This week, I was presented with several stories of dogs biting and evening seriously mauling people “without warning.” There is always warning. There is always a build-up to a bite. There is always something. We just may not see it coming. We may see the later signs and respond in ways that cause a dog to learn to stop giving warning – but we are not addressing the stress. No matter what is reported, however, there is ALWAYS warning. Or at least there was before we stopped the warning.
Humans tend to respond when a dog is growling or snapping. Long before, the dog was probably giving subtler signals he is getting anxious or upset about a situation.
First, familiarize yourself with the Canine Ladder of Aggression.
I was working with two lovely dogs. They were older and now in a home with a lot of stressing situations. Mom reported that one dog was snapping at the children and there was little warning. I observed the dog and the child. As I suspected, the mother was allowing the children to do things that dogs do not like (hugs, hard pats on the head, leaning on their backs, running up to their faces, taking things, jumping over them while sleeping, running around the dogs while they were eating). I sat down and observed the humans interacting with both dogs. Oh there was warning, the dog who was reported to be the snapper-without-warning was actually giving a lot of signals he was upset. His tolerance level was outstanding from my perspective. The other dog was also giving signals she was upset. She just had not snapped yet. Mom did not see any of thesignals because she had no idea what the early signs were. These signals are often fast and missed. They include:
Lip licking
Eyes wide (white of eye showing)
Stiffened face
Looking away
Leaning back or away
Pausing (can be fast)
Pausing and lifting a paw
Ears back
Forehead smooth and face looking tight (not relaxed)
Pacing
Glancing around rapidly with little body movement or looking like a cheerleader in a horror movie
Freezing/body stiffening/not moving
Lowering front end to the ground but tail not happily wagging, no play yips or other indication of desire to play (this may be mistaken as a play bow).
All these are early signs a dog is not happy with a situation. We have to respond at these early ones. If we fail to appropriately respond, the dogs may escalate to growls, snarls, snaps and bites. Sadly humans often respond to these actions by punishing the dog. Now what?
Poor dog learns humans are scary and to suppress the signals. Now what? We have a situation with a dog who is even more afraid of us. They learn to stop the outward signals. They start with the ones humans often recognize first (backing away, growling and snapping). These are often the LAST stress signs a dog shows. So the dog has learned that stress signs are bad. He stops. Owner deems dog is fixed but there has been no addressing of the underlying emotional state. Now what?
We have created a worse situation and a lot more work to try and rehabilitate the dog. Should the dog bite again, bite seriously, etc, the dog may pay with his life because of a behavior that could have been prevented with human education and management.
I ask that you please check the following resources for pictures and video of various dog body language.
http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/free-downloads-posters-handouts-and-more
http://www.helpinghanddvm.com/Canine_Body_Language.pdf
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