corvus
Posted : 1/12/2007 5:53:56 PM
Gina, your point is indeed well taken. Breed tendency as well as tendencies of an individual should be taken into account. I think I need to talk to you at some point about akitas, seeing as I'm thinking seriously of getting one. A breeder I spoke to has a male who deals with challenges simply by lying on the upstart. The only time he's ever caused damage was when someone put their vicious heeler in his yard. He pinned the dog, but it kept trying to kill him, so he bit it and that sent the dog to the vet. It made me feel much better about potential dog fights with an akita, but I guess that akita may be unusual.
Espencer, I see where you're coming from. We had a dog a while back that was a rescue. She had no bite inhibition, so when she attacked Penny, Penny often ended up at the vets. We did get very good at diving in and grabbing her collar before she could attack. It could all turn bad in a second. The problem was complex, but the long and short of it was we didn't tolerate aggression between those two dogs, but even so, the only way to stop it was to be there to physically grab the dogs. In the end, it became apparent that Penny would never be safe around this other dog because a second isn't a lot of time to get across the room and intervene. Our rescue girl was not like that because she disrespected human authority. She just didn't hear us when she was about to attack.
Now, we have a pack of mentally healthy, balanced dogs. They don't hurt each other when they fight because they all have excellent bite inhibition. I always watch an altercation because you get fair warning before it turns nasty so you can intervene before someone gets hurt.
Maybe aggression doesn't make a dog happy, but that doesn't necessarily make aggression something to be avoided at all costs. The growling is behaviour as much as it is a noise. My feeling is that it's a behaviour that should be seen as different from fighting or challenging behaviour, because it's a lower level of aggression being communicated, and is more a warning than a promise of physical aggression in the immediate future. My argument is that it's an important way to communicate. I've seen countless growls that did nothing but tell the other dog to back off, and the dog did, which actually prevented a fight.Yes, growls can progress to a fight in a second, but if you prevent the growl, you don't necessarily prevent a fight. Our rescue dog never growled before she attacked. My feeling is that growling is infinitely preferable than launching an attack with practically no warning.
As for changes in the hierarchy, the only time I've seen that become nasty was with two female dogs around the same size and weight. I've seen Penny go from top to bottom to top to bottom as the pack members changed, and when new members are well-socialised, the shift in the hierarchy is over in a few seconds without a drop of blood. On the other hand, if you undermine your alpha dog by refusing to acknowledge the new change in the hierarchy, you can end up with a drawn-out case of bullying.
I also like my dog to be able to look after herself to some extent. Sometimes she's offlead and meets big dogs that aren't real friendly. Often, she can judge that dog better than I can, because I'm not a dog. I'd rather she communicated freely with that dog than looked to me to tell her what to do. I trust her judgement when it comes to strange dogs, and she's proved that trust to be well-placed on many occasions. She'll tell a big dog to back off with a lifted lip or by snapping at the dog's face. It used to frighten me because I thought she'd start a fight with a dog big enough to kill her by doing things like that, but she knows what she's doing. She doesn't do it to a dog she doesn't think it will work on. In those cases, she looks to me for protection. She's never caused a fight outside of her pack with her behaviour, so I've come to trust that she's a well socialised dog, aware of her strength and size, and well-versed in dog language. In short, she's a specialist in dog behaviour, and I believe she needs aggression sometimes to keep herself safe and happy. I'm happy to let her use it for as long as I trust her judgement.
In summary, I accept that there are cases where you might want or need to suppress any form of aggression, but I believe that as long as your dogs and your pack are mentally sound and stable, aggressive signals can play an important role in keeping the peace, giving dogs confidence, and preparing them to deal with all sorts of situations with other dogs outside of the home.