Dogs with Fear Aggression
Fear is one of the most common reasons for aggression in dogs. Fear can be genetic or it can be acquired because of a traumatic incident. These days, there are many ways to treat fear aggression in dogs. Sometimes the prognosis is better than others.
When fear is genetic, meaning it is a personality trait passed down to the dog from its dam and sire, it is much more difficult to remediate. Some breeds are genetically more fearful than others, too! Genetic fear is a little more generalized than traumatic incident fear meaning that dogs with genetic fear tend to find almost anything as something to be afraid of. It also depends on how soon remediation begins. A young genetically fearful puppy can usually learn to cope, with remediation, much more easily than an older dog that has begun practicing destructive ways to deal with his fear.
While genetic fearfulness can be mild, moderate or severe, there is some ability to help a young dog to cope through many training approaches that include leadership and desensitization, alternative approaches including homeopathics, essential oils, pheromones, flower essences, healing touch, and T-Touch. There are other physical support approaches such as wraps that “swaddle” a dog to help redirect the dog’s attention away from the fearful object. And there are medical interventions, as well.
Dogs that have suffered a traumatic incident can respond similarly as humans might with PTSD. While we have become much more aware of PTSD because of returning soldiers, PTSD can be caused by any traumatic incident. In dogs, it is similar because the dog might now have a severe fear of a specific stimulus such as a car ride after having been in a car accident or fear of other dogs after having been attacked by another dog. Dogs with a strong and stable temperament can have a traumatic incident and be totally unaffected or recover very fast.
Treatments should be considered similarly for either genetic fearfulness or traumatic incident fearfulness with one huge exception. A desensitization program for a dog with traumatic incident fear may, in fact, continue or heighten the fear instead of reducing the fear. Who would send a veteran back into war to cure PTSD? This is not always the case, but it certainly can be. Because we cannot “counsel” dogs like we might a human, each dog should be evaluated by both certified professionals in canine behavior AND veterinarians. Remediation should be an integrative approach.
In almost all cases, a combination of approaches must be taken to see any change. As I say, there is never a “silver bullet” or just one thing that will change a dog’s behavior. Most importantly, we must evaluate each dog to see what the best program is for them and remember it takes time, dedication and a commitment to treatments to see changes.
Caption for photo: “This dog’s tight mouth, hard eye and forward ears are signs that he has learned defensive aggressive behavior to deal with is fear.”
