Abbey Vets in Shrewsbury look at the different types of aggressive behaviour in dogs

Abbey Veterinary Surgery looks at the different types of aggression seen in dogs

16th November 2024

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There are 16 types of aggression seen in dogs.

But first, we must understand that aggression is a normal part of how animals behave and communicate. Aggression can include grumbling, growling, snarling, teeth-baring and air snapping.

The problem occurs when the dog feels the need to escalate the situation to these very extreme forms of communication, if ignored then the aggression can turn into a bite.

What is aggression?

Aggression is an outward expression of an emotion and can be used by the dog to communicate various intentions. Aggression doesn’t just get turned on or off suddenly, but is part of a range of behaviours. Many of these behaviours are suitable and passive, however, if ignored the dog will have to escalate the communication from avoidance behaviours like lip licking, turning their head away or actually moving away from the trigger, to more active forms of communication, this is when we see the more ‘aggressive’ forms of communication.

What can I do to help my dog that is showing aggressive behaviour?

Making yourself aware of the suitable signs of fear, anxiety or stress in your dog will help you recognise them as early warning signs.

Spotting these early warning signs will help us to advocate for our dog and prevent them from having to escalate the situation further.

This will make the dog learn that they can trust us and not have to practice aggressive behaviour.

It’s all about the ladder of communication.

Think of a ladder the lower rungs are the less aggressive communication methods (and are used by the dog to de-escalate the situation), the higher rungs are the more extreme forms of communication. However, in a situation where the dog is not happy and the lower ladder communication signals are getting ignored the dog will feel that they are even more threatened and will have to shout louder to get heard, so they escalate to the higher more extreme aggressive behaviours. They then soon learn skipping the lower rungs of the communication ladder worked and next time they will go straight for the more extreme behaviours in the future meaning that they will continue to practice the aggressive behaviour.

I am struggling to manage my dog’s aggression what can I do?

Abbey Vets can help you, we have a behavioural Vet and Nurse than can help you put a behavioural modification plan in place. Aggression is such vast topic, and as we said earlier there are 16 types of aggression we see in dogs. We have our own behavioural Nurse who can come to assess your dogs behaviour at home, seeing them in their own environment helps us to create a more accurate understanding and assessment of the situation.

Please feel free to contact us for more information…

Email - admin.abbey@cvsvets.com

Phone - 01743 232713

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