2 DOGS WITH FEAR-RELATED AGGRESSION/REACTIVITY
Lab/Beagle/Pit Mix and a Mini Dachshund
I’m sure I’ve said it here before, but I’ll say it again – these are not “aggressive dogs,” – they are dogs with aggressive behaviors. Aggression is one of my practice specialties, so I see a lot of clients whose dogs have some degree of aggressive behavior. Every single one of them is a lovely dog much of the time or their humans would probably not be exploring and investing in options to help their dogs have a better quality of life.
If I label a dog “aggressive” I’m saying that’s pretty much the whole dog, or at least a dog who is aggressive most of the time. I do expert witness work, and I recently testified in a case with a Caucasian Shepherd who was kept in the backyard 95% of the time, didn’t interact with humans other than his own family, and nearly ripped the throat out of a workman who went into the back yard when he was working on their furnace. The owners hadn’t put the dog away and hadn’t warned the workman not to go into the yard. They are lucky he wasn’t killed by the dog! Now that’s a dog I might call “aggressive.” But that’s a whole different rabbit hole. Let’s talk about my two very nice client dogs with aggressive behaviors.
Meet the Dogs
Susie is a 1.5-year-old spayed female Lab/Beagle Pit mix (we are guessing). Her humans adopted her four months ago from a Maryland shelter, where she arrived in December of 2024 as a stray. So no information about her past history – but at least she wasn’t at the shelter very long. When walking on leash Susie barks and lunges at passersby and has nipped ankles a couple of times. She barks with high arousal at squirrels and birds outside her windows multiple times a day, and chases her home cats. Phew!
Johnny is an almost-2-year-old neutered male Miniature Dachshund, purchased from a show breeder – not a puppy mill. Johnny has been shy from the time they acquired him at the age of 10 weeks, and has become increasingly anxious and reactive around people, both when they are visiting the house and when his humans are out walking him on leash. Like Susie, he barks and lunges if strangers get too close and has nipped ankles a couple of times. They first became concerned about his behavior when he was about a year old. The intensity of his barking, lunging and ankle nipping has increased in the past year. Sadly, one would think a show breeder would have known the importance of early socialization and good breeding for temperament, but apparently not in Johnny’s case…
Fear-Related Aggression and Reactivity
Four important things to know about fear-related aggression and reactivity:
One – My favorite Dr. Karen Overall definition of “reactive”: She defines it as “An abnormal level of arousal in response to a normal stimulus.” Perfect! It doesn’t necessarily mean aggression – but it can. In both Susie's and Johnny’s cases, their fear was moving them toward defensive-aggressive reactivity
Two – It is a very common behavior pattern for a shy/fearful puppy to just shut down when they are very young. People feel sorry for them – “Oh, poor scared baby!” and they pick them up to comfort them, not realizing they are making it worse. The puppy thinks, “I’m going to die!” and, helpless to do anything about it, just shuts down. As the pup begins to mature and gain a little confidence, one day she growls as the person bends to pet her or pick her up. Wisely, the person backs up. Guess what – the growl was just reinforced! (Negative reinforcement – the dog’s behavior makes a bad thing go away.) The puppy’s brain thinks, “Hey, that worked – I’m going to do that again!” And because behaviors that are reinforced are likely to increase, next time she growls sooner and louder, and the growl eventually turns into a bark, a lunge, and finally a nip. And then – worst case scenario, an actual bite. Our sweet, shy little puppy has learned that the best defense is a good offense.
Three – It is also very common for fearful dogs to nip at ankles or calves as scary people walk away from them, as if they are saying, “And I said stay away!” My take on this is that they are not brave enough to make that editorial comment when the person is facing them, but they are bold enough to say it to the person’s back.
Four – A fearful dog’s first behavioral choice is usually to move away from the scary stimulus. When they are on leash they know they can’t move away. Hence fearful dogs are much more likely to bark, lunge, nip and/or bite when they are trapped by the leash and can’t escape.
Fortunately, Susie and Johnny’s humans were seeking help before their dogs’ behaviors escalated to actual bites. The fact that both were beginning to nip ankles as people walked away from them is what motivated them to seek help.
Protocols
Since the two dogs’ behaviors were very similar, it’s not surprising that their protocols and commitments also were very similar – with the addition of the cats and windows for Susie, and the harness for Johnny. Classical counterconditioning and desensitization work to change the dog’s association with and emotional response to stimuli. Operant protocols, properly taught so the dog gets very happy when asked to do them, can bring the dog’s focus back to her human, and can also serve to move the emotional brain from worried to happy. (Oh yes, operant and classical conditioning are happening together all the time…) I usually use the CC&D as our primary protocol, with the operant behaviors as an adjunct to assist when needed. Plus - operant behaviors often give visible results more quickly than the CC&D, which gives the humans success, reinforces their work and makes it more likely that they will keep working with their dogs.<G> And of course, management – always a critically important piece of a successful behavior modification program. By the way, both families were very pleased to hear that they don’t need to take their dogs for leash-walks unless and until we have successfully modified their leash-reactive behaviors. Both dogs could be well-exercised in their own yards, and dogs who have adequate exercise and enrichment at home don’t really ever have to go for walks. (Just ask my farm dogs!) People need to know that they don't necessarily have to take their dogs for leash-walks to be good dog caretakers!
Commitments
1. People (Both dogs): Counterconditioning and Desensitization (CC&D), 15 minutes or more per session – Susie’s people committed to 4 times a week, Johnny’s to 3 times a week. Also – do Treat and Retreat any time a willing person is available.
2. Windows (Susie only): Cover windows with adhesive film to manage – peel back film to do CC&D with squirrels and birds at least 4 times a week 15 minutes or more. (Susie only)
3. Cats (Susie only): Continue to manage by keeping separated; do CC&D at least 4 times a week, 15 minutes or more. https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/care/peacekeeping-among-cats-and-dogs/
4. Harness (Johnny only): CC&D 10-15 minutes several times a day when the harness is not actually put on. Operant – teach Johnny to voluntarily put his head though the harness opening – a few minutes several times a day.
5. Operant Behaviors (Both dogs): 5 to 10 minutes or more, 5 times a week – a variety of these, making sure each one is done at least 2-3 times a week – Find It/Search, Nose Games, Walk Away, Touch, Pattern Games (especially 1-2-3).
I am happily optimistic about both of these dogs. Their humans seem very committed to helping their dogs become more comfortable in their worlds, appear capable of managing their environments so the dogs don’t have lots of opportunities to practice the behaviors, and both dogs responded very well to the protocols when we practiced them in our sessions. Both families were also interested in continuing to work with us in private sessions and in classes when appropriate.
AGONISTIC BEHAVIORS
“Agonistic” refers to any social behavior related to conflict. The term has broader meaning than aggression because it includes threats, displays, retreats, placation, deference, and conciliation. In fact, the purpose of most agonistic behaviors is to avoid actual conflict – a very healthy thing in a social species. While many people see a dog’s agonistic signals as a bad thing, behaviorally-knowledgeable humans understand that a hard stare, a growl, a snarl, an air snap, even a bite where teeth touch but don’t break skin are a dog’s desperate attempts to not actually bite. The dog is saying “you are making me very uncomfortable and I really don't want to bite you... please stop!” Rather than punishing a dog for her agonistic behaviors, it’s important to identify what is causing her discomfort, remove the stressor, and if appropriate, do behavior modification to convince her that the stressor is actually a good thing.
https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/behavior/dog-growling-is-a-good-thing/
YOUR DOG IS TALKING TO YOU ALL THE TIME
This week our 11-year-old Kelpie, Kai, reminded me how good our dogs really are at communicating, if we just remember to listen. We were in the barn aisle, across from the feed room. There’s a five-foot tall wall between the feed room and the barn aisle. I was standing by the table with the radio, and Kai was at my feet, looking at me purposefully. He often does this when he wants me to give him a treat, so I wasn’t paying too much attention. Then I realized he was glancing up toward the table and back at me. Clearly, he was telling me something. This is usually what he does when there’s a toy or treat he can’t reach – often because it went under a stall door. But he was looking up – not at a stall door. I looked on the table. Nothing. I looked under the radio. Nothing. I brushed all the dust off the table to show him – nothing. He kept looking up, and back at me. Then I realized he was looking up past the table. And there, hanging on the feed room wall, was a piece of horse hoof from a recent trim. We do give our dogs horse hooves as chewies, and he was clearly telling me there was one up there that he wanted. So of course I gave it to him. Your dog is talking to you all the time. Remember to listen with your eyes…
Coming Soon at Peaceable Paws
No private consults for me this week – but our Shaping Workshop is this coming weekend – YAY! Shaping is one of my favorite things – after Cognition, of course… looking forward to a fun weekend with some terrific humans and dogs!!
Warm Woofs,
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
www.peaceablepaws.com ; info@peaceablepaws.com ; 301-582-9420
