Types of Dog Aggression
Dominance Aggression
Dominance aggression is motivated by a challenge to a dog’s social status or to his control of a social interaction. Dogs are social animals and view their human families as their social group or “pack.” Based on the outcomes of social challenges among group members, a dominance hierarchy or “pecking order” is established. If your dog perceives his own ranking in the hierarchy to be higher than yours, he’ll probably challenge you in certain situations.
Fear-Motivated Aggression
Fear-motivated aggression is a defensive reaction and occurs when a dog believes he is in danger of being harmed. Remember that it’s your dog’s perception of the situation, not
your actual intent, which determines your dog’s response. For example, you may raise your arm to throw a ball, but your dog may bite you because he believes he’s protecting himself from being hit. A dog may also be fearfully aggressive when approached by other dogs.
Protective, Territorial, and Possessive Aggression
Protective, territorial, and possessive aggression are all very similar and involve the defense of valuable resources.
Territorial aggression is usually associated with defense of property, and that “territory” may extend well past the bound-aries of your yard. For example, if you regularly walk your dog around the neighborhood and allow him to urinemark, he may think his territory includes the entire block.
Protective aggression usually refers to aggression directed toward people or animals whom a dog perceives as threats to his family, or pack. Dogs become possessively aggressive when defending their food, toys, or other valued objects, including items as peculiar as tissues stolen from the trash.
Redirected Aggression
This is a relatively common type of aggression but one that is often misunderstood by pet owners. If a dog is somehow pro-voked by a person or animal he is unable to attack, he may redirect this aggression onto someone else. For example, two family dogs may become excited and bark and growl in response to another dog passing through the front yard, or two dogs confined behind a fence may turn and attack each other because they can’t attack an intruder. Predation is usu-ally considered to be a unique kind of aggressive behavior because it’s motivated by the intent to obtain food and not pri-marily by the intent to harm or intimidate.