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Strangers and the Family Dog
Myth: A dog wagging its tail will not bite.
Thor, a 1 1/2-year-old uncastrated male Rottweiler, allows the 3-year-old child in the house to climb all over him, take his toys away, and feed him by hand. Lately, however, Thor has been threatening people making deliveries and, in fact, has chased several out of the yard. His owners are getting worried because he used to just bark at visitors at the door and would relax and be friendly after the guests entered the house. One night, however, Thor suddenly growled at a guest who had been in the house for a few hours when the visitor got up and walked across the living room. Thor's owners are concerned that there is something wrong with their otherwise friendly dog.
Princess, a 6-year-old spayed female German shepherd, barks and growls at strangers who come to her home or approach her when she is being walked. She is very friendly toward her owners and people she knows well. Princess wags her tail when she sees the neighbors across the street but usually lowers her tail, head and ears as they approach. If reached for, she growls and snaps at them. Princess barks when the doorbell rings and when strangers enter the house. She backs away, continuing to bark, as they come in and snaps and growls if they reach for her.
Aggressive Behavior
Aggression is usually thought of as an all-encompassing, enduring characteristic of a dog's "temperament." A dog that has growled or bitten often is described as "mean" or "vicious" or as having an "aggressive" personality. In reality, however, most dogs that show aggressive behavior do so in only a few circumstances and are otherwise unaggressive. Any dog might exhibit aggressive behavior under certain circumstances but is unlikely to exhibit aggression all the time. For example, in the situations described above, Princess barks, growls, and snaps only when strangers approach her. Thor shows aggression only toward people who come onto his owners' property. Both dogs are always very friendly to their owners.
Aggression is usually considered a negative characteristic. Certainly, a dog that growls at, snaps at, or bites a person must be considered a threat, but that does not mean that the dog is abnormal. In the natural world of dogs and other canines, such as wolves and foxes, aggression serves a number of important functions. Aggressive threats can be social signals among members of a group. A growl or threatening stare can warn one individual that another has possession of a bone or is "guarding" a particular area. Threats and fights between two adult males or between two adult females can cause one of them to leave the group and subsequently establish a family unit of its own. Barking and growling also are used to alert members of the group that an intruder is approaching. Aggressive behaviors are used to protect territory or pups. Some of the components of aggression, such as chasing and biting, are also displayed when canines hunt, capture, and kill prey for food.
Genetic Selection for Specific Components of Aggressive Behavior
One of the reasons people began domesticating the dog was undoubtedly for the dog's protective value. Dogs at human settlements probably barked whenever strangers approached and thus alerted the occupants. This natural tendency to bark at strangers could have been selected for keeping only the "good" watchdogs. Selection for alerting, protective, and territorial behaviors led to the development of specific breeds of dogs that were likely to engage in these behaviors. Selection for stalking and chasing components of predatory behaviors plus selection against catching and killing has resulted in breeds that herd livestock. Sheep-guarding dogs have been selected for their propensity to alert shepherds to approaching intruders. In some breeds, such as tracking and hunting dogs, the searching phases of the predatory sequence have been selected.
Territorial/Protective Aggression
Most owners report that their dogs bark or run to the door or edge of the yard when an unfamiliar person or dog approaches. Usually, these dogs only signal the approach of the stranger and do not attempt to bite. Some dogs, however, bark threateningly, growl, and/or lunge at strangers. They may calm down after the visitor has entered the home or continue to watch the person and threaten again if the person reenters a room, moves quickly, or approaches the owner. Territorial/protective behavior, when it occurs, usually begins to develop after the dog is 1 year of age.
It is not unusual for a dog to wag its tail while threatening a stranger. A wagging tail is a greeting signal, but when combined with threats, indicates that the dog is ambivalent about the situation. The dog is giving a mixed signal consisting of both threat and greeting. Ambivalent signals are common among animals and are not abnormal. A wagging tail, however, does not mean that the dog will not bite. It is prudent to pay attention to everything that the dog is doing.
It is unwise to assume that dogs that "only threaten at the door" will always calm down after the visitor enters, nor is it safe to assume that dogs that "only bark" threateningly will not some day escalate their threats.
Confining a territorial/protective dog when strangers visit reduces the danger of injury but does not change the dog's attitude toward strangers. Allowing a leashed dog to continue barking, growling, or lunging at a stranger is likely to worsen the problem. Training a dog to attack to gain control of the aggressive behavior is unnecessary, illogical, and could be dangerous. It is more appropriate to work directly on conditioning the dog to inhibit its aggressive tendencies.
Most dogs can be taught to greet strangers in a relaxed and friendly manner when the owner is present. It is generally more effective to teach the dog a "right response" at the door than it is to only correct or punish a wrong one. Some "right" responses include sitting or lying down, being quiet on command, and assuming a generally relaxed attitude. Often, the only way to initially get correct response is to set up a situation whereby an approaching stranger does not elicit the aggressive response.
The first step is to teach the dog to sit, lie down, or stay reliably when no strangers are present. Next, the owner should practice getting the dog to do these responses to staged doorbell rings or knocks at the door. A high-quality tape recording of these sounds or the use of family members and neighbors can be helpful in this training. During many sessions, the dog should be conditioned to sit, lie down, or relax when each of the following events occurs: the door opens partially, a stranger is in view through a partially open door, a stranger is seen at a distance through an open doorway, and finally a stranger approaches and then enters and moves about the home. Eventually, the dog can be conditioned to engage in nonaggressive responses to the normal approach, knocking, entrance, and movement of strangers.
For safety, initially it might be necessary to have the dog leashed, muzzled, or wearing a dog head-halter while some of these procedures are practiced. Depending on the severity of the problem and the owner's capabilities, professional assistance may be necessary.
Sometimes, if a dog's level of aggression is low, a startling stimulus such as a loud noise may interrupt or inhibit barking and allow the owner to reward nonaggressive behavior. If the dog's level of aggression is high, a loud noise is unlikely to be effective and may even cause the dog to become more aggressive. Owners should be aware that physical punishment may cause the dog to direct its aggression toward them.
Fear-Induced Aggression
Some dogs growl and bite when they are afraid. A dog may perceive a person who is reaching to pet it or who moves suddenly in its direction as threatening and frightening. A fearful dog generally backs away as it barks. Its tail may be lowered or tucked under its belly, and its ears may be flattened against the head.
A dog may be afraid of only specific people (e.g., unfamiliar men or young children). The stimuli that trigger fear-induced aggression are often similar to those that elicit territorial and protective behavior. The presence or approach of a person, or sometimes a particular behavior of a person (reaching or grabbing), will elicit fear. The aggression may occur only when the dog is cornered or confined.
Treatment of fear-induced aggression first requires that the stimuli eliciting the fear be identified. These stimuli must then be gradually introduced in such a manner that the dog is not frightened. The dog can be rewarded with food or praise for a relaxed, non-fearful response as the stimuli are gradually presented. Techniques for treating fear of people are described in the pamphlet The Fearful Dog: Easing Its Fright.
Great care must be taken when treating dogs with fear-induced aggression to avoid being bitten. A punishment or correction technique is unlikely to be effective and may even worsen the problem by increasing the dog's fear.
Dogs that are aggressive in territorial, protective, or even dominant contexts are often also fearful. Sometimes, these dogs will wait until a person turns and walks away before advancing and/or biting. These dogs appear to be inhibited when a person is directly facing them. When the person turns or passes by, the dog is less fearful and advances aggressively.
The Use of Muzzles and Dog Head-Halters
The appropriate use of a muzzle or dog head-halter can be an effective part of the treatment plan. These items alone will not solve the problem but will reduce the possibility of a bite and provide a margin of safety that increases the likelihood of successful treatment. By preventing bites, muzzles and head-halters may save the dog's life. This equipment may be particularly helpful on walks where unexpected persons are encountered or strangers cannot be avoided.
Muzzles and head-halters used on walks, rides in a car, or for more than 10 minutes must allow the dog to pant. This is particularly important in warm weather. A dog controls its body temperature by panting. If it cannot pant, it could experience hypothermia or heat stroke.
Some dogs are routinely aggressive when examined or handled by a veterinarian or veterinary technician. If owners are unable to treat or control the aggression, the dog should be accustomed to wearing a comfortable, secure muzzle for short periods at home, on walks, and for rides in the car. Thereafter, the dog should wear the muzzle when it is taken to the veterinarian. Often, properly muzzled dogs will allow examination without any struggle or threats and thus the office visit is less traumatic.
Pack-Facilitated Aggression
Many behaviors of animals, including aggression, are socially facilitated. Such behaviors are more likely to occur with greater intensity when an animal is in a group than when alone. For example, a dog that is aggressive toward strangers may be more aggressive in the presence of another dog. A particularly dangerous situation arises when a group of dogs has a history of threatening people. Under certain circumstances, a group of dogs could severely injure or even kill a person or another animal. Owners of groups of dogs, especially large dogs, should be aware of this potential danger and take the necessary precautions to prevent such dogs from encountering strangers in an unsupervised situation.
Summary
Owners of dogs that exhibit aggressive behaviors should take maximum safety precautions and seek guidance from qualified professionals. Back to top
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