Dog Aggression, Fear, Anxiety and Barking Flashcards
Aggression involves what actions
Growling, baring teeth, snapping, biting (contact)
When is aggression exhibited
During play or aroused states
Can you cure aggression
No, but you can manage it
70% of canine problem behaviour deal with the problem of_______
Aggression
Males comprise how many of aggression cases, what kind of aggression do males typically display?
80%
Dominance or territorial aggression
Most common multiple diagnosis aggression (2 forms combined)
Dominance and fear related aggression
When a dog is in conflict with regards to which aggression to display
Conflict aggression
What are the six types of aggression towards people
Dominance-related
Aggression towards children
Fear-related
Pain-related
Territorial
Abnormal or idiopathic aggression
How do dogs learn aggression? How do they unlearn?
Negative reinforcement
Can also use operant conditioning, desensitization and counter-conditioning to unlearn
What is the most common type of aggression
Dominance related aggression
Causes of dominance-related aggression? (people)
Natural tendencies to attempt dominance
Breed/sex predisposition
Inconsistencies when owner interacts with dog
Owner inability to control dog
How do you prevent dominance related aggression (people)
Avoid triggers
Positively reinforce obeying of commands
If one family member has trouble, everyone else ignores dog, that person issues commands/rewards (only source of affection/food)
Castration (?)
Desensitization
Causes of aggression towards young children
Baby = negative :
Dog dislikes baby because it takes attention
Owner punishes dog for unfriendly behaviour toward baby
Absent baby = positive :
Owner gives affection/treats when baby is absent
How do you resolve aggression towards children
Withhold affection for dog when baby absent (absent baby = neutral)
Give affection/treats in baby’s presence (baby = +)
Social punishment if growls at baby
If you are a dog owner expecting a baby, how can you prepare for the baby’s arrival?
Praise dog in presence of life-sized doll (pre-conditioning)
Why might fearful dogs become aggressive?
In response to a threat (fight/flight)
A means of coping (drive away person)
What are some fearful behaviours?
Hide/run away
Low posture
Tremble
Ears back
Licking muzzle
Tucked tail
Bark while backing away
Who is fear aggression directed towards
Specific people or types of people (men)
How does fear-related aggression escalate to biting?
Dog will growl to drive person away, if it is not working it may snap then bite
What are the causes of fear-related aggression (people)
Fear of people who they have not been socialized to (Ollie = kids)
Mistreatment by type of person
Reinforcement when person leaves
How do we resolve fear aggression (towards people)
Social punishment for aggression
Desensitize/counter-condition to subgroup
Avoid spontaneous approaches by subgroup
Avoid physical correction
What is pain-induced aggression
Protective/natural response when painful area is handled
What animals are stoic in their behaviour when injured
Prey animals
e.g. deer
Why might an animal continue to show aggression after the once painful area is healed
Conditioned response
How do we resolve pain-induced aggression
Remove the source of pain
Desensitize/counter condition
What causes territorial aggression
Absence of habituation to visitors
Breed/sex tendencies (artificial selection)
How do we resolve territorial aggression
Habituate dogs to visitors using distance gradients
Counter condition stranger visits with food/affection
What is idiopathic aggression
Episodic or dysfunctional rage
- unpredictable, unprovoked
- underlying CNS abnormality
What breeds are prone to idiopathic aggression
English springer spaniels have potential genetic predisposition
What causes idiopathic aggression
Genetic/pathophysiological abnormality
Neurotransmitter disorder
How do we resolve idiopathic rage
Euthanasia? Safety is primary
What are the types of inter-dog aggression (4)
- Dominance-status aggression
- Aggression in the absence of a dominance hierarchy
- Aggression towards strange dogs away from home
- Predatory aggression toward small dogs (prey)
Why might dominance-status aggression alter over time?
If the dominant dog gets older, injured, etc
What causes dominance-status aggression (inter-dog)
Dog groups have an established hierarchy
How do we prevent dominance-status aggression (inter dog)
Socialize young dogs early (learn facial expressions, body postures, eye contact, growls, snarls, how to avoid fight)
How do we resolve dominance-status aggression (inter-dog)
Avoid emotional/exuberant greetings of other dogs
Reinforce owner control
What kind of response are fears in nature
Adaptive response (avoid danger)
Why does being left alone cause anxiety in dogs
Being abandoned is dangerous in the wild
When in a new situation, most animals are _______ some are ________
Hesitant, curious
How do we prevent dogs from being scared of new things
Habituate them young (thunderstorms, vacuum)
Define anxiety in dogs
An emotional reaction often described as general uneasiness connoting a rather vague reaction (not towards something specific)
Define a fear in dogs
Emotional reactions related to specific objects, such as loud noises or children
Define a phobia in dogs
Fear of objects or situations, which are cognitively understood to be way out of proportion to the actual danger (debilitating, hard to calm down)
Reasons why a dog might be fearful
- Absence of prior habituation to fear-evoking stimulus as a puppy
- Anxiety/fear that is enhanced by owner when they comfort it (positive reinforcement)
- Acquired through adverse experience (physical abuse)
- Physiological. Abnormally low behavioural threshold or abnormally intense fear reaction
Some behaviours displayed in a dog with separation anxiety
Digging, chewing, scratching at doors (escape)
Howling, barking, crying, urination, defecation
Why do dogs display such behaviours when they have separation anxiety
It is a panic response, not it trying to punish owner
Before you leave the house, a dog with separation anxiety will be
Depressed, excited, anxious
What are the reasons for separation anxiety in dogs
Left alone for first time
Lack of habituation to absence
After long period of togetherness
Change in owners schedule, routine
After traumatic event (shelter)
Affection prior to departure/after return
How do we treat separation anxiety
Arrivals/departures lowkey (food at departure)
Article of clothing that smells like you
Desensitization in severe cases
- getting dog used to being alone
- “practice” short absences
- positive reinforcement
Never punish
What are some more general fears in dogs, how would we resolve them
Fears of inanimate object (desensitization)
Thunderstorms (desensitization, counter-conditioning in staged sessions)
Children/people (desensitization through distance gradient)
Why do dogs bark
Relives tension, drives strangers away
Separation anxiety (frustration, attention-seeking)
Socially facilitated barking (one dog starts, others join)
Territorial/protective behaviour,
Fears/phobias
What are five types of barking
- Response to environmental stimuli
- Social facilitation
- Play-evoked barking
- Barking towards neighbour dogs (territorial)
- Learned barking (let dog in when it barks)
What are the causes of excessive barking
Breed predisposition
Separation anxiety
Reinforcement
Environmental stimuli
Social facilitation
How do we resolve excessive barking
Eliminate or treat cause
Discontinue reinforcement
Screen of provoking stimuli
Reinforce non-barking
Remote punishment (?)
