My rescue dog is very dog aggressive, is it possible to discern the motivation or the “why” behind the behavior? I always assumed she was fear aggressive, but when she’s off leash she will charge other dogs, sniff faces for like 5-10 seconds and then attack and pin. She screeches like a banshee and shows lots of displacement(rolling around on the ground) over stimulation behaviors at about 50ft. Why???? Is she just poorly socialized? (She’s a rescue)
It’s not really possible to fully know why our dogs may be displaying these behaviors. With some dogs when we observe their body language, their pattern of behavior, and what causes the behavior to increase or decrease, we might be able to infer where their behavior stems. For dogs, their behavior typically stems from a variety of different factors: genetics, early socialization experiences, and other lived experiences. It is typically a combination of all three factors rather than any one factor.
Fortunately, we don’t have to understand exactly why our dogs are displaying these behaviors to modify them! My first recommendations for dogs displaying patterns of behavior typically called “reactive” or “aggressive” are muzzle training, careforreactivedogs.com, and a qualified in person positive reinforcement based trainer.
-Mod Frost
