Typically when you think of aggression you may picture a certain breed of dog, standing on his toes with his teeth bared, growling, barking and lunging towards a human or another animal. While these are all signs of a dog’s body language that he should not be messed with at that point, it does not always point in the direction of true canine aggression. In fact, true aggression is an incredibly rare thing among dogs, while the large majority of dogs who are labeled as dangerous or aggressive are simply acting out in the only way they know as a defensive measure. This is a fear response, and can stem from things such as a lack of, or improper socialization to a past of abuse and pain. Most of these dogs do not trust, or do not trust easily. Respect must be taken to help these dogs through their aggressive actions to help them become relaxed, safe canine companions.
It’s In The Context
Judging and examining the context of any dog’s behavior is essential to figuring out the cause so that you can begin fixing the situation. Dogs are not randomly aggressive, nor do they attack unprovoked. When dog bites happen and humans claimed the dog was unpredictable, it’s typically a case of the human not reading the dog’s body language and context of the situation. For example, a dog bites a child during play, and the adult claims the dog was vicious. What probably happened was that the child was playing with a dog who was either in pain, sick, or wanted to be left alone for one reason or another. The dog gave his signals, such as yawning, averting his gaze, showing the whites of his eyes called whale eye, and maybe even growling. When these are ignored, the dog feels threatened and takes action to protect himself, biting the child. This could have been fear of being hurt by the child, or maybe the child was too loud, too fast and rambunctious for the dog. It’s all in the context of the situation.