Leash Aggression

Posted on Apr 12 in Small Dog Aggression, Small Dog Behaviorby Jeff K.Print

Small dogs have a higher tendency towards leash aggression because their small stature makes everything seem large and threatening. This is Royce.

Tamara J. a reader of this column commented:
“Love your articles on small dog syndrome. How about some information and helpful tips on handling leash aggression. I believe this is part of my boy’s small dog issues.”

Have I got a story for you. Back when we first opened Kelsey’s Dog House, and I thought I knew everything there is to know about dog behavior, I learned the hard way there is always something new to learn.

It was the end of our first week in business. Without blowing our own horn too loudly, apparently Kelsey’s Dog House was something people in our community had eagerly anticipated. Our daycare area was already very busy with happy dogs. Our boarding area had five dogs in residence. Our grooming schedule was full, which isn’t saying much when we only had one groomer–my wife. We had not anticipated this instant run-up in business, so it was just Dawn and I running the entire operation. Talk about looking like chickens with our heads cut off. We were running around like maniacs to keep up with the sudden and unanticipated demand.

So there I was, as all good stories begin, minding the daycare and boarding areas, when a family of five walks in with their beautiful Golden Retriever. The dad tells me the family is interested in placing their dog in our daycare program. Could they have a look around? Before showing them around, I asked the usual questions including “Is your dog friendly around other dogs?” The answer was yes. In fact, Dad said, their dog was previously part of a daycare program at another facility and got along very well. Satisfied that the Golden was probably a good candidate, we began the tour—all six of us, with the dog pulling Dad along at the end of a leash.

I showed the family the front areas, bragging about the gleaming new grooming equipment. They said it all looked very nice. Then the entourage shuffled towards the daycare and boarding areas, where about ten other dogs were roaming, playing or resting. The Golden’s tail went fully upright and the fur on her back stiffened. I didn’t pay too much attention because I was busy extolling the virtues of our playcare area. The party continued to the backyard, where a few dogs were enjoying the sunshine. The Golden started to growl. No big deal, I thought, it’s was just first-day jitters. Dad tugged a bit on the leash, and said “Shh.” The Golden started barking at a Boston Terrier who was sniffing the ground a few feet away.

“She’s not usually like this,” said Dad.

“She’s probably a little nervous because all this is new for her,” I said. The six of us shuffled back inside, where a few more dogs were milling around. The Golden was now at full growl and I was beginning to sweat. The family looked nervous as well. Dad shouted “Pipe down.” Suddenly—there is always a “suddenly” in these kinds of stories—the Golden leapt to the full length of her leash, lunging at a Brittany Spaniel. Before the Brittany could react, the Golden chomped down on the Brittany’s ear. I jumped in and immediately grabbed the Golden by the collar, an action which any expert on dog behavior will tell you not to do. Fortunately, stupid luck allowed me to separate the two dogs immediately without any further damage.

The Brittany Spaniel had a shallow puncture in her ear. We took her to a vet for a closer inspection. It turned out to be a superficial wound that healed without problem. The family with the Golden left immediately, with Dad still muttering that his dog was not normally like this.

What is the moral of this story? When a dog feels threatened, it has two options:

1. It can battle its way out of the situation—fight.
2. It can run away from the situation—flight.

Both options, fight or flight, are coping behaviors. There are other ways for a dog to cope, but left to its own instincts, a dog will only fight or flee from a threat. In this story, the family and I set up the Golden Retriever for a fight in a most obvious way, although we were blind to it at the time. The dog was on leash and had only one option when it felt threatened. It was forced to move through an area that had multiple threats. It was burdened with an obligation to protect its entire family. None of us paid any attention to the warning signs and the dog’s desire to flee the situation. To the contrary, our response to the dog was fueling the dog’s agitation. From this I learned to introduce a dog to our playcare area without the family present and with only one or two smaller and exceptionally calm and non-threatening dogs in the room. If the dog shows any sign of discomfort, we either leave the area and give up, or we try a fresh introduction to another non-threatening dog. I’ll talk more about threats in a moment. For now, let’s focus on the dog’s options.

If a dog is running freely, he or she has both coping options available when faced with a threat. The dog is free to run away, and it’s free to attack the threat. If the dog is on a leash, one of those two options is taken away. The dog can still attack, but the option to run away is gone.

Dogs are not stupid. They may not be able to rationalize as we can, but they are aware of their situation most of the time. As soon as you snap a leash onto your dog’s collar, your dog is instantly aware that its range of movement has been limited. That is not to say it won’t try to explore those limits by pulling against the leash as you walk; or by refusing to move forward when you do. In fact, the whole business of learning what it can and cannot get away with on a leash gives the dog advance knowledge of what will happen when it encounters a threat. The dog learns it can’t run away on leash, therefore the only option is to fight. Generally, we do not give a dog on leash the fight option either, so we see pre-fighting behavior, such as growling, teeth baring, barking, lunging at the threat, etc. This is the essence of what we call “leash aggression,” a learned tendency to fight first.

We are halfway to a solution. Before we get there, we have to consider what your dog finds threatening. As always, the answer depends on the dog. If your dog was socialized around other dogs and people at a very young age, chances are it will not feel threatened by these things as an adult. Without socialization, a dog can only guess at what is threatening. If a dog judges that another person, dog or situation may:

1. Cause injury, or
2. Take away its food or territory, or
3. Attack another member of its pack/family, then . . .

its a threat.

It’s a “guilty until proven innocent” mentality. Further, a dog that has been out in the world for a while learns it does not pay to be indecisive. Indecision can kill, cause injury, or loss of property. Better to treat everything unfamiliar as a threat, fight now, and ask questions later.

It does not matter that you or I can clearly see that the mailman, for example, will not rain destruction on our house. Your dog does not have your power of rationalization to deduce that the mail carrier is benign. All it sees is a strange person, wearing strange clothing, carrying a large, bouncing bag on his shoulder, striding confidently towards your front door. It’s a threat.

If a dog does not rationalize, then what exactly is the dog doing to determine whether something threatens? When assessing a threat, dogs look at many different cues given by the threat—posture, movement, eye gaze, size, etc. Size has the highest priority on the dog’s list of cues. When time is short and your dog has to make a quick decision about what it is assessing, size trumps all. Typically, bigger equals more threatening. That explains why dogs about to fight, stand as erect as possible and puff up their fur. They are trying to look bigger and therefore, more threatening.

If you own a small dog that has not been socialized around other dogs, any unfamiliar dog larger than your own will be perceived as a threat. On leash, given no option to flee, your small dog is likely to spoil for a fight. Although any dog can display behavior known as leash aggression, we are more likely to see this behavior come from small dogs because most everything they face is larger and more threatening.

You cannot surgically or chemically remove a dog’s instinct to fight or flee. You also cannot pre-expose your dog to every strange situation he or she may encounter. Is the situation hopeless? Of course not. You can give your dog a third coping option that is not native to dog behavior, and believe me, this option is not a cakewalk to teach. You may need the help of a professional dog trainer to make it work.

Before I get to that third option, let me tell you what will absolutely not work. When your dog is displaying leash aggressive behavior, any attempt to physically or verbally overwhelm your dog will only pour gasoline on the fire. Yelling at your dog, yanking on the leash, jamming your dog into a sit position, spanking, or wagging your finger in his/her face are all sure-fire ways to stoke your dog’s agitation. In fact, these human behaviors are part of the repertoire used to teach fighting dogs to behave aggressively.

The third coping option you can offer to your dog is movement into a down position, i.e. lying down. Is that it?! Is that the payoff of this entire article, a lousy obedience command and response? Believe me, if you can verbally direct your dog into a down position as an initial response to a threat, you will have overcome thousands of years of genetically programmed dog behavior. It is a big deal, and very difficult to train as a response to a threat.

Here is why the down position is so valuable. First, it is a position of submission. Remember, size matters. When your dog lies down, he/she is reducing his/her size profile. The down position is also submissive because it is the polar opposite of the attack posture. Second, laying down is associated with resting. Getting your dog to lie down is the first step towards slowing his/her heart and breathing rate, which is a positive movement away from the physiological response a dog has to fighting. Finally, a down position is a learned response to you. By lying down, your dog will cede control of the situation to you. As natural followers, dogs would prefer that you take control of their safety, they just don’t know how to do this naturally. They have to learn it. When your dog learns to give control over to you, it takes a huge burden off his/her shoulders and it can relax.

It is critical to teach your dog to lay down on cue reliably in a non-threatening situation. When a threat arises, your dog should be able to immediately and automatically respond to your voice and drop into the down position without being physically forced to do so. There are plenty of good resources on how to teach your dog to lay down on cue. You already know how much I admire and follow Dale Stavroff’s training guidance in his book Let the Dog Decide, and there are many other sources.

If your dog has a long-standing response known as leash aggression, you will have your work cut out for you trying to teach a new coping response. Don’t give up. The results may save your dog’s life.

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