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CarolineLovesDogs
Question...
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Last edited by CarolineLovesDogs on Thu Jul 02, 2015 11:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Dibbythedog
- Posts: 214
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- Location: Middlesex West London
Re: Same Sex Aggression
Thats a good question.
I would think its to do with rivalry, ultimately , the aim of animals is to reproduce and members of the same sex are in competition with each other. Although our dogs are domesticated and most of neutered , i would think they still retain the same instinct as their wild cousins .
I would think its to do with rivalry, ultimately , the aim of animals is to reproduce and members of the same sex are in competition with each other. Although our dogs are domesticated and most of neutered , i would think they still retain the same instinct as their wild cousins .
Re: Same Sex Aggression
Yep, its all about competition for resources.
Dogs and bitches are not natural competitors unless times are VERY hard, but same sexes are, particularly this is apparent when you consider dogs as a gregarious social species rather than a pack forming species - as in they form loose groups and associations as and when it suits them to do so, but those groups and associations are fluid and can often change.~
Disagreements and grumbles happen and one dog or ***** may decide they will not tolerate another, any other or a specific other, within their space - and theres the space for that to happen without too much harm, though a persistant 'problem' dog could be killed, its rare for things to go that far because that level of aggression and fighting is so expensive!
We don't provide dogs with much space, and we often cram together several dogs in one home, so then the disagreements and grumbles you may get in a feral group, are hugely magnified and you are much more likely to have trouble.
Then of course we often fiddle, we like to make things 'fair' so we try to even things up... and this can really cause issues if a pair or group of dogs have figured out how to manage the resources between them so that things can stay calm and then a human wades in and starts meddling with that, ick!
Dogs and bitches are not natural competitors unless times are VERY hard, but same sexes are, particularly this is apparent when you consider dogs as a gregarious social species rather than a pack forming species - as in they form loose groups and associations as and when it suits them to do so, but those groups and associations are fluid and can often change.~
Disagreements and grumbles happen and one dog or ***** may decide they will not tolerate another, any other or a specific other, within their space - and theres the space for that to happen without too much harm, though a persistant 'problem' dog could be killed, its rare for things to go that far because that level of aggression and fighting is so expensive!
We don't provide dogs with much space, and we often cram together several dogs in one home, so then the disagreements and grumbles you may get in a feral group, are hugely magnified and you are much more likely to have trouble.
Then of course we often fiddle, we like to make things 'fair' so we try to even things up... and this can really cause issues if a pair or group of dogs have figured out how to manage the resources between them so that things can stay calm and then a human wades in and starts meddling with that, ick!
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
Re: Same Sex Aggression
Emms's explanation is right on the button, as we would expect.
Here is one of my analogies:
A group of men male-bonding in a bar, supping beer, talking about football, perfectly at ease with each other.
In walks a beautiful woman.
Male-bonding becomes posturing and rivalry.
A group of women in a similar situation will act similarly if a gorgeous bloke walks in.
But which group is less at ease to begin with????
And that is why b itches have a shorter fuse with each other than male dogs.
Here is one of my analogies:
A group of men male-bonding in a bar, supping beer, talking about football, perfectly at ease with each other.
In walks a beautiful woman.
Male-bonding becomes posturing and rivalry.
A group of women in a similar situation will act similarly if a gorgeous bloke walks in.
But which group is less at ease to begin with????
And that is why b itches have a shorter fuse with each other than male dogs.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog
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