Three Dogs With Reactive/Aggressive Behavior to Visitors in the Home
Looking at my schedule and reviewing behavior history forms for this week, I realized that I had three private clients who were all reporting a similar concern about their dogs’ behaviors – reactive/aggressive behavior toward visitors to the home – and only in the home. Outside of the home all three dogs were reportedly not reactive/aggressive.
So first, a reminder – “reactive” doesn’t necessarily mean “aggressive.” I love Dr. Karen Overall’s definition of reactivity as “An abnormal level of arousal in response to a normal stimulus.” That’s it! Nothing about aggression… However, it can include aggressive behavior, because a very high level of arousal can easily tip over into aggression, and because some reactivity – especially fear-related reactivity, can easily include aggression.
Another very interesting thing about these three cases is the diversity of breeds. The first was an Australian Shepherd, the second an English Bulldog, and the third a Bichon/Maltese mix. Reactivity does not practice breed discrimination.
So let’s meet the dogs and see what happened with each one.
Lily the Australian Shepherd
Lily is a 3.5-year old red-tri Aussie from Aussie Rescue. Her history is a little sketchy, but we do know that at one time (not sure at what age) she was given up because she was too excitable with the family’s children. After meeting her, I can understand that! It also appears that at one time she was in a shelter in Mississippi, but it’s not clear from her records if the family surrendered her to the shelter in Mississippi or if she had been adopted and rehomed by the family after her shelter stay.
At any rate, she is now in a foster-to-adopt home with Myra, and we’re hoping we can help make that permanent! While she does have a fenced yard, Myra soon discovered that Lily could easily climb the fence to chase deer and squirrels. When Myra had an inward “roof” extension added to block Lily’s climbing, her athletic dog figured out how to leap up and land on the roof before jumping down to chase. Myra is an active, healthy senior who wanted an active dog – maybe just not this active! Unfortunately, Lily’s fence-jumping prowess eliminates some exercise options that Myra had planned for her.
Lily was lovely with me in our session – at our training center, not in her home. She was very affiliative – and indeed, high-energy. She was easily aroused to the point of jumping up, body-slamming and nipping – all from excitement, not aggression. Go Wild and Freeze elicited too much arousal too quickly, as did the Walk Away protocol. However, we did discover that she seemed to consistently respond to a “Freeze” cue by lying down when I folded my arms and gave the cue randomly throughout the remainder of the session when she was getting aroused, so it’s possible someone has attempted this with her before. I suggested continuing to practice and reinforce the “Freeze” cue without deliberately arousing her first – both when she is not aroused as well as when she is beginning to become aroused. This could be a valuable tool to help manage her arousal going forward.
Lily wanted to be busy during our session, so to keep her occupied we each threw tennis balls for her from time to time. She wasn’t inclined to bring them back, so I suggested Myra have a bucket of tennis balls that she could keep throwing on her property for exercise, with Lily on a long line to prevent fence scaling. After the bucket is empty, Myra would get to go collect all the balls.
We practiced Feet/Find It and Nose Games – and Lily did well with both. We also discussed and agreed to incorporate Meal Scatters into her daily routine as a good enrichment/exercise vehicle. Again, this can be done on a long line on Myra’s property to prevent critter chasing.
We explored the possibility of finding one or more appropriate canine playmates for Lily. Two to three good hard play sessions a week could go a long way toward managing her high energy level and arousal. Another option might be to find someone who is interested in doing one (or some) dog sports with her. She could be a natural for Agility, Dock Diving or maybe even Treibball (she showed some interest in a Jolly Ball…).
Myra has already been working on a Relaxation Protocol with Lily. I switched her to the UPenn Protocol and encouraged her to generalize it to numerous various locations around the house, then eventually incorporate it into having visitors in her home.
Finally, we discussed (and practiced) Counter Conditioning and Desensitization (CC&D) with me walking past Lily at a distance of 20 feet to start, and ultimately just 5 feet away. We didn’t expect to get the aggression response (and we didn’t) since we weren’t in Lily’s home, but I wanted Myra to practice the mechanics. Lily and Myra both excelled at the CC&D – Myra was very skilled at seeing (and feeding for) even the brief eye shifts toward me that most clients miss, and Lily began offering Conditioned Emotional Response looks (CERs) back to Myra after just a few repetitions.
Although reactive aggression is often actually fear-related even when people think their dog is being protective, in Lily’s case I think it really is either territorial or protective aggression. She didn’t appear the least bit fearful, and she is quite bonded with Myra and was upset when her human had to leave the room briefly.
I did suggest to Myra that she have a discussion with her veterinarian about using over-the-counter calming products such as L-Theanine and Ashwagandha, and perhaps a situational prescription anti-anxiety medication for those times when Myra was planning to have visitors.
Overall, the prognosis for Lily is Good. She will benefit from more exercise, and she is blessed with a human who is knowledgeable and exceptionally capable and committed to making things work with Lily. The only glitch is whether, even with the increased exercise and behavior modification program, Lily turns out to be more dog than Myra wants to live with. I assured Myra I would fully support her decision if this is where she needs to go after her honest effort to make it work. And if it ultimately doesn’t work, we know the Aussie Rescue group will take Lily back, take excellent care of her, and work hard to find her the perfect forever home.
Zorro the English Bulldog
Zorro’s case is a very different story. He is a 3.5-year-old neutered male English Bulldog, with a low tolerance for frustration, and his arousal/nipping appears to be primarily frustration reactivity. It happens most frequently when he is on leash or restrained by his harness and attempting to greet someone. It can also occur when he is off leash and excitedly greeting someone who then turns away and doesn’t give him the attention he seeks. He is already on Clomicalm and Alprazolam for anxiety and Gabapentin for ACL pain (which also has an anti-anxiety effect).
He also has a history of seizures, as well as food allergies that require him to only have a hydrolyzed protein diet (seriously limiting high-value treat options for behavior modification work). His humans – Sherry and Tim, are experienced dog people and previously owned another English Bulldog. They shared, regretfully, that Zorro came from a clearly not-responsible breeder in Florida – she had no interest in hearing that he had cherry eye (which has been treated), food allergies, and currently has an ACL tear which will need surgery. They didn’t even bother trying to inform her about his seizures.
We let Zorro off-leash during the session, and at one point midway through the session he did one of his jump/vocalize/nip incidents at me. I had done my usual “totally ignore the dog” behavior that I normally do with client dogs – unless and until I see the dog being appropriately affiliative. Although Zorro was trying to engage with me, it was with a level of arousal such that I was not comfortable engaging with him. Tim suggested that this was possibly an example of him being frustrated by the human’s failure to pay attention to him, and his over-threshold resulting response. I agree with Tim.
It's also quite possible that the yet-untreated ACL tear triggers a moment of pain when Zorro is aroused and jumping, which could also cause a brief aggressive outburst. Although Tim and Sherry didn’t seem to think the ACL was bothering him all that much, I noticed (and pointed out to them) numerous occasions during our two-hour session where he was clearly not comfortable putting weight on that leg when standing still, and was not sound when moving.
The ACL has not yet been treated due to Zorro’s seizures. His regular vet suggested holding off on the ACL surgery in case the seizures were related to something terminally serious, such as a brain tumor. There were also concerns about sedating him for surgery unless and until the seizures were under control. He has been seen by a neurologist, is on medication (Keppra) for the seizures, and has not had any seizures for a couple of months. While I concur with holding off on the surgery for the reasons mentioned, I also have concerns about leaving it untreated, and the potential for pain contributing to Zorro’s aggression. Sherry and Tim agreed to schedule a follow-up visit with the neurologist to see if he would give the go-ahead for the ACL surgery.
In the meantime, we agreed on the following modification program commitments:
1. Ask Zorro’s regular vet if they can use the scent of veggie bacon (or something else) to flavor his hydrolyzed protein treats and make them higher-value for training.
2. Begin the UPenn Protocol for Relaxation at least 5 days per week, 5 to 10 minutes per session.
3. Play Nose Games for mental and physical enrichment at least 5 days per week, 5 to 10 minutes or more per session.
4. Do Counter Conditioning and Desensitization with a visitor to the home at least 1 time per week, 20 minutes or more per session.
5. Manage his behavior by removing him from the room when you have visitors (except when you bring him out for CC&D), and find new food toys you can use to keep him content when he is closed in another room.
Poor Zorro has a lot going on – and we know that medical issues are significant contributors to the stress levels that lead to aggression. My fingers are crossed, hard, that addressing those will help us make progress with our modification efforts – and at this point in time my prognosis for Zorro is High Poor to Low Fair.
Ricky the Bichon/Maltese Mix
Ricky is a 12-year-old neutered male Bichon/Maltese mix (what a cutie!) whose aggression toward visitors to his home started just three years ago.
Okay – anytime we have a significant behavior change in an adult dog, we have to ask… what else has changed? Ricky and his human, Kristin, moved three years ago, from a large house in a low-activity quiet community with houses far apart, to a much smaller house in a high-activity community with houses close together. We know aggression is caused by stress… and that would stress me too!
Ricky’s human also shared that he is no longer comfortable jumping up and off the bed and sofa. At the age of 12 it’s quite likely that he is having some arthritis pain. We know that pain is a very significant stressor, so Kris will be exploring that with her veterinarian. I do sometimes suggest to clients that they ask their veterinarian about doing a short trial with a pain medication. If they see the dog’s behavior change significantly – in this case if Ricky starts jumping on and off the bed and sofa again – it’s a very good indication that there is pain happening.
I could tell RIcky was worried in our session, but nowhere near threshold, and actually fell asleep on Kristin's lap halfway through the two hours. We practiced Feet/Find It, Walk Away, Treat and Retreat, and he did well with all of them. I would label his behavior as fear-related aggression. I suspect that Ricky has probably always been somewhat worried about visitors to his home, but it wasn’t until the added stress of the move and possible addition of pain that his stress over visitors escalated to aggressing toward them. As I often do with aggression clients, we listed all Ricky’s stressors and assigned strategies to minimize them as much as possible.
The 5 stress-reducing strategies are:
A. Classical Counter Conditioning
B. Operant Conditioning Protocols
C. Manage (an important part of any successful behavior modification program)
D. Get Rid Of It (the stressor, not the dog!)
E. Live With It (because we can't make all stress go away)
We usually end up with between 10 and 20 stressors for the dog – we had 12 on Ricky’s list - here they are with their assigned strategies and my comments:
Visitors to the Home (A,B,C) - you can hold him (he does better when held, unlike most dogs), do CC&D and use Treat and Retreat
Activity outside the home (A,B,C) - Ricky is aroused and bakring out the front door multiple times a day... Close the door! Can do CC&D/Feet and Find It if desired
Strangers in general (C,A,B) - Avoid people when walking, have Rick wear yellow, use CC&D, Feet/Find It, Walk Away
Pain (C,D) - Explore to confirm, give pain medication if indicated
Cars (A,B) - Do CC&D, Feet and Find It and/or Walk Away as opportunity presents
Thunder (C) - Ask vet about situational medication
Vacuum (E) - Allow him to remove himself from the room (it stresses him if you remove him)
Sudden noises in the home (E) - Stuff happens. Try to minimize as much as possible
Separation from Kristin (C) - Minimize as much as possible - his separation-related behavior is not extreme
Approaching vet/groomer locations (E) - He is a little stress when approaching but gets happy once he's there
Deliveries/doorbell (C) - Put sign on door asking delivery people not to ring the bell
Your Stress (E) - Stress happens! Just be aware that your stress moves him closer to threshold.
After we create our stressor list, the client and I agree on our priorities, since we can’t work on all of those stressors at one time. Anything that says “manage” or “get rid of” happens right away, or course. Then we choose usually 2 to 4 of them that require an investment in client time and energy as our “commitments.” Our priorities for Ricky are numbers 1 through 4 in the list above.
Our commitments for our program (in addition to talking to the veterinarian about medications) with Ricky are:
1. Feet/Find It – 5 minutes or more every day
2. Walk Away – 5 minutes or more every day
3. Treat and Retreat – as opportunity presents
4. Counter Conditioning and Desensitization – at least 2 times per week, 20 minutes or more, (weather permitting), and as opportunity presents.
I suspect that just closing the front door so Ricky isn’t stressed by and barking at all the community activity all day will go a long way toward modifying his behavior. Prognosis for this little guy and his very committed, very capable human is – High Good to Excellent!
Life At Peaceable Paws
Just some more PPaws farm photos to brighten your day…
Hope you are enjoying the fast departing rest of our summer!!
Warm Woofs,
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA
www.peaceablepaws.com ; info@peaceablepaws.com ; 301-582-9420
You are most welcome Alexandra - glad you are finding them useful!!!