What causes agression in dogs?

jones-However, there are some instances where a dog may be inherently dog aggressive or human aggressive because of its breeding stock
willowchow-Willow was poorly bred
 
I posted about a collie I had once on another post and I had a question that has came up with your answers. Please tell me if this is what you are talking about. This collie I believe could had been "poorly" bred as I am not to familar with this terms meaning. He was the most handsome dog I have ever owned but, I noticed quickly that he had a problem with seeing and hearing at times. I was always with him and he was easy to train ,but his behavior was abnormal. One minute he was doing the trick crawl then the next *click* he was wolfish-yes wolfish would not let me touch him.He was "agressive" with other animals darting on them before he knew what they were.I pryed alot of prey out of his mouth. I informed my vet and he brushed it off. So I reseached it and found (sorry it's been a long time if info is incorrect) that mixing a white collie with a white collie? would result in defective pups. Which would be poor breeding right? Well at 1 year and 1 month -Avalanche- died with a seizure.

ORIGINAL: MinnMonkey

Since most people here would agree breed does not cause agression, what do you believe causes agression in some dogs?

I am not looking for general answers such as bad owners, but more specifics.

I think you need to define your terms. What kind of agression; human, prey, resource, dominance? What degree of agression; barking, biting, mauling, attacking?

Paula

For the most part, I think fear causes aggression in dogs. Fear is caused by experiences or the lack of them. For example a puppy that is exposed to a poorly socialized adult could be injured and develop agression toward other dogs out of fear of being hurt again. In nature, animals fear the unknown because it can get them hurt. So a person that looks different is an object of fear and depending on their inherent temperment and each individual situation some dogs will choose flight and some will choose fight.
 
Floyd is a somewhat fearful dog, mixed with an inherent territorial breeding,  so when strangers come over he's asked to go to his bed. I then leave the door open and place a baby gate across it so that he can hear what's going on for a few minutes. Then I take away the gate and let him join the group at his own pace (if they are appropriate people). Obviously if he were just deciding to kill all people a baby gate wouldn't slow down a Belgian Malionis for a second.

Well, there are several types of aggression. Territorial aggression would be triggered by a strange erson or dog coming into what the dog thinks of as their territory. Their home, their yard, their car. Sometimes a dog can be territorial to strange dogs but not strange humans.
 
Dominance aggression. This is where two dogs cannot aggree who is dominant and neither will back down. Ocassionally but very rarely seen between dog and human. Sadly, the human is more likely to be the aggressor.
 
IMHO fear aggression is the most common expressed by our dogs. Most dog-aggressive dogs are acting out of fear. Being aggressive at the vets is based on fear. Then there is on-leash aggression, where a dog is only aggressive when on leash. Probably a form of fear aggression.
 
Resource guarding looks a lot like aggression to us. So does prey drive although it is completely different. People tend to label anything that may result in a dog bite as aggression.
 
There is a good section on aggression in Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin. All these types of aggression except prey drive involve activity in a certain part of the brain. The brain activity that occurs during prey drive is in a completely different area and a different mechanism.. Not related at all. So even though it may result in a dead cat, small dog or even a child, prey drive has nothing to do with aggression.
 
Genetics has a big part to play in all this, so yes breed matters. Just do not forget that there is a wide range within each breed. You can't say what level of aggression a dog will have by breed, but you can say they are more likely to have a certain level. What is more important to remember is that each individual dog has inherited a certain set of genes and these will have a big impact on their future behavior.

Eclipse... seizure disorders can sometimes can aggressive episodes where the dog seems almost psychotic and cannot control himself. In my view that would fall under the physical/mental illness category of aggression. Not to be confused with prey drive, which is a normal behavior stronger in some breeds & individuals than others.

jones- thank you for your useful reply. not only this subject but others have I found your relpys very interesting.

witht he exception of the occassional dog who just plain has a screw loose...
or has health issues...
 
I know you do not want general answers...but without a specific situation there are too many variables to offer anything but a general answer. Aggression is almost always caused by mishandling of one aspect of a dogs personality.

Please ignore this thread. It's old. Jonathan