There are many situations where your dog can potentially become aggressive. I will try and unravel a common situation that can answer the question, "Why is my dog aggressive?"
Dog to Dog Aggression
A common situation where your dog can quickly go from being calm and docile to becoming an aggresive dog, is when your dog meets up with other dogs, whether on a routine walk around the neighborhood or at the local park.
When encountering dog to dog aggression, you need to be mindful to listen and watch your dog's reactions. Here are some basic reasons why your usually docile pet can become an aggresive dog:
Many times we as dog owners can come to the assumption that our aggresive dog is acting this way due to hyper energy, natural curiosity or over-eagerness. It's important to note in answering the question of "why is my dog aggressive?" to understand what our dog is actually experiencing and feeling.
When a dog meets a new, unfamiliar dog, you need to watch your dog very closely. As soon as you sense your dog is becoming stress or anxious, you should step in and intervene before the situation becomes anymore heightened. For an aggresive dog, it’s best to keep in mind your dog’s age, temperament, general health, and preferences when thinking about what way you want to intervene with your aggresive dog. Here are some ways you can manage your aggresive dog when meeting new dogs for the first time:
Be calm and assertive
Why is my dog aggressive? Though we don’t always realize it, our dog is very in tune with how we are feeling. They can sense our emotions, and then act them out, but usually with more intensity. If we are feeling nervous or stressed, you can be your dog will notice this and then start to act out these nervous feelings. So keep watch on your own inner feelings and keep them in check to keep your aggresive dog calm.
Ignore
Teach your dog how to simply ignore other dogs. When you see another dog, you can simply ignore him and move on past him. This works best if you avert your eyes from both dog and the dog’s owner. Just keep your eyes looking forward and keep walking at a normal pace. Your dog will learn that when you see other dogs, you avoid them rather than confront them. You don’t want to crowd your dog while walking him as if he feels trapped between you and the other dog, he may instinctively react in a defensive manner.
Do not suddenly stand still and try to tug your dog away from the other dog. Move away to the side and he will come alongside with you. By doing this, you are creating a space between him and the other dog so he will not feel trapped and defensive. You also want to be sure your dog doesn’t get a visual fix or stare intensely at other dogs. You may notice your dog suddenly stands very still and slightly crouched forward, staring intently at another dog as it approaches. This is a stalking pose and it signals your dog is potentially waiting for the opportunity to pounce on another dog. You must not allow this as it is bad behavior in your dog.
Just move him to the side and ignore the other dog. If the other dog is blocking your path in some way, look for whatever path you can find around the other dog and continue walking past the other dog. Do not let your dog stare down the other dog or confront him, either through posturing or physical contact. This is a sure way to transform your calm dog into an aggresive dog.
Create a space or physically block the other dog
When meeting up with an unfamiliar dog along your way, you can create a space between your dog and the other oncoming dog. Move your dog across the road or into a driveway and wait until the other dog passes. Or you can move your dog behind some kind of natural barrier, such as a fire hydrant or a car. If there are no barriers, you can actually place your body between your dog and the unfamiliar dog.
In doing this you avoid a head-on confrontation between your dog and the oncoming dog. Of all these, the best option is to continue walking past the other dog, putting some space between you and the other dog and his owner. Any situation where you stop and wait will give your dog time to obsess and try and stare down the other dog leading to an aggresive dog response from you pet.
Facilitate neutral encounters
To keep your dog a calm dog instead of an aggresive dog, try to keep your dog to dog encounters brief and uneventful as possible. If when you encounter other dogs, nothing really happens, your pet will begin to accept coming across other dogs as nothing particularly interesting and simply move on. Consistenly fostering neutral greetings of other dogs will build his confidence and will be teaching him the right way to behave - i.e. avoid confrontation and move along - versus the wrong way to behave - i.e. becoming an aggresive dog.
Your dog will learn naturally to become more calm as he will not become excitable in seeing other dogs. If his previous experiences were very highly charged events for him, such as playing or having experienced a previous confrontation, he will be unable to contain himself when he sees another dog.
Do not let your dog practice aggressive behaviors when meeting other dogs
If your dog experiences a meeting with another dog that is very highly charged and excitable, it will get his adrenaline levels up. He will stay in this agitated state for quite awhile increasing the likelihood of an aggresive dog response to meeting another dog. If you dog becomes agitated during a walk, it’s best if you simply end the walk and take him back home. Once his is in this excited, agitated state, it is more likely he will react aggressively if coming across another dog and un-do all that you have taught him.
Keep your dog away from irresponsible owners and their irresponsible dogs
If you sense a dog owner seems fearful, irritable, frustrated, or excitable, its best to steer clear of them and their dogs, who will be sensing these emotions in their owners. Just say a quick hello and move on past them. Sometimes these types of people will want to stop you and meet your dog. Just ask them nicely to move on as your dog is easily excitable.
If you meet people that seem calm and friendly, you can let them meet your dog, but be sure to instruct them how best to greet your pet - i.e. no petting from above, if he jumps up, turn away from him, etc....
Use positive interrupts when meeting other dogs and keep meetings brief
When you do have your dog greet another dog, be sure to interrupt your dog’s meeting every now and again in a positive way to get him to refocus on you. You want to do this on regular intervals so your dog doesn’t begin to get over-excited and lose control.
These interruptions can be very short, only two or three seconds at a time. This can be done by gently moving your dog away from the other dog and giving him positive, calming statements, e.g. That’s a good boy. You may have to tug lightly on his leash at first as you move away. You want to give him a little treat once he moves away and is able to focus on you. If your dog will not respond to your initial tug and seems to be getting a focus on the other dog, you have probably waited a bit too long to interrupt and refocus him. The key here is to observe your dog closely and interrupt and refocus him before he gets too obsessed and focused on the other dog.
Some Dog breeds have a natural “aggressive stance” look about them that could stimulate an aggresive dog response from your pet
Here is a Finnish Spitz.
Notice the natural features
of this breed can make it
appear aggressive.
Certain breeds can have physical features that trigger an aggressive response. Features such as having ears that stand very straight and tall, or where the dog’s coat is very bristly and stands up, or they have a tail that is unusually long and postured upwards, can look like an aggressive posture to your dog. It’s best just to steer clear of these types of breeds.
Desensitize your dog to other dogs - The trick here is to practice getting your dog to focus on you as the owner rather than on another dog.
A good way to do this is to find some more relaxed, naturally docile, low energy dogs for your dog to meet in a supervised and controlled way. Have a friend interact with the other dog to keep him focused and engaged on your friend and not on your dog. Take your dog some distance away and get his attention by saying his name. When he looks at you, give praise and a treat and move a few steps forward. Be careful not to move too close to the other dog too quickly. You then let your dog sit and watch the other dog playing. If your dog can sit calmly and quietly, you can then move a few steps forward again.
When doing this, make these sessions short, rewarding and fun for your dog. In this way your dog can associate being with other dogs as being a calm, relaxed experience. If your dog begins to show any aggression or excitability, then it’s time to end the session before he becomes an aggresive dog.