Ever wondered why your otherwise friendly canine companion growls, barks or shows aggression toward strangers? Do you attribute it to an innate instinct to protect you? Hold on to your leashes because this episode of the Dog Aggression Answers podcast is about to debunk some of those popular myths. Join me, Scott Sheaffer, as we shatter preconceived notions and dig deeper into the misunderstood behavior of canine aggression. We'll tackle everything from the concept of anthropomorphizing to various forms of aggression, all while trying to understand the world from your dog's perspective.
Are you ready to explore the parallel between resource guarding and a jealous boyfriend? You'll find that, and more, as we discuss fascinating studies, including one involving three dogs reacting to an intruder breaking into their homes.
How does an owner's demeanor influence a dog's level of aggression? We'll dive into that too along with insights on diagnosing canine behavior and how to manage and treat aggression.
Our goal is not to merely survive our living experience with our dogs, but for both owner and dog to thrive. Join us, and let's get to the heart of the matter, one bark/growl at a time.
About Scott Sheaffer Scott Sheaffer, CCBC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA, is a certified dog behavior consultant who has worked with thousands of dog owners and their aggressive dogs. Scott specializes in the assessment and treatment of fear, anxiety, aggression, and phobias in dogs six months and older.
Disclaimer If you have a dog who is aggressive and dangerous to humans, it is important that you immediately consult directly with an experienced and certified canine behavior consultant who specializes in dog aggression to humans. Take proper measures to ensure that your dog is never in a position to injure anyone. The information presented in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is neither intended nor implied to replace the need for the direct involvement of an experienced and certified canine behavior consultant who specializes in dog aggression to humans. Scott Sheaffer, the Grumpy Dogs podcast and USA Dog Behavior, LLC, are not liable for any incidents or outcomes resulting from following the advice given in this podcast.
Ever wondered why your otherwise friendly canine companion growls, barks or shows aggression toward strangers? Do you attribute it to an innate instinct to protect you? Hold on to your leashes because this episode of the Dog Aggression Answers podcast is about to debunk some of those popular myths. Join me, Scott Sheaffer, as we shatter preconceived notions and dig deeper into the misunderstood behavior of canine aggression. We'll tackle everything from the concept of anthropomorphizing to various forms of aggression, all while trying to understand the world from your dog's perspective.
Are you ready to explore the parallel between resource guarding and a jealous boyfriend? You'll find that, and more, as we discuss fascinating studies, including one involving three dogs reacting to an intruder breaking into their homes.
How does an owner's demeanor influence a dog's level of aggression? We'll dive into that too along with insights on diagnosing canine behavior and how to manage and treat aggression.
Our goal is not to merely survive our living experience with our dogs, but for both owner and dog to thrive. Join us, and let's get to the heart of the matter, one bark/growl at a time.
About Scott Sheaffer Scott Sheaffer, CCBC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA, is a certified dog behavior consultant who has worked with thousands of dog owners and their aggressive dogs. Scott specializes in the assessment and treatment of fear, anxiety, aggression, and phobias in dogs six months and older.
Disclaimer If you have a dog who is aggressive and dangerous to humans, it is important that you immediately consult directly with an experienced and certified canine behavior consultant who specializes in dog aggression to humans. Take proper measures to ensure that your dog is never in a position to injure anyone. The information presented in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is neither intended nor implied to replace the need for the direct involvement of an experienced and certified canine behavior consultant who specializes in dog aggression to humans. Scott Sheaffer, the Grumpy Dogs podcast and USA Dog Behavior, LLC, are not liable for any incidents or outcomes resulting from following the advice given in this podcast.
Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA:
Welcome to the Dog Aggression Answers podcast. I'm your host, scott Schaefer. Today, we're talking about a topic that can be both scary and confusing Dog aggression to strangers Human strangers. Specifically, we're going to answer the question posed by the title of this episode Is your dog's aggression meant to protect you? In short, why is your dog acting the way they do with strangers in your home and even outside your home? Stay tuned. Hi, I'm Scott Schaefer and you're listening to the Dog Aggression Answers podcast. I've worked with thousands of aggressive dogs and their owners, and I'm certified by two international certifying organizations in dog behavior. In this podcast series, I'll explain why your dog is acting aggressively and provide recognized, science-based answers Things you can do to make things better. Understanding and addressing your dog's aggression will make living with your dog better and, let's not forget, improve your dog's life too.
Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA:
I found that most of the owners of aggressive dogs tell me the reason their dog is aggressive to strangers is that they are protecting them. Their dog is protecting them by strangers. We are talking about someone the dog is not familiar with or is uncomfortable with, in other words, typically people outside of the family. I like to remind everyone that the stranger the dog is barking at is 100% defined by the dog. They get all the votes in deciding who they think is a stranger or not. In other words, just because someone is your best friend doesn't mean your dog's going to think the same. Just because you love your sister who comes in from out of town doesn't mean your dog is going to be happy with her too. Why do most dog owners see their dog's aggression to strangers as protective of them? What exactly is the dog protecting them from, from being hit by the stranger? Possibly this can be answered with one word that may be new to you Anthropomorphize A-N-T-H-R-O-P-O-M-O-R-P-H-I-Z-E. It is a very important word and concept when it comes to dog behavior, especially aggression.
Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA:
In this context, it simply means to attribute human characteristics or behavior to an animal, in other words, to try to understand what dogs are doing. By what we might be thinking in that situation. I can tell you with many years and thousands of dogs have experienced this one will really get you in trouble most of the time when you observe your dog acting aggressively to strangers. It is only human nature to interpret it from a human perspective. I get that. It's our only reference. You might think someone my dog doesn't know is getting near me and my dog is acting aggressively, they must be protecting me. But if you think about it, it really is a self-centered view of the situation. But since the dog owner, you doesn't have another perspective. This is normal. It's all that you may know. To try to understand what's going on in the moment, in an effort to understand what is going on, this is probably the simplest path to making sense of the dog's behavior. But the reality is the dog is thinking something completely different and we're going to talk about that in this episode. Before we go on, let's talk for a second about what we mean by aggression.
Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA:
When I intake new clients, I ask them a million questions about their dog's behavior. One of my questions is to ask about their dog's historical displays of aggression toward human strangers. I commonly hear responses like well, my dog does growl at strangers at our home, but nothing beyond this, so it's not really a problem. Or I might hear when I take my dog out on a walk, she will bark and lunge a little at the people as they walk by us on the other side of the street. She's just barking, so there is really no concern. Or I frequently hear my dog has never really bitten anyone? Not really. He has left some red marks on people's legs and some bruises, but has never really bitten anyone, so I'm not overly worried. The reality is that all of these things these things I just mentioned that owners say are dog aggression and displays of aggression Scrawling, barking, biting, even biting without tooth puncture and lunging are overt signs of aggression.
Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA:
It's just on a continuum, some more severe than others. Many dog owners naively believe that since no one had to get medical detention, no one had to call the ambulance because of their dog's overt displays of aggression, that it couldn't really be that bad. There's actually an element of denial here by the owners. Yes, these behaviors are better than the dog biting someone so severely that they have to be hospitalized. But we're really splitting hairs here. To be honest. The jump from growling to barking, to lunging, to severe biting can be spanned easily and quickly by a dog.
Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA:
So is your dog protecting you when they show one of these forms of aggression when around strangers? Whether it's just growling all the way up to biting? The short answer is no, they really aren't protecting you. There's so much bad information about this on the internet that drives me crazy. Dr Google has really caused a lot of misunderstanding here. Quite frankly, I am absolutely astonished how many dog trainers really don't understand this basic concept. The problem is and this is important if you don't understand the root causes of aggression, then how can it be possible to effectively treat it? If you're treating the aggression from a perspective that the dog is protecting the owner, that's gonna and it has to mess up and distort proper treatment as a result. I see dog trainers and board and train facilities use improper or contraindicated techniques to treat aggression to humans by dogs. When they assume that the dog is and this is almost painful for me to say out loud when they assert something like your dog is being dominant in protecting you and not letting you be the pack leader, that's what's causing this human aggression. There is just nothing correct about any part of that sentiment, and treatment based on that is almost guaranteed to make things worse, which is why certified behavior consultants see so many of these dogs after they have gone through one of these programs.
Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA:
Before we go on, I do want to interject one important comment here about a particular type of dog aggression called owner resource guarding. This type of aggression can also masquerade as protective looking aggression, and it is more common than most people think. Let me tell you what it is. Simply stated, it's when a dog acts aggressively when they are near the owner and another human approaches the owner. It does look and sound a lot like the dog is being protected, doesn't it? However, the dog is actually simply not wanting to share their owner, similar to how dogs act aggressively when someone approaches their food bowl when they are eating. The dog is simply attempting to keep an approaching human away from their owner. Why? Because the owner is a valued resource to the dog, who feeds them, gives them treats, plays with them, pets them, etc.
Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA:
We most frequently see this behavior when the owner is sitting with the dog on a sofa, for example, and someone comes and sits down on the same sofa. Dogs who are resource guarding their owner will frequently growl, bark or even bite. In this situation, they are telling the person sitting on the sofa get away from me. I am enjoying my owner right now and I don't want to share him. If we were off this sofa I would be fine with you, but not here. This is actually a fairly easy thing to differentiate and diagnose versus simple human aggression that we have been speaking about in this episode, and we know that because the dog doesn't do these behaviors when the owner is not nearby.
Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA:
Another diagnostic tool is that the dog will commonly act aggressively with both strangers and people they know well, versus just strangers when they are resource guarding. Dogs with this kind of human aggression that we have been talking about in this episode so far don't show aggression to their owners. Normally, owner resource guarding is absolutely just a selfish behavior and, like I said before, it's really very common. A lot of people just don't see it. The best analogy I have and this is a good one, I use it all the time is that of a jealous boyfriend. Boys aren't really protecting their cute girlfriend when they are acting and behaving jealously. They just don't want to share, and that's what dogs who are resource guarding are doing with their owners.
Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA:
The next logical question is then what is the dog doing when they are acting aggressively to a stranger? What is their goal? The short answer is they are scared of this stranger and want the stranger to stay away from them. The two key words in that last sentence are from them, stay away from them, not the owner, from them, the dog. The dog is not thinking about the owner, just themselves. The fact that the dog is positioned close to the owner frequently makes it look like the owner is part of the equation, but they're not. Truth is, if the dog's owner wasn't there with their dog, the dog would still act aggressively to the stranger. They want the stranger to stay away from them and are not concerned about the owner.
Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA:
There is an extremely interesting study done a few years ago with three dogs regarding this kind of behavior. The setup was for a scary looking man to run through the front door of a dog owner's home, with the owners and their dogs sitting comfortably and peacefully in their living room. The researchers wanted to observe what dogs would commonly do in this scenario, whereas stranger breaks into the home. There was one interesting and fascinating twist to this simple experiment. When the scary looking man unexpectedly bolted into the living room, he left the front door open. When the men entered the homes of these dog owners all three of the dogs, three different cases here, three different tests all three of the dogs immediately started barking aggressively, which was expected. But can you guess what all three of the dogs did next? All three dogs ran out the open front door. That's right. None of them was interested in hanging around to protect their owner or their family. They were thinking about one thing Get me out of here and away from this scary guy. It just absolutely proves the case regarding the myth of dogs protecting their owners.
Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA:
Did you know that your demeanor with your dog when they are confronted with a stranger who is getting too close for their comfort can influence the level of their aggression, but not their motivation? And their motivation is fear of the approaching person, as we know. Let me give you some examples of this. If you're the type of person who reacts with fear when your dog starts to become aggressive to strangers this is common this can exacerbate your dog's arousal, thus making the aggression worse. This typically manifests in tugging at the leash by the owner and a stream of commands in an attempt to stop the behavior Leave it, look at me, stop, sit, all that kind of stuff. The second example I have. On the other hand, if you're reasonably calm when your dog is concerned by an approaching stranger and your dog generally is more confident when you're near them, this could result in a lessening of your dog's aggressive display. Remember, your behavior can only influence the level of their aggression, not the root cause, motivation for it, which is fear. Your dog isn't protecting you, but when he is protecting himself. You can affect that level of aggression by how you are acting around your dog.
Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA:
I hope this information today helps to dispel some of the myths surrounding why dogs act aggressively to strangers. It is not to protect their owners. It is to simply scare away what they perceive to be a scary person and to scare this scary person away from them. The real goal of dogs is to protect who themselves. When dog owners and dog trainers continue with the notion that this aggressive behavior is protective of the owner, it almost always makes the dog's aggressive behavior look almost noble and good, which can certainly get in the way of proper treatment. If you have a dog who is acting aggressively to strangers and possibly you thought they are doing it to protect you or your family, then it might be time to look into getting proper treatment for this behavior from an experienced and certified dog behavior consultant who specializes in human aggression. In upcoming episodes, I will be providing more information on diagnosing dog behavior, issues surrounding your dog's aggression, how to manage your aggressive dog and concepts for treating the root cause, which we know is almost always fear.
Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA:
Thanks for listening. If you haven't already, please subscribe to this podcast on any of the popular podcast players. There are a couple of buttons at the bottom of the landing page on dogaggressionanswerscom if you'd like to leave me a message, and I always like getting those messages. I try to answer all messages and always appreciate your input. Of course, before I sign off, I want to remind you that the information presented in this podcast is for educational purposes only. If you have a dog who is aggressive and dangerous to humans or animals, please consult directly with a certified dog behavior consultant who specializes in dog aggression, and always take proper measures to ensure that your dog is never in a position to injure any human or animal. And I'll see you next time. Thank you for joining me today. Before you go, please subscribe if you haven't already. If not for yourself, do it for your dog. If you find these episodes helpful, please leave a review. I'll see you next time as we continue your journey of addressing your dog's aggression. Now go hug your dog.