Why Is It Funny For A Dog To Be Aggressive

[Little Gifts]

So the answer really is it is not ok for a dog of ANY SIZE to act aggressively in public towards a human or other animal. Letting it act aggressively in its home environment (unless of guard duty) is giving the dog mixed signals about acceptable behaviour in public so is not funny and not ok either (for that dogs future). It is also not ok for an unpredictable dog of any size to be off leash in public where other strange dogs and humans might be. It is not ok for dogs of any size (on or off leash) to greet other dogs or humans in a threatening manner, to not respond to owner commands and to not understand and respond appropriately to the signals being given off by the human or dog they are trying to greet. Not every dog will like each other just as not everyone loves a dog jumping or slobbering all over them just trying to say hello. But correction when it is clear the behaviour is wrong is what is important here.

Is there anything in the above that us owners/humans are not responsible for? Our dogs act as we let them act. Fine if it doesn't ever affect someone else but unless you can guarantee your dog will never escape from its prison then it is the humans that need to take responsibility for our dogs actions and reactions.

It is about time we started vilifying owners when horrific dog attacks occur rather than the dog itself (or worse, its breed).

[mantis]

So the answer really is it is not ok for a dog of ANY SIZE to act aggressively in public towards a human or other animal. Letting it act aggressively in its home environment (unless of guard duty) is giving the dog mixed signals about acceptable behaviour in public so is not funny and not ok either (for that dogs future). It is also not ok for an unpredictable dog of any size to be off leash in public where other strange dogs and humans might be. It is not ok for dogs of any size (on or off leash) to greet other dogs or humans in a threatening manner, to not respond to owner commands and to not understand and respond appropriately to the signals being given off by the human or dog they are trying to greet. Not every dog will like each other just as not everyone loves a dog jumping or slobbering all over them just trying to say hello. But correction when it is clear the behaviour is wrong is what is important here.

Is there anything in the above that us owners/humans are not responsible for? Our dogs act as we let them act. Fine if it doesn't ever affect someone else but unless you can guarantee your dog will never escape from its prison then it is the humans that need to take responsibility for our dogs actions and reactions.

It is about time we started vilifying owners when horrific dog attacks occur rather than the dog itself (or worse, its breed).

[corvus]

Obviously it is not, because if nothing else aggressive behaviour is most of the time indicative of the animal being in some state of distress. Probably quite extreme distress. That is clearly not funny if you love dogs. Thankfully I have really only seen this once and I don't think it was necessarily because the dog was small. I asked the owners if it was the dog's first time on the beach and they said it was. I suggested it was very busy and could be overwhelming for her and perhaps she was trying to attack every dog she saw and then bolting because she was frightened. They looked at me like I'd just grown horns and my hair had turned purple in front of their eyes. Just completely flummoxed by the very notion that their dog might not love the beach the very first time she went. I think this is the real problem rather than what people think of as acceptable behaviour or not. If they realised their dog was probably extremely anxious or frightened and were trying to protect themselves they would maybe take it more seriously.

I've had people with small dogs ask me about budding aggression problems. One park regular has a very light, small dog who can run like the wind, but he used to be quite tolerant of other dogs and now he's not so much. The owner is concerned about this but doesn't really understand the problem, which is mostly that when he chases his ball the bigger dogs often chase him and he doesn't like it. The owner does his best, and lets his dog use him as a safe haven. I think that a lot of people don't realise how easy it is for small dogs to feel threatened. They are SMALL. Most of the world is bigger than they are. It's not hard for them to be accidentally hurt. It's not their fault they don't understand. Their dog learns to control the situation the best they can over time. I think some people kind of know this on some level but don't realise they can change things so the dog doesn't have to feel scared.

Incidentally, we know lots of really great little dogs from the dog park, and we meet others on the beach as well. It's pretty cool when the SWF trots up to your big black fluffy and confidently introduces himself and invites a game. Here's one that made friends with Erik one day. They had a great time together. E likes SWFs. He's only had a couple turn nasty on him and he ran away and they left him alone. All good.

[Loving my Oldies]

LOL, that is a gorgeous photograph, Corvus. The little white dog is airborne with happiness.

[Rosetta]

Obviously it is not, because if nothing else aggressive behaviour is most of the time indicative of the animal being in some state of distress. Probably quite extreme distress. That is clearly not funny if you love dogs. Thankfully I have really only seen this once and I don't think it was necessarily because the dog was small. I asked the owners if it was the dog's first time on the beach and they said it was. I suggested it was very busy and could be overwhelming for her and perhaps she was trying to attack every dog she saw and then bolting because she was frightened. They looked at me like I'd just grown horns and my hair had turned purple in front of their eyes. Just completely flummoxed by the very notion that their dog might not love the beach the very first time she went. I think this is the real problem rather than what people think of as acceptable behaviour or not. If they realised their dog was probably extremely anxious or frightened and were trying to protect themselves they would maybe take it more seriously.

I've had people with small dogs ask me about budding aggression problems. One park regular has a very light, small dog who can run like the wind, but he used to be quite tolerant of other dogs and now he's not so much. The owner is concerned about this but doesn't really understand the problem, which is mostly that when he chases his ball the bigger dogs often chase him and he doesn't like it. The owner does his best, and lets his dog use him as a safe haven. I think that a lot of people don't realise how easy it is for small dogs to feel threatened. They are SMALL. Most of the world is bigger than they are. It's not hard for them to be accidentally hurt. It's not their fault they don't understand. Their dog learns to control the situation the best they can over time. I think some people kind of know this on some level but don't realise they can change things so the dog doesn't have to feel scared.

Incidentally, we know lots of really great little dogs from the dog park, and we meet others on the beach as well. It's pretty cool when the SWF trots up to your big black fluffy and confidently introduces himself and invites a game. Here's one that made friends with Erik one day. They had a great time together. E likes SWFs. He's only had a couple turn nasty on him and he ran away and they left him alone. All good.

[Little Gifts]

Great point Corvus about small size and new environments sometimes causing anxiety and the owners being unaware of this. I've always hated seeing people dragging their dogs through busy markets in the heat of the day for this very reason. How could it not be unnerving to be surrounded by all those legs, strange activity and noises?

But again this is about the owners being connected to their dog and understanding what response it is exhibiting and correcting it if needed, which could mean removing it from the area or calming it and introducing what is new in a safer way. Not all dogs are bullet proof.

[HazyWal]

Corvus great post

My main problem is when little offlead dogs approach my on lead muzzled greyhounds and Maddie in particular will react. This happened on Monday when we were sitting at a picnic table at the beach and a woman walked past with both her littlies offlead in an onlead area and one decided to rush at mine barking. Maddie lunged, under control onlead, didn't get within cooee and the little dog screamed blue murder. The ownwer called me and my dogs the equivelent of the devil, grabbed her still barking dog and stormed off still hurling abuse at me

[Dame Aussie]

Corvus great post

My main problem is when little offlead dogs approach my on lead muzzled greyhounds and Maddie in particular will react. This happened on Monday when we were sitting at a picnic table at the beach and a woman walked past with both her littlies offlead in an onlead area and one decided to rush at mine barking. Maddie lunged, under control onlead, didn't get within cooee and the little dog screamed blue murder. The ownwer called me and my dogs the equivelent of the devil, grabbed her still barking dog and stormed off still hurling abuse at me

Unbelievable. I think I would have slapped her :laugh:

We've had the same thing happen. If the dog gets close enough to bite it gets a kick and owner gets told under no uncertain terms, to control their dog.

I'm just completely over it after having it happen so many times. Its been mainly small dogs in my experience but I think that's only because there seems to be more around than large dogs where I am.

Agree that it doesn't matter about size anyway.

[trinabean]

Corvus great post

My main problem is when little offlead dogs approach my on lead muzzled greyhounds and Maddie in particular will react. This happened on Monday when we were sitting at a picnic table at the beach and a woman walked past with both her littlies offlead in an onlead area and one decided to rush at mine barking. Maddie lunged, under control onlead, didn't get within cooee and the little dog screamed blue murder. The ownwer called me and my dogs the equivelent of the devil, grabbed her still barking dog and stormed off still hurling abuse at me

How frustrating Stan's mum. Not good for Maddie's confidence to be rushed and barked at. We have an on-lead only nature reserve nearby and so many people seem to think the rules don't apply to them. The people who flaunt the on-lead rule so often have dogs that are not under effective control. We've been rushed so many times that I hardly walk there now.

[BlaznHotAussies]

Yup. Toby doesn't recognise small dogs as "dogs"...they're just scary yappy things that rush out at him and scare the hell out of him. (Poor boy just lays right down as small as he can on the ground would be seriously concerned if he snapped at one!

[Alibi]

I have had quite a few incidents of large dogs rushing and running over the top and rolling my on lead little 3kg dog, the owners all ignored the fact even though she yelped each time she was flattened as they were being 'friendly'. I now have to body block these friendly dogs as she now gets scared and flattens herself on the ground. I figure if I get knocked over when I get slammed into when protecting her the owners may take more seriously. She loves other dogs and I want to keep it that way but I can she is has become more timid after these incidents. It really works both ways, no matter what size dog and how friendly it is it needs to be under control.

[Loving my Oldies]

Great point Corvus about small size and new environments sometimes causing anxiety and the owners being unaware of this. I've always hated seeing people dragging their dogs through busy markets in the heat of the day for this very reason. How could it not be unnerving to be surrounded by all those legs, strange activity and noises?

But again this is about the owners being connected to their dog and understanding what response it is exhibiting and correcting it if needed, which could mean removing it from the area or calming it and introducing what is new in a safer way. Not all dogs are bullet proof.

Yes, LG. I hate to see dogs being dragged around environments where they are obviously uncomfortable. I know when I adopted my first dogs (two little Maltese), I had visions of taking them everywhere with me. I soon learnt where they were and weren't comfortable and, because I worked full time, I often wouldn't go out at weekends, just so I could be with them.

Many people are not connected with their dogs and from what I've seen over the years, a lot of people aren't even prepared to go to any bother to try to understand them and their needs.

Most dogs put in the environment of Corvus' photograph, would soon learn to be "bullet proof" and to have a good time. But would the owners? How people don't understand that their feelings, attitudes, reactions, emotions, etc all transfer to the dog.

[Melina Bea]

I don't find it funny in the least. I've never had dogs before, and I'm getting a Yorkie in 8 days. Everyone thinks its so funny that they try to rule the roost and can get aggressive. Hilarious. Just the thought of my pup becoming that way makes my hairs stand up on end.

A dog is a dog and deserves to be treated well and trained properly. Do they really think those dogs are happy, getting riled up over everything? And how cruel is it to taunt them, they wouldn't do that to a human being but it's so hilarious doing it to a dog. Makes me furious.

[corvus]

IME (of explaining my PhD to lots of people who know next to nothing about dogs), people are very interested in learning about the reasons why dogs do what they do, especially their own dog, and when we talk about personality and the dogs' emotional lives they nod a lot and what I might say about their dog aligns with what they think as well. But the next step from "This is who my dog is and how he feels" to "I could change that" is a real big one. For many it seems overwhelming in of itself, let alone when you start to talk about how they could change it. It's pretty straight forward for those of us that do train and have changed problem behaviour with basic principles like classical conditioning, but for others whose only sense of their dog is this furry little creature they feed and throw a ball for and kind of enjoy patting, there are a lot of big mysteries and unchartered territory and their ability to apply even a little learning theory is hampered by how little they understand about dog body language. They don't notice when their dog is saying "This is freaking me out" until he tries to bite someone. This is why I love the cartoon charts that show what dogs look like when they are experiencing different emotions. I think it's a big step in the right direction. If people can understand their dog can feel emotions they can relate to that is one step, that is a great start. If they can identify them, they are well ahead of the game even if they don't know how to change the behaviour, because they can successfully manage. And hopefully this makes the behaviour modification side of things seem less overwhelming.

Doggie behaviour chart:

A BAT one describing reactivity:

[Dame Aussie]

I love those cartoons, Boogie is soo cute :)

[Melina Bea]

I love those, especially the first one. Very useful to newbies like me!

[Rosetta]

That is a great chart! I have a high strung dog and he quite often does the "shake off" - now I know it is to relieve his stress :) I asked the vet a few times why he does it so often and his response has always been "oh - dogs just do that". Well they do if they are nervous apparently :D

[Little Gifts]

Mine scratches at nothing and I know it is a stress thing but I didn't know about the shake off. She has a whip like tail and if it hits you while she's shaking herself down it hurts! She also does lots of greeting stretches. My other one is constantly flinging herself backwards on people so they can scratch her belly and inner thighs but she often yawn-talks. I always thought she was doing it to calm herself down as it is usually followed by a shake that starts with the yawn and talk but then follows through her whole body. I'll have to watch her closer when she does it next time.

[chuckandsteve]

That is a great chart! I have a high strung dog and he quite often does the "shake off" - now I know it is to relieve his stress :) I asked the vet a few times why he does it so often and his response has always been "oh - dogs just do that". Well they do if they are nervous apparently :D

Out current behaviourist taught me to praise and reward Justice any time he does an action designed to bring his stress levels down, including shake offs, as it encourages him to deal with his stress in a healthy way rather than using reactive behaviours to cope. :)

I had never thought to reward a shake off thats a great idea

[Little Gifts]

I second that as a great idea!