GARDEN ROUTE | KAROO NEWS - An article in last week's George Herald about three dogs viciously attacking people in George, has raised many questions. One of these questions were about the the reason for these dogs to act this way. 

Dogs can be aggressive for a variety of reasons and education about the subject is necessary. Local animal behaviour practitioner, George van Huyssteen, explains.

*Please note there are numerous other reasons for dogs to become reactive, but the below are the most common reasons for the behavior.

• Fear aggression

This is the main reason most dogs bite and get misinterpreted in most cases by owners. In the case of fear aggression, the dog will offer an offensive posture to increase the distance between himself and whatever he is scared of. This type of aggression might also be directed to objects like vacuum cleaners or even cars. As this type of aggression is fear-based, such a dog should never be forced to interact with whatever he is scared of and be handled with care.

• Territorial aggression

This type of aggression is about humans or other animals entering the dog's territory. Although a dog's territory is generally in and around the house, it might extend to an area surrounding the owner's property. Aggression in such cases is normally limited to a specific area, but not expressed at unfamiliar locations.

• Idiopathic aggression

This is a very unpredictable type of aggression because the trigger for the outburst will not be known. This is also a very dangerous type of aggression as there will normally be no prior warning signs from the dog. In many cases, idiopathic aggression will have a neurological cause.

• Prey aggression

This is self-explanatory, and it simply refers to aggressive behaviors towards a possible prey. Prey aggression is actually considered pathological should it be towards humans, but it is extremely rare.

• Control-related aggression

This mostly occurs from improper handling and management or even punitive training methods. This type of aggression is normally towards owners who constantly interact with their dogs. This is a preventable type of aggression, and novice owners or first-time dog-owners might cause this unknowingly. Aggression will be increased by punishment. Normally, the prognosis for such dogs is good once a treatment plan is implemented.

• Resource guarding

Such dogs react aggressively towards anybody or anything coming near their food or toys. Contrary to belief, this is normal behavior for dogs as food or toys are highly valued resources worth protecting. Unfortunately, this type of aggression is also known to escalate over time. This can also be seen as a type of fear-based aggression as the dog fears losing his valuable resources.

• Medical reasons

This is often overlooked. A dog in discomfort or pain might react with aggression when being touched or should an owner attempt to handle him. A sudden change in behavior or even a sudden onset of reactivity might have a medical cause, and in cases like that, a vet check would be advised before a behavior modification would be implemented.

Why dogs become aggressive in the first place

• Poor breeding

Genetics play a big part in dog aggression. Should you allow two aggressive dogs to breed, the chances are that aggressive behaviors will show in their offspring.

• Lack of socialisation during their critical period

Problem behaviors like resource guarding, control-related aggression, or even fear-aggression might be prevented by early socialisation.

• Experiences

As dogs learn by making associations between stimuli, bad experiences could easily teach the dog that a specific person or type of person is unsafe and might show aggression towards them. This might be very specific; some dogs do not like men should they be hurt by a man, for example. So he might show aggression towards men or even specific types like men with beards. This is also called one-trial learning.

• A combination of all of the above

Punishment might increase a dog's aggression exponentially, so a reactive or aggressive dog should be handled with understanding. Unfortunately not all aggressive dogs can be cured. No professional animal behaviorist would ever guarantee that they will be able to successfully "cure" or "fix" a dog with a bite history. 

There are just too many variables to mention for that sort of guarantee. It will depend on the type of aggression and the severity of the aggression. There are also no quick fixes for aggressive behaviors as it is emotionally based. 

To allow a dog to make a new positive association towards whatever he is fearful of or to show a dog that we as humans are no threat to their valuable resource, takes time and understanding. 

Punishing them for reacting like dogs would have the opposite effect, and the dog might become even more reactive.

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