isn't likely to survive. House pets may be domesticated but they still an animal at there core.

If you fufill your dogs needs by supplying them Exercise, food and water on a regular basis, and show your seniority within the pack as an Alpha member then 99% of all dogs will very quickly realise "Hey as long as i do what this guy says then i get taken for walks, fed and watered and they buy me toys and rub my belly. All I have to do is do what I'm told"

Without knowing more about the dog in question we can't tell if the dog was given proper exercise and not just let out in a garden to release pent up energy. So we can't make a comment on whether it was bad ownership or just a rogue dog.

Of course as always this is just my thoughts.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Bill, do you think this dog was Born this way??? Ever met a bloody minded puppy? or raised this Way? or is it irrelevant?

The dog was just being, well, a Dog. So your going to destroy the animal for being true to it's nature??? That's kind of like blaming you for growing facial hair. The fault allways lies with the owner or previous owners. We are stewards of these creatures. They have NO Choice in how they are reared and treated, what behavioral patterns are set. They can only react to what we teach them.

Lori

I agree it is not the dog's fault. Doesn't matter, sadly.

 

[MA-Caver]

the article never said how the dog was treated by the child. Young children can be very unpredictable and he may have provoked the dog. we dont know because the article doesnt say so.

From this paragraph in the article it seems the child was terrorized by the dog.

Adam had reached the point where he would attack the boy on sight. He would wait at the door to Noel’s room ready to confront with him should he come out. Noel had to call out to his family to remove me dog if he wanted to go to another roam in the house. Adam would bark continuously while the boy was out of his room. Noel had three scars on his legs where Adam had bitten him severely enough to require stitches. Understandably, Noel was quite uncomfortable with the dog. Adam also resented having his collar put on and would snap at anyone who did this when he was not in the mood for it. He growled if asked to move when lying on the sofa and when approached while eating.

As I read it the animal was aggressively stating his supposed position in the pack order. This happens in the wild among wolves and coyotes (observed) where as long as the Alpha doesn't get challenged the lower ranks can vie for various positions. Each rank allows first/second/third feeding at the latest kill or carrion find. Watching videos you will see several wolves snarling and snapping at each other when there is clearly plenty of meat (say an elk or moose) but it's not how much meat is who is in line to eat and the rest have to wait til that rank is full and have had enough or has at least had enough to gorge themselves and is just "topping off"...
Domestic dogs are (as I said before in other threads) perpetual puppies. As Athleus pointed out correctly that since a dog doesn't HAVE to WORK for it's food and comfort and affections it doesn't grow emotionally and mentally. Canines in the wild have to WORK to earn their place. Some go and hunt with the pack and bring down the kill, others may stay and puppy-sit and so forth. Doing this matures the dog to a much higher degree than fido at home.

But everyone blaming the dog when animals have their own reasons for aggression which aren't always understood by us so humans claim animals are 'unpredictable'

This is true and by taking the time to understand the animals we love and accept in our homes we will make much happier animals and less aggression.
It's one of the reasons it irks me (silently inside) to see a family get a dog and ... it's just there for the kids to play with or just to have a dog thinking it's ready made to guard the house and fetch slippers on command. Possibly the only commands that the dog gets in it's life is "NO!", "Sit" and "G'wan outta here!" when they're laying on the pile of clean laundry on the bed.

I agree with the article about why animals are agressive for example. But not all of them. Animals have their own language and like i said humans dont always understand.
Example. Our rough collie (also called the lassie dog) got aggressive when my parents would try and cuddle on the couch. She was very close to my dad and got jealous when he cuddled up to my mom. We knew about collies and that they despite a rep for gentleness were bred to guard the sheep and so are guard dogs. Knowing this helped us able to lay down the rules without provoking the collie. and everyone was happy and no one got hurt.

Aggressiveness part of every animal. and a lot of the times it is people's fault (choose the wrong breed for the home, maybe a type that doesn't get along well with kids) and then they wonder why stuff happens. If people did their homework before they get an animal and raise it up right, there often need not be this stuff happening. My collie bit a young girl who kicked her. She almost bit my uncle but that was because my uncle shoved her when he was drunk and she didn't like it.

the issue is somewhat dear to me because when an animal gets aggressive its the animal that pays the price by being put down when a lot of it is humans' fault, not the animal.

Indeed, aggressiveness is an essential survival tool in a predatory animal. Can't hunt while being passive and can't defend the pack from intruders by rolling over and hopping down with front paws flat out and the butt raised high and tail waggin ready to PLAY!
People seem to over look or forget that ALL dogs are descendants of wolves an apex predator in it's respective territory, next to or alongside of bears and others.
That can't be bred totally out after millions of years of evolution and only a few thousand years of selective breeding. But it can be trained to suppress the predatory instincts or re-channel them.

These people didn't do what they were SUPPOSED to do when they got the dog/puppy... rigorously train it for at least 15-20 minutes a day (by various members of the household) then reward it with love and affection from everyone in the household.