{"id":3645,"date":"2010-03-24T23:34:28","date_gmt":"2010-03-25T06:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shibashake.com\/dog\/?p=3645"},"modified":"2010-03-24T23:34:28","modified_gmt":"2010-03-25T06:34:28","slug":"dog-aggression-what-does-it-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shibashake.com\/dog\/dog-aggression-what-does-it-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"Dog Aggression – What Does it Mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dog aggression is an overloaded word. <\/em><\/p>\n

It can mean anything from staring, jumping, showing teeth, lunging, growling, barking, or the terrible B-word – biting<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n

Usually, aggression is used to describe dogs that overact to a stimuli (e.g. another dog<\/a>, a stranger, food). <\/p>\n

Reactivity<\/em><\/strong> is a new, perhaps less negative term, coined to describe the same behavior. Some trainers use aggression<\/em> to describe dogs that overact as a result of dominance<\/a> and reactivity<\/em> to describe dogs that overact as a result of fear. <\/p>\n

These terms, however, are just labels, and it is not useful to overly focus on which label to use. <\/p>\n

The important thing is to recognize extreme behavior in our dogs, which causes us to lose control. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Dog
Dog Aggression - What Does it Mean?<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div>\n
\"Mouthing
Mouthing and showing teeth in one context may just be play, while in another, it may be dangerous.<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div>\n

What constitutes extreme behavior<\/em> varies from person to person, and is dependent on context. Mouthing and showing teeth in one context may just be play (top and right), while in another, it may be dangerous. <\/p>\n

A problem only arises when the human\/owner is not in control of the situation.<\/em> <\/p>\n

If your dog is biting you and causing puncture wounds, it is best to seek help from a professional dog trainer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

My Experiences with Dog Aggression<\/h2>\n
\"Don't
Don't let that cute face fool you - He is a terror that flaps in the night!<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div>\n

I was very embarrassed, shocked, and worried<\/a> when my Shiba first showed signs of aggression. It happened four days after we brought him home (at 10 weeks old), when we took him to the vet. <\/p>\n

The vet was very afraid of him<\/a> and had to muzzle him to do an examination. She later recommended that we return him to the breeder. I never visited with this poor vet again, but at the time it was very difficult not to be embarrassed, and try to show that we were good dog parents by scolding and punishing our Shiba.<\/a> <\/p>\n

Many of my neighbors also gave us the ‘you are such a bad dog parent<\/em>‘ look. <\/p>\n

Because I was so embarrassed I made some very bad mistakes<\/strong>. The worst was using alpha rolls<\/a> and other aversive techniques including leash jerks with him. My embarrassment also caused me to get angry, and frustrated with my dog. <\/p>\n

I was jealous and hurt when my dog would behave better with other people. After all, I feed him and take care of him most of the time, why should he misbehave most with me?<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Although it is very natural to have such feelings, they are very detrimental to helping a dog with his reactivity or aggression issues. <\/p>\n

\"With
With proper reward training, Shiba Sephy is now less of a terror and more of a lover.<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Dog Aggression and Love<\/h2>\n

Remember that your dog’s behavior is a result of behavior conditioning<\/a><\/strong>, and not from lack of love<\/em><\/p>\n

It is natural for us to place our own, very human values and expectations upon our dogs<\/a> but that is not the way they think.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Dogs respond to conditioning (classical and operant). Dogs will repeat behaviors that have good results and reduce behaviors that have bad results. <\/p>\n

What constitutes a good or bad result can sometimes vary from dog to dog. If your dog is showing aggressive behaviors that are continuing to escalate, then he is inadvertently being rewarded for that bad behavior. <\/p>\n