Aggression on the rise?

I think that's right on, mudpuppy... I agree 100%.

Me, too, mudpuppy - one of the reasons we sometimes tell the owners at our playgroup to sit on their hands, and not to panic unless we do)  But, at unsupervised parks, there's no one to tell owners what's normal and what isn't.

For example, a man I occasionally meet at the dog park. He has a typical wild adolescent pup. The dog would every now and again play too rough and get a "you're rude" growl and snap. It was obvious to me that the pup was being well-schooled in manners by the other dogs and needed to come to the dog park often during this period of his life. However, the man was quite upset every time this happened and would yell at the growling dog, and drag his dog away. He said he was coming less and less often to the park because of how "mean" the other dogs were to his dog. This dog is clearly going to turn into a rude adult that provokes other dogs into aggressive behavior.

Another dog ruined by an owner.  I get to see this all the time too.

Yeah.  When I have a puppy, I deliberately have them meet safe adult dogs who will tell them off for being obnoxious by using body language or a quick "air snap".  I want my dogs to understand when to back off.
When Sequoyah first came home at age 10 weeks, she was confronted by my oldest dog, Dancer, who thought she rushed up a little too quickly to wiggle and greet.  Dancer gave her a ruh-ruh-ruh in no uncertain terms.  To this day, Sequoyah, who is rather a punk with the rest of the pack, leaves Miss Dancer alone, or greets in a verrrrry respectful manner)  I'm sure Sioux and Maska wish they had taken Dancer's hint and done the same thing...[sm=uhoh.gif]
We regularly "graduate" insolent pups from our puppy play group up to the rock 'n' roll play groups, so they learn that they aren't always the big dog in the pack.
 

Yeah. When I have a puppy, I deliberately have them meet safe adult dogs who will tell them off for being obnoxious by using body language or a quick "air snap". I want my dogs to understand when to back off.

Well done.  I like how dogs remember that certain dogs prefer different greeting styles.  There's one dog that is a bit full of herself but she insists that proper greetings start with a butt sniff, then the muzzle sniff can continue.  Anything else gets a quick turnaround, a small growl and the new dog must start over again.

In response to the original poster:

Yes, I believe dogs are generally more aggressive than they were. I've owned dogs for 35 years, trained an Obedience Champion and most of my other dogs to CDX plus level including a Chow boy. I have also run Obedience classes and had out of control large dogs to train as a last resort before they were given blue juice.(PTS)

My dogs are never given a command I can't make them obey instantly, if I'm not in a position to do that I keep my mouth shut. They get one command then get put into a sit, down or whatever then praised. There is always a ¼ commands ¾ praise ratio. They never get a chance to disobey.

They get laid on their sides and held there gently but firmly and praised as soon as they settle, rolled onto their backs, praised, then onto the other side. This is the way I groom them too, a several times a week occurrence.

My Chows & Springers were child and everyone else safe, my little Cavalier has been trained the same way.

Yes I use a check chain, prongs are illegal here. All my dogs walked on a loose lead as does my Cavalier. Down is instant as is his recall as his surprised breeder found out a couple of weeks ago when she had him at a show without me.

Old fashioned maybe but dogs haven't changed much in 35 years but many owners have. Most can't be bothered to be 100% consistent with their dogs or their kids so there are big problems with both. They are far too busy sitting on their chuff watching TV or playing with computers.

There's a multitude of ways to train a dog, most will work well with consistency. Just find a way that suits you and your dog and forget all the soapbox nonsense.
Sheep dogs are still trained the way as they always have been. Just don't try to tell farmers to use food treats.

I do wonder if the supermarket / rubbish food fed to most dogs makes them more aggressive as well as sick in the same way as all the artificial colours & flavours in children's diets mucks them up.

Sheep dogs are still trained the way as they always have been. Just don't try to tell farmers to use food treats.

 
Actually, while it is true that sheep dogs are still being trained traditionally, there is a small, but growing, trend toward using positive methods not only for herding dogs, but retrievers.
There's a clickherd group on Yahoo, and a book called "The Clicked Retriever".  So, it seems that even some of the more traditional disciplines are experimenting...
I do believe that diet influences behavior, but I am more inclined to agree that a modern lifestyle which provides almost no work or exercise for sporting, herding, and working dogs, is problematic.
 

I believe diet may play a role. I once was given some of  "mighty dog" brand food, a few cans, and since I had it I fed it to my dogs. They acted like they'd been given strong stimulant drugs for about 72 hours. It was quite shocking.
 
Iams did a study of puppies that was also rather distrubing: they raised one group on regular commerical kibble, and the other group was fed the same kibble but supplemented with fresh fish body oils (source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are unstable and basically not present in commercial food by the time you feed it despite what the bag might claim). The pups raised on nothing but kibble were reported to be hyperactive, unfocused, and much more difficult to train than the pups raised on the supplemented diet.

Here is my opinion.  I am 48 years old, grew up on a farm with many dogs, cats, cattle, horses etc.  We never trained a dog, not in a orginaized fashion anyway but they were all good dogs.  They were also all Mixed breed dogs.  When I was young you never had people who had pure breed dogs, everyone got a pup from the farm next door.  Mixed breeds come with such a large gene pool they just naturally get all the good genes and pure breeds have such a small and strict gene pool if there is a bad gene they ususally pick it up.  This is why good breeders, weed those genes out when they crop up.  More people today are buying pure breed dogs who are breed to do specific tasks and jobs therefore they have some minds of their own and owners are not equiped to exercise leadership in the way these dogs need.  ANY TRAINING IS GOOD TRAINING!!  I don't know about a degree in dog behavior as some of you mentioned, I do have a degree in Applied Sciences and animal behavior is one of them.  I know you can get certified for animal behavior type classes but a degree in dog behavior?  I didn't know it existed.  Anyway,  what I do know is not only dogs need leadership but so do all animials - horses, cats etc.  Obviously we as a sociciaty have come a long way from pysically abusing dogs to train them!  Leash corrections are not abusing dogs, Alpha roll (although I beleive them to be dangerous to the untrained owner) is not abuse.  Using a clicker in my opinion is kinda just adding a extra step for no reason, but hey - if it works USE IT!  The probelm is that we buy highly breed animals and don't how to show these dogs leadership.   Most, not all, aggressive dogs are pure breeds not Mutts - they need extra attention in training which most people don't know, don't understand and don't take the time to teach! 

As the original poster of "is aggression on the rise", I want to thank all of you who politely replied.  I too agree that if indeed dogs are more aggressive these days there are many reasons for it - diet, lack of socializationg, indulgence, etc.  I am saddened when I see these dogs because we all know what the outcome is - for the dog.  This past week-end I heard of one of my past student's dogs who is now in confinement due to biting.  I had warned the woman time and time again that her way of dealing with the GSD was encouraging aggression - she would not listen.  I finally, in frustration, suggested she try another trainer, since she woud not heed my instructions.  She didn't do that either.  The dog has now bitten two people - the woman will probably lose her homeowners insurance and her dog!!!!!!  This didn't have to happen.
 
I'd like to close this thread now if you you don't mind.  So many of you seem like well intentioned dog owners and instructors and have kept this thread informative and polite and I thank you for that.
 
Dianeg

I was going to bring up the point about how when I was growing up most dogs ran loose in the neighborhood and got plenty of socialization and activity. But several of you beat me to it. []
 
I do think we are seeing more dogs with serious aggression problems and repeat biters. I think one of the main reason is the flip side of something basically good. Today, more people think of their pets as full members of the family. More people are truly dedicated and committed to their dogs. A dog is a living and feeling being and definitely not disposable. Dogs are a more important part of many people's lives than in the past. As our extended families grow smaller and more distant and women are more likely to wait before having kids, dogs fill a bigger void in our lives.
 
When people are so heavily invested in their pets, they do not give up easily. They will continue to try and work with that aggressive animal that in the past would have been put to sleep long ago. Most of them do not have the knowledge or skills to handle an aggressive dog. They are also more likely to be in denial that dear sweet Poopsie would every hurt a fly. "She's such a sweet dog, I'm sure she didn't mean to draw blood."
 
 

I definately agree with that.  I belong to a pit bull board, and one of the members does pit rescue.  Her rescue took in a female from an all breed, no kill rescue.  This dog was very aggressive towards children, and would lunge at them snarling and snapping.  Her rescue put the dog to sleep, a decision that I personally agree with.  the no kill they got her from was FURIOUS, telling her--"So just because she doesn't like kids you KILLED her?"

To clarify my original post on this subject, I am not in any way suggestion that pure breeds are aggressive - as somone thought I was suggesting.  My point is that pure breed dogs ARE breed to do a job.  Therefore, they are more confident and have a stronger will.  My point is that when leadership is not imposed through training that the dogs try and take the roll - because they are breed to do a job and take responsibilites in some ways.  My own dog at 1 year old started showing signs or growling and bosseness towards my children and husband until we banded together and showed leadership through out the home, now those problem do not exist.  However, if we did not take control (through training, trust and relationship building) he could have very well been a dog that now shows aggressive tendencies in some situations.  IMHO more owner are investing in pedigree dogs, they are over dulgining and then end up with a misbehaved growling bossy bullies.
 
I will ask the OP.  Is your expierence with so called aggression (which most isn't really aggression anyway) with pure breeds or mutts?  My expierence is that with Mixed breed dogs they are subordinate without much effort.