"It's all in how you raise them."

“It’s all in how you raise them.”

“They just want to be loved and if you don’t train them to be aggressive, they won’t be.”

“Bad people make them that way.”

“He lashes out like that because he must have been abused.”

“I have an [insert society-labeled aggressive breed here] and he’s the sweetest dog ever and doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.”

If I collected tax for every dog lover who said this, I’d never have to work again. Seriously. This line of thinking threatens to do more harm than good and does a huge injustice to dogs that truly have behavior issues.

Let’s talk about aggression and reactivity. The Merriam Webster definition of “aggression” is “hostile, injurious, or destructive behavior or outlook especially when caused by frustration”. The Merriam Webster definition of “reactive” is, “readily responsive to a stimulus; occurring as a result of stress or emotional upset”. Lastly, the Merriam Webster definition of “mean” is “deliberately unkind”.

I’ll put these into perspective as it concerns dog behavior. A dog that has an aggression issue may close the distance between himself and a target, unprovoked, and bite/hold/shake with the intent to cause harm. A dog that is simply reactive may get so excited that they bounce up and down frantically and screech-bark at a target, with no intent to cause harm. It is totally possible for reactivity to bubble over into aggression when left unchecked but at its core, the behavior is an inappropriate demonstration of over-stimulation. I won’t even go into what is defined as “mean” because it is a humanoid concept and the behavior in question can be defined under some other dog behavior such as possessiveness, rough play, struggle for superiority, etc.

Now, let’s talk about genetics, environment, health, handling, and habits as it affects behavior.

Genetics. Breeds were carefully established by choosing dogs with desirable traits and coupling them with other dogs having desirable traits. That is to include but not limited to physical attributes, energy level, temperament, and drive. Take German Shepherds for instance (and I choose them because I know them better than any other breed). If I want a pup that will grow into a confident, attentive, and obedient dog, I'm not going to breed a fearful, disengaged dog with a lazy, stubborn dog. I'm going to breed generations of stable, medium-high energy dogs that are desperate for human contact and are eager to please. So that goes without saying, if you have a dog with high prey drive… and you breed it to another with high prey drive… their pups will likely express extreme interest when they see fast moving objects. This also goes without saying that if a dog has specific needs dictated by their genetic makeup, they must be properly fulfilled if you want to avoid those needs manifesting in troublesome behaviors. This is why it is highly suggested to do your research on not only basic dog needs but specific breed needs.

Environment. A dog that exists in an area where a potential trigger presents itself often will display more frequent reactions. If the dog is isolated from an environment with potential triggers you may never see said behavior. For instance, if you have a terrier (bred to hunt rodents) who lives in an urban area with no foliage and has never seen a squirrel a day in his life, you may never observe chase, dig, kill behavior. But if you move into a rural area and give him the run of the land and he sees his first barn cat, he might tear off after that barn cat every time he sees it. (See also, genetics; nobody taught the terrier this behavior, its instinct)

Health. Mental and physical health can alter a dog’s mood and behavior. For instance, a dog who is experiencing pain or has an injury is more likely to deliver a bite when physically manipulated or antagonized than a dog with no physical ailments. When a dog feels pain that is inflicted by another being, he will either move away from that being or deliver a bite in defense to make that being go away. Anxiety also plays a role in a dog’s reactivity. Dogs with high levels of fear or anxiety are more sensitive to stimulus and take fewer measures to assess a situation before reacting.

Habit. This goes without saying, but if a dog exhibits certain behaviors in response to a particular stimulus and isn’t consistently deterred or redirected, it becomes a habit. For instance, Billy Bob walks his dog around the neighborhood three times a week. He takes the same route every day. There is a yellow house along the route with a dog that often hangs out unattended in the front yard. The neighbor dog charges to the edge of the lawn barking and making a show to defend his territory. Of course, your dog reacts similarly towards this other dog and you awkwardly drag him away and continue your walk. You go through this EVERY DAY for weeks. One day you see another dog taking a nap in a different yard. Unprovoked, your dog explodes into a barking frenzy at the sleeping dog. Why? Because he has applied what he learned about his encounter with the other dog to all dogs and has developed a habit that has not been effectively deterred.

In the realm of socialization, if a dog is not properly introduced to new people, other dogs, cats, etc, you can expect that he may be apprehensive when experiencing something new. This apprehension is magnified when a dog already has anxiety, struggles to accept change, or is forced into uncomfortable situations before calm curiosity kicks in. If continuously exposed inappropriately to something that makes a dog uncomfortable, he will eventually lose patience and defend himself. When lashing out causes the uncomfortable situation to end, it becomes the go-to move the next time that trigger is present.

Scenario: A young dog grew up tethered in the backyard with little human interaction. The family moves and decides to surrender the dog to the shelter. She’s never known anything other than the person who fed her and her dog house and now she is confined in a funny-smelling building with loud barking dogs and each human that passes her kennel is different from the last. New people consistently enter her space and pet her to reassure her but she doesn’t want to be pet, she hasn’t had enough time to process her surroundings and she’s reeling from the over-stimulation. She tries over and over to communicate she’s uncomfortable but nobody seems to understand. Eventually she reaches her breaking point and nips at the next human to crowd her space. The human hurries away from her kennel and she is relieved that finally her efforts to stop the physical contact have worked. She takes no time nipping the next human that sticks their finger in her kennel. The next day she even steps it up to barking and snarling at the gate so nobody bothers even trying to pet her. Eventually this girl is adopted out to a kind-hearted single woman who spends months gaining this dog’s trust. She learns to enjoy the company of this woman, but when a new person enters the house, she is reserved. The new person excitedly reaches out to pet her and she bites their finger. From then on, she shows less and less patience with people until she runs frantically through the house barking at guests. Her owner has tried petting her, asking guests to give her treats, but nothing so far has worked. Her owner suspects that she’s been abused and pities her, giving her extra affection when the guests leave to remind her she is loved.

Handling. If a pup is born with natural drive, you must either deliberately show him when it is appropriate to act on those impulses or create a more gratifying activity so they will abandon the impulse for the other activity. If you're an experienced handler, you can influence a dog to seek your guidance instead of acting on impulses. Just know that in the absence of an influential handler, the dog will typically resort to his own decision-making process. (ie. “My dog doesn’t do X behavior when my husband is nearby. He is the one who provides structure to the dog’s routine and has zero tolerance for shenanigans. He responds immediately to my husband when given commands. My daughter, on the other hand, primarily gives only affection and thinks the behavior is endearing. The dog definitely does not listen to my daughter when she tries to get serious.”)

Let’s also talk about unintentional positive reinforcement.

Common mistakes I see people make with reactive dogs:

• A. Petting them and telling them “it’s okay” or feeding treats while the dog is reacting to a stressful trigger in an attempt to soothe the dog into a calmer state or lead the dog to associate the trigger with the positivity of food. When else do we pet our dogs and give them treats? When we are telling them, “Yes, this is the behavior I like. Good job. I hope you do this again.” So a dog that has been consistently positively reinforced for reacting aggressively has been conditioned to repeat this behavior.

• B. Yelling at or hitting a dog while he’s reacting to a stressful trigger. I see the human logic in this, but in dog logic these handler reactions only make the situation more stressful or exciting (if the dog enjoys conflict). You are in the fight with him, not pulling him out of it and giving him an alternative.

Does that mean the dog was “trained to be mean?” or that he was “abused” by someone or something resembling that trigger? Not necessarily. While these unfortunate and despicable things DO happen, I beg people not to resort to this idea as a first assumption. I beg people not to linger on this notion (even if you know for a fact a dog has been abused or intentionally reinforced in aggression). Reason being, it elicits an emotional response as human beings that overrides logic and will therefore cause folks to apply unintentional positive reinforcement (see common mistakes A.) because we feel bad about what horrors a dog may have experienced in his past. Don’t get me wrong, for us to really care about the humane treatment of animals, we have to have compassion.

So the next time you hear someone respond to, “X breed is dangerous” with “Oh, they’re only like that if bad people make them that way”, consider these points. And please take into consideration that all dogs are different, there is an exception to every rule, and there are many factors in play when aggression and/or reactivity is present. The history of what caused the behavior is not the most important part of rehabilitating a dog – it’s identifying the triggers and helping the dog cope with triggers by having the dedication to understand a dog’s genetics, creating a harmonious environment, contributing to optimal health, applying appropriate handling techniques, and encouraging stable habits.

Lexington

#envymydog