By their very nature dogs are aggressive animals. They evolved as pack animals who used their aggressive instincts to hunt for their prey and to protect their den and pack mates from danger. Although in the course of their evolution aggressive behavior in dogs was necessary to their very survival, in today’s society our dogs need to control their aggression. If your dog is an aggressive one,  knowing which reason causes your dog to be aggressive will help you figure out how to go about correcting his problem.

Check out this list of the 6 most common dog aggression problems.

• Dominance Aggression: Each time 2 dogs greet each other, they figure out which one is submissive and which is dominant. Because dogs live in a pack society, it is necessary for them to establish a pecking order, so that every dog knows his place in the pack. Normally, the dogs quickly agree on who is the boss dog, and go on with their business without any problems. If one of the dogs refuses to submit to the other dog it is possible for a dog fight to soon occur.

• Fear Aggression: Fear aggression is pretty much the opposite of  dominance aggression. In the case of fear aggression the dog is so overcome with anxiety that it may lash out at whatever is causing its fear. A dog that has suffered from abuse by someone, will often show their fear aggression in a response certain people. You can recognize the familiar body language of a fearful dog:his lips will be curled up and showing his teeth; he may even lunge and snap his teeth in an effort to bite; his tail will be tucked between his legs and against his tummy; and he will make whining and groaning sounds. Because the dog might also snap its teeth and lunge at anything nearby, you want to avoid trying to comfort a dog in this state.

• Territorial Aggression: Many dogs display this type of common aggressive behavior to some degree or another. This type of aggression originated when dogs needed to defend their families and their dens from predators-nowadays they want to protect your family and home instead. You must be sure your dog’s territorial instincts don’t get overly engaged or he may end up attacking a passerby or another dog. Be aware of territorial aggression problems, and correct them as soon as you notice them with your pet dog. Teach your dog to calm down before his aggressive barking becomes actual biting.

• Redirected Aggression: Redirected aggression is a type of behavior that may seem confusing at first.  For instance, somebody may be walking down the alley on the other side of your fence, and is doing something that is agitating your dogs-as sometimes happens-your dogs may become so over-excited that they turn on each other for a moment. Kind of like when sharks have a frenzy. The dogs aren’t normally enemies of each other, but momentarily lost control of their aggression and took it out on whoever was nearest.

• Predatory Aggression: Predatory aggression is also something that is instinctive with dogs. Even though many of our pet dogs do not display this aggression, it is not uncommon to see predatory aggression quite frequently. When you see your dog chasing a cat or a bird you are seeing signs of predatory aggression. sometimes dogs enjoy something just for the fun of the chase and are not really aggressive in a predatory sense. On the other hand, sometimes they are very serious, so this too is a problem that needs to be corrected.

• Medical Reasons Causing Aggression: Female dogs that are either pregnant or have just recently given birth and are taking care of their puppies are often much more aggressive than usual. A dog that is feeling unwell may have something that is causing him to respond with aggression.It is a good idea to check with your vet if you think your dog may have some condition that is affecting his behavior and causing his aggression. Some dogs just have some bad wiring, and have no one obvious reason for their aggression. Unfortunately, just like some people I have met, that is just how it is with them.

If you understand how to recognize and diagnose the reasons for your dog’s aggression problem, you can figure out the right method for correcting his aggressive behavior problem, and making him a better behaved pet who is much less likely to create any problems because of his aggression.

Please click here to read more articles about dog aggression and solving other dog behavior problems at: BehaveDoggy.com.

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Related posts:

1. Recognize Aggressive Dogs and Avoid a Dog Fight
2. How to Stop Fear Aggression in Dogs
3. Stopping Dog Aggression to Other Dogs
4. Dog Biting Behavior. How To Stop Dog Biting Behavior
5. Understanding & stopping Aggression in Dogs.

Tags: dog aggression, dog aggression problems, reasons for dog aggression

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 13th, 2009 at 2:11 pm and is filed under Dog Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.