Hi from all of us here at VetCare. This week, through difficult circumstances, the topic all our clients are discussing is dog attacks. We are very fortunate in this central city community that the vast majority of dog owners are very responsible and have well trained dogs given defined boundaries, both geographically and behaviourally.

As our society becomes ever more condensed and our lives ever busier, the training standards that responsible dog owners need to attain have risen correspondingly.

B.A.D. dogs, as the acronym suggests, can begin as Bored pooches and progress from there to Aggressive or Destructive behaviours. This will initially cause stress for their owners, but can later impact adversely on our whole community further down the line.

Invariably we all eventually come across an individual problem dog and I think it’s very important for all members of the public to know how to behave around unfamiliar dogs and what warning signs to watch out for. To really be able to predict a dog’s behaviour in a given environment requires an understanding of some of the different types of Aggression and therefore the different triggers.

As with all behaviours there are 3 contributing factors; genetics, upbringing and current environment.  Firstly let’s look at Fear Biters, these dogs are usually anxious, they can exhibit restlessness, panting, possibly even salivation. Their tails will be down, they body posture slumped.

Typically they will slowly escalate their level of excitation to the point where if they feel trapped (on a lead or tied up), are approached too closely or rapidly (especially by fast moving children), or have people towering over them. They will often slowly bear more and more of their teeth as a warning and eventually lash out in a misplaced attempt to protect themselves from imagined threats. These dogs have often been poorly socialized or have other factors contributing to internal anxiety.

Predatory aggression is rarely experienced in the city. Typically a dog or a pack will start to hunt “prey” in a rural environment. This can be stock, rabbits or possums. The adrenaline high they get reinforces this behaviour, despite their lack of any need for alternative food sources. They will likely re-offend and need to be removed from areas where stock are present.

Occasionally this behaviour can be retargeted towards domestic cats and even towards children under the age of 7 who are typically not perceived by all dogs as humans. They are at the greatest risk because their size, sounds and movement potentially identifies them as a different species. Predatory dogs can exhibit stalking behaviours, circling around a target, flattening themselves down against the ground and approaching stealthily.

Dominance aggression dogs have poor boundaries set on them through inadequate training, or the initial training is not reinforced as the dog ages.  These dogs will gradually push the envelope both at home and when out in public. They believe, often correctly that there are no consequences to their poor behaviour. They will not show much or any warning before lashing out aggressively once their confidence rises to that level.

People can inadvertently trigger an attack by just being in that dog’s territory, which can extend from “their” home, though to “their” motor vehicle or even part of a whole street. They will protect their personal space and can respond badly to someone looking them in the eye, or attempting to move them in an unacceptable attempt to take control and continue to rise up their perceived ladder of pack importance.

As you can see there are a whole host of triggers that seem innocuous to us but not to a potentially aggressive dog. Until you know the dog personally behave calmly and steadily, ignoring it or letting it come to you first is a good option. Squat down to come down to its level.  

Despite what well meaning owners may claim never let very young children run around too close to a dog until you have learnt about the dog’s individual personality.  Kind regards, Dr Alex Melrose.