Aggressive

Aggression is a behaviour. It isn't a personality.

“He's an aggressive dog.”

It's probably one of the most frightening labels we can put on a dog.

And unlike some of the other words I've looked at in this series, this one deserves a little more caution.

Because aggression can be serious.

Very serious.

We've just seen the case in Wakefield in which a man died after being bitten by a dog, and the dog's owner has now been charged with manslaughter as well as being in charge of a dangerously out-of-control dog.

The case is ongoing, so I'm not going to speculate about the circumstances, the dog or what happened that day.

But cases like this quite rightly make people ask:

What makes a dog aggressive?

And perhaps more importantly:

How do we recognise a genuinely dangerous dog?

Because social media has given us a rather strange picture of canine aggression.

According to Facebook, TikTok and the algorithm apparently running the world's worst dog-training course, almost every dog is one bad day away from becoming a bloodthirsty psychopath.

A dog growls?

Aggressive.

A dog barks at another dog?

Aggressive.

A dog snaps when somebody grabs its collar?

Aggressive.

A dog doesn't like another dog getting into its face?

Aggressive.

A dog looks at you slightly suspiciously?

Probably aggressive.

And this is where we need to slow down.

Because aggression is real.

But the word is being used so broadly that we're in danger of making it almost meaningless.

She's playing with the hose but it looks scary.

Before anyone thinks I'm suggesting aggression isn't something to worry about, let's be absolutely clear: every dog is capable of causing serious injury. Every dog. Regardless of breed, size, age or how friendly they normally are. In the wrong circumstances, any dog can bite, and a bite can cause significant injury or, in the worst circumstances, death.

That's precisely why I think we need to be more careful with the word aggressive, not less. We need to be able to distinguish between a dog displaying an aggressive behaviour in a particular situation and a dog presenting a serious, ongoing risk of significant harm.

Aggression is a behaviour

This is the distinction I want to make right at the beginning.

Aggression is a behaviour.

It isn't necessarily a personality.

It isn't a breed.

It isn't a moral failing.

And it isn't a diagnosis.

A dog can behave aggressively without being an inherently aggressive dog.

That might sound like semantics.

It isn't.

Imagine somebody said:

“That person is a running person.”

Because they ran to catch a bus.

Running is a behaviour.

It doesn't necessarily tell you what sort of person they are.

Dogs are much the same.

Growling is a behaviour.

Snapping is a behaviour.

Lunging is a behaviour.

Biting is a behaviour.

They can all be called aggressive behaviours.

But the behaviour doesn't automatically tell us the motivation behind it.

And that's where things get much more interesting.

A dog can be aggressive for lots of reasons

A dog may growl because it is frightened.

It may snap because it is in pain.

It may bite because it has learned that biting makes something go away.

It may guard food because it believes someone is going to take it.

It may react aggressively because another dog has repeatedly frightened it.

It may be frustrated.

It may be protecting territory.

It may be protecting a resource.

It may be responding to conflict.

It may be displaying predatory behaviour.

It may have learned that aggression works.

There are numerous possible pathways to aggressive behaviour.

And they aren't all the same problem.

Which means they shouldn't all receive the same solution.

This is where social media gets it spectacularly wrong

Spend enough time online and you'll eventually encounter something like:

“Any dog can turn aggressive.”

Technically, yes.

Any dog has the capacity to behave aggressively under some circumstances.

But that isn't the same as saying:

“Most dogs are secretly aggressive.”

They aren't.

And this is something I think we need to say much more clearly.

Truly dangerous, persistently aggressive dogs are relatively rare.

Aggressive behaviour isn't rare.

Dogs growl.

Dogs snap.

Dogs threaten.

Dogs fight.

Dogs defend resources.

Dogs tell other dogs to back off.

Dogs sometimes bite.

Those behaviours exist.

But a dog that is persistently, seriously and indiscriminately aggressive across situations, with a high potential to cause significant harm, is a very different proposition.

And we shouldn't pretend those two things are the same.

Your dog growling doesn't mean you've got a killer

This is an important one.

Because I've spoken to owners who are absolutely horrified when their dog growls.

“He growled at me. Is he aggressive?”

Possibly.

But let's slow down.

What happened?

What were you doing?

What was the dog doing?

What happened immediately beforehand?

What happened afterwards?

Was the dog trying to create distance?

Was it guarding something?

Was it frightened?

Was it surprised?

Was it in pain?

Was it being restrained?

Was it overwhelmed?

Was it communicating that it didn't like what was happening?

Because sometimes a growl is the dog's version of:

“Mate, I would really rather you didn't do that.”

And honestly, that's useful information.

I'd much rather have a dog who can communicate discomfort with a growl than one who has learned that growling gets punished and biting works better.

The growl is not the problem

This is something I really want owners to understand.

If your dog growls, don't automatically think:

“How do I stop the growling?”

Think:

“Why is my dog feeling the need to growl?”

The growl is information.

It's the warning light on the dashboard.

You don't normally fix a warning light by smashing the dashboard with a hammer.

Although, admittedly, I've owned cars where this approach has crossed my mind.

If we punish the warning, we haven't necessarily fixed the underlying problem.

We've potentially just made the warning less obvious.

And that can be dangerous.

A dog that says “back off” isn't necessarily looking for a fight

Dogs have an enormous repertoire of behaviour that can prevent conflict.

Look away.

Move away.

Freeze.

Turn the head.

Lip lick.

Avoid.

Stiffen.

Growl.

Snap.

These behaviours can occur along a continuum.

Sometimes the dog is trying desperately not to fight.

They're trying to make the thing that's worrying them go away.

That doesn't make the behaviour harmless.

A dog that is repeatedly escalating towards a bite needs to be taken seriously.

But understanding what the behaviour is trying to achieve is incredibly important.

Aggression can be functional

This is an uncomfortable phrase, but it's an important one.

Aggression can work.

If a dog growls and the person backs away:

The dog has learned that growling works.

If a dog lunges and the other dog leaves:

Lunging worked.

If a dog bites when someone takes its food and that person never takes the food again:

From the dog's perspective, biting worked.

That doesn't mean the dog is evil.

It means behaviour has consequences.

And if a behaviour reliably achieves something important to the dog, there is a pretty good chance the dog will use it again.

That's behavioural learning.

Not canine criminal mastermind behaviour.

But this is where we need to take aggression seriously

And this is the part I don't want to get lost amongst the jokes.

Aggression can cause serious injury.

Dogs have teeth.

Some dogs are exceptionally powerful.

Some people are physically vulnerable.

Children are particularly vulnerable to serious injury.

And some aggressive behaviours can escalate very quickly.

So if someone tells you their dog has bitten somebody, repeatedly attempted to bite, caused significant injury, or is behaving unpredictably around people, other animals or children, this isn't the time for:

“Oh, he's just being a bit reactive.”

Or:

“He needs more socialisation.”

Or:

“He's just dominant.”

Or:

“He's only doing it because he's scared.”

Maybe.

But we don't know yet.

And safety comes first.

Understanding the motivation matters.

But it doesn't make the risk disappear.

Fear doesn't make aggression harmless

This is another important distinction.

You'll often hear:

“He's not aggressive. He's just scared.”

But a frightened dog can still be dangerous.

In fact, fear is a very common motivation for aggressive behaviour.

If a frightened dog believes it cannot escape, it may fight.

So:

“It's fear aggression.”

is not the same as:

“There's nothing to worry about.”

We can understand the emotion and take the behaviour seriously.

Those things aren't mutually exclusive.

Breed doesn't tell you everything

And before somebody starts typing:

“It's always the breed.”

No.

And before somebody else starts typing:

“Breed has absolutely nothing to do with behaviour.”

Also no.

Breed matters.

Genetics matter.

History matters.

Learning matters.

Environment matters.

Individual temperament matters.

Management matters.

The dog's physical characteristics matter when we're assessing potential consequences.

A bite from a tiny dog and a bite from a very powerful large dog can involve very different levels of physical risk.

That doesn't mean one dog's behaviour matters and the other's doesn't.

It means risk assessment needs to be realistic.

The social media problem

Here's something I've become increasingly uncomfortable with.

The internet loves dramatic dogs.

Videos of a dog calmly walking past another dog don't get millions of views.

A video of a dog exploding at the end of a lead?

THAT gets shared.

A dog quietly sniffing a hedge?

Not particularly exciting.

A dog launching itself at a window while somebody screams:

“THIS DOG IS DANGEROUS!”

Suddenly everyone is an expert.

And then the comments arrive.

“Dominance.”

“Bad breeding.”

“Needs an e-collar.”

“Alpha.”

“Aggressive breed.”

“That dog needs putting down.”

All based on a twelve-second video.

We don't know the history.

We don't know what happened immediately beforehand.

We don't know what happened afterwards.

We don't know whether the dog was frightened, frustrated, territorial, in pain, guarding something, responding to a trigger or simply reacting to a very specific situation.

We have a video.

Apparently that's now a behavioural qualification.

Truly aggressive dogs are not everywhere

This is perhaps the most important message I want people to take away.

If every dog displaying aggression were an inherently aggressive dog, we'd have a huge number of genuinely dangerous dogs walking around.

We don't.

We have millions of dogs.

Most are not wandering around looking for somebody to bite.

Most dogs want remarkably boring things.

Food.

Sleep.

Sniffing.

Comfort.

Play.

Their person.

A walk.

Maybe your sandwich.

Definitely your sandwich.

Aggressive behaviour exists.

Serious aggression exists.

Dangerous dogs exist.

But the existence of dangerous dogs doesn't mean every dog displaying aggressive behaviour is a dangerous dog.

That's an incredibly important distinction.

So what should we be looking at?

Rather than asking:

“Is my dog aggressive?”

I'd rather ask:

What exactly is the dog doing?

Who is it directed towards?

When does it happen?

What happens immediately beforehand?

What happens afterwards?

Can the dog disengage?

Can the dog recover?

How predictable is it?

How severe is it?

How much damage could the dog cause?

Has there been contact?

Has there been injury?

Is the behaviour escalating?

Can the environment be managed safely?

What is the dog's history?

Could pain or another medical issue be contributing?

That's a much more useful conversation than:

“He's aggressive.”

Sometimes the answer really is: this dog is dangerous

I'm deliberately including this because I think dog trainers sometimes become so worried about labelling dogs that we swing too far the other way.

We shouldn't.

Sometimes a dog is dangerous.

Sometimes a dog has demonstrated a serious capacity to cause harm.

Sometimes management needs to be extremely strict.

Sometimes professional behaviour support is necessary.

Sometimes veterinary investigation is necessary.

Sometimes legal requirements apply.

And sometimes difficult decisions have to be made.

We don't help anyone by pretending otherwise.

Understanding a dog isn't the same thing as excusing a dog's behaviour.

Compassion and safety can exist in the same sentence.

So, aggressive?

Maybe.

But tell me what the dog actually did.

That's the bit I'm interested in.

Because:

“My dog is aggressive.”

doesn't tell me enough.

Whereas:

“My dog has bitten two people when approached while eating and has broken the skin.”

tells me quite a lot.

And:

“My dog growls when unfamiliar people lean over him but has never attempted contact and will move away when given space.”

tells me something completely different.

Both involve aggression.

They are not the same problem.

And pretending they are doesn't help either dog.

Aggression is a behaviour, not a personality

This is the bit I'd like to leave you with.

A dog isn't born with a little label attached saying:

“Hello. I'm Dave. I'm aggressive.”

Behaviour develops.

Behaviour has causes.

Behaviour has consequences.

Behaviour can be learned.

Behaviour can change.

And sometimes behaviour tells us something important about how a dog is feeling.

So yes:

Take aggression seriously.

Take bites seriously.

Take threats seriously.

All capable of causing serious injury seriously.

Don't dismiss dangerous behaviour as “just communication”.

But at the same time:

Don't turn every growl, bark, snap or lunge into evidence that you've got a canine serial killer living in your kitchen.

Because that's not behaviour analysis.

That's fear.

And fear isn't a particularly good trainer.

Because sometimes a growl is the dog's version of:

“Mate, I would really rather you didn't do that.”

And honestly, that's useful information.

Useful doesn't mean harmless.

A growl is not evidence that you've got a dangerous dog, but neither should we dismiss it. Every dog has teeth, and every dog is capable of causing injury if a situation escalates far enough. The job is to understand why the dog is feeling the need to growl and what we can do to prevent that situation from escalating.

I'd much rather have a dog who can communicate discomfort with a growl than one who has learned that growling gets punished and biting works better.

And finally...

If your dog growls because you took their favourite toy, they're not necessarily plotting your assassination. Growls are just noise. Its a minisual part of a dogs coumuncation.

If they bark at the postman, they're not necessarily planning a coup.

If they lunge at another dog, they haven't necessarily joined a canine street gang.

The answer probably isn't to declare war.

It's to understand why they think they need to vocalise their feelings

If you're reading this because you're worried about your own dog...

If you've started thinking “I think my dog is aggressive”, please don't immediately assume you've got a dangerous or broken dog. You may have a dog who is frightened, frustrated, overwhelmed, in pain, guarding something, struggling to cope, or simply using a behaviour that has worked for them in the past. That doesn't mean the behaviour should be ignored, particularly if there has been a bite or a genuine risk of injury, but it does mean there is a lot more to understand before we put a label on the dog. Try not to panic, and don't punish the warning signs because you're frightened of what they mean. Instead, take the behaviour seriously, put sensible safety and management in place, and get help from someone who will look at the whole dog and the circumstances, rather than simply declaring your dog “aggressive”. Your dog isn't sitting there plotting your downfall, and you haven't necessarily failed them. There is a problem to understand, and problems can be worked with. One behaviour doesn't have to become your dog's entire identity.