Recognize Aggressive Dogs and Avoid a Dog Fight
20 Sep 2009
When I took my daily early morning walk with my dog today at the local park, we ran across a loose dog. On most occasions this would not be a big deal. But,because I already was pretty experienced in recognizing aggressive behavior in dogs, I could easily tell something about this dog’s approach was wrong. The approaching dog definitely looked like he could pose a problem to us. Instead of looking friendly, his appearance was quite aggressive-and he was heading straight for us. The approaching dog wasn’t barking, but just by looking at his intense body language, I could see this wasn’t going to be a friendly visit. I had time to change directions and avoid a confrontation with this aggressive dog because I could recognize his aggressive attitude.
The body language of an aggressive dog is very different from more mellow body languages they employ, and it is a very good idea for you to be able to spot aggression in dogs so you can avoid a potential dog fight from occurring. When two dogs meet each other, they sort out between each other who is the dominant one. Providing that one of the dogs remains submissive to the dominant dog, there shouldn’t be the tension that could lead to a dog fight.
Here are some ways to learn how to recognize aggressive body language in dogs so you can hopefully avoid encounters that could lead to a dog fight. If you see these signs of aggression, with your own or another dog, you should be ready to defuse what could turn into a dangerous situation by taking immediate action. Avoiding a bad encounter could be as easy as controlling and calming down your own dog (if he’s the one that is aggressive) or just leaving the vicinity of the other dog that is acting aggressive.
- The body language of an aggressive dog is something that everyone has seen before. One common example of this is when one dog puts his paws or forearms over the other dog’s shoulders. When you see one male mount another it is for displaying dominance, not for a good time. These are just some of the signs of dominance and can lead to problems if the second dog does not submit .
- When the dominant dog starts to snarl and displays some teeth while doing this, (perhaps even snapping his jaws) it means he is now in a very aggressive mode (not just demonstrating dominance) and this can become a very real problem. You need to avoid ever letting an aggressive dog have a chance to get close enough to you to start a fight.
- An aggressive dog is noticeable by the tense way he is moving and having his eyes directed on the focus of his aggression-your dog. His tail will be up but not wagging and his ears will be back. It is pretty obvious, even from a distance, that this dog is not in a good mood.
- The easiest and most familiar sign of dog aggression to spot from a little distance is when the aggressive dog raises up the hair on his back-his “hackles”. For instance the aggressive dog I ran into this morning had his hackles up even before he got close to where we were walking.
I am sure you have seen all of these displays of aggression many times, even if you didn’t always know what they meant. You can now spot aggressive behavior and you are also aware of the danger that this aggression can lead to, so be pro-active in keeping your dog from getting into a fight.
With my own aggressive dogs, until I finally got serious and trained them better, I could never take them out in public without a leash on them for fear of one of my dogs starting a fight. If you take an aggressive dog of your own with you to a public place, you must be responsible for making sure he doesn’t cause any problems.
Pay attention to dog body language, and when you see these aggressive postures, you can avoid getting into a dangerous situation. Use your ability to spot an incoming aggressive dog’s body language to ensure that it doesn’t get a chance to come into contact with your dog. Just veer off the course that will bring you into contact with the problem dog, and avoid the two dogs coming into contact with each other. If the aggression problem is with your own dog, you can solve that problem by paying a lot of attention to his training (especially training dealing with aggression) so that your dog really obey your commands. You won’t be able to control your dog’s aggressive actions until he recognizes you as the boss of the relationship, and will listen to you when you want him to calm down and not be aggressive.
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