Fear aggression

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evaluv
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:23 pm
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Fear aggression

Post by evaluv »

I was at the dog park with Kira and Charlie. At first there was a group of 5 retriever, all very respectful towards Kira. Then came a couple of inquisitive puppies. They wouldn't leave her alone, and she snarled at a few of them out of fear when they had cornered her under a bench. She's never shown aggression toward another dog, but with the heat and the amount of time we were there I think wore her nerves down. (my mother had dropped us off because she had an interview in the area) I couldn't remove her from the park because I had to stay inside the area to watch Charlie (park rules).

About twice she actually snarled and snapped when dogs got too close and looked her in the eye. The initial retrievers had been very polite and had respected that she didn't want to be bothered, while the ones she feared had been very inquisitive.

I didn't in any way comfort her to support her behavior. She's never been a complete happy-go-lucky dog in large canine crowds, but she usually will make a bud or too, and get along well.

Also, two of the dogs that she had snarled at, she darted out from under the bench, chased them for about 7 feet (they were playing fetch) barking at them in a very high-pitched bark I've never heard her utter. Then she would come back and resume her position.

I don't exactly feel comfortable bringing her back to the dog park, but I don't want to leave this 'problem' unsolved. Can anyone give me any tips to make her more at ease with dogs, or explain why this started so suddenly to me?
evaluv
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:23 pm
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Post by evaluv »

NEVERMIND, I figured out the reason after reading this article:

http://www.flyingdogpress.com/sayhi.html
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Nettle
Posts: 10753
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:40 pm

Post by Nettle »

Absolutely spot-on :D Well done for understanding
katowaggytail
Posts: 394
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 11:37 am

Post by katowaggytail »

Excellent article.
DoggoneGA

Post by DoggoneGA »

Yes, very good article! We had a discussion about "aggression" on a Whippet mail list a few months back. Someone was confused about what is aggression and what is reinforcing dominance. I came up with this definition:

If the "attack" stops when the "victim" submits, it's not aggression - it's reinforcing dominance. If the attack continues AFTER the victim submits - it's aggression. What makes trained fighting dogs so dangerous is that they are conditioned and trained to continue attacking even if the other dog submits and stops fighting.

One thing that can lead to problem dogs is the inability of people to recognize who is the victim. People have a tendency to prefer the "underdog" - literally. And they want to correct the "aggressor". Quite often it's actually the "victim" that should be corrected!
Mollysmom
Posts: 317
Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2008 9:24 pm
Location: Walla Walla, WA, USA

Post by Mollysmom »

I LOL'd a bit at that article, I'm glad I realized quite some time ago that Molly is rude and have taken measures to protect her from herself (she's rather a lot like that one little girl everyone knows who runs up and bear hugs random strangers) :?
I also appreciate that the author took care to point out that not all dog "fights" are intended to cause injury... sometimes its just a bunch of noise intended to threaten rude dogs into behaving.

well written.
~* Proud Mommy of a Mix Breed *~
[url=http://www.myspace.com/mollymae2004]Molly's Myspace Page[/url]
"If your dog doesn't like someone you probably shouldn't either." - Unknown
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