Your dog is intensely pawing and digging in to a woodpile. He is after a Chipmunk, and bent on getting in there. You don't think that is a safe activity, so you reach in and grab him by the collar to pull him free. He whips his head and bites your arm, the moment he feels you touch him.
Your two dogs get in to a fight. You grab the instigator, to stop the violence, and he freaks out and bites the snot out of your hand, while Still trying to get at the other dog.
That darn neighbor's dog is out there snarling through the fence at your dog. Your sweet, fat ol' lab has had enough, and is snarling and barking and hurling drool, as he frantically paws at the fence. You run out there, and touch him on the bum to get his attention, only to find yourself facing his fangs as he whirls around to protect himself from that touch.
Or this commonplace scene: You and your two dogs are out for a walk. You know one of them doesn't like other dogs, but he puts up with his brother pretty well. Here comes another dog out for a walk with her person. Your dog sees her, and loses his cool. He lunges to the end of the lead, and then suddenly turns on his brother! OMG! What the heck is Wrong With These Dogs?!?
They are experiencing Redirected Aggressive Response, due to an overwhelming amount of frustration. This can be driven by many factors, depending on the individual situation.
- Pack Status Confusion; changes such as moving, bringing in new dogs, or losing a member of the pack can cause some serious upset to a dogs' idea of Who Belongs Where in the pack order.
- Age; be it a young dog becoming an adult, or a senior whose joints hurt and they are just sick of the other dogs jumping on them, age is a factor to consider.
- Breed; Hounds, Terriers, and some of the Working Class dogs (such as Border Collies, German Shepherds, or Rottweilers) can be a bit more prone to redirected aggressive issues. This is because they are genetically designed to be INTENSE.
- Pain; an animal suffering can react in scary ways, in order to protect itself. A normally calm dog who suddenly presents as a 'fight starter' or a 'biter' should be considered as a potential pain patient.
- Lack of Routine, or Training; dogs left to their own choices all the time are not great at managing themselves without fights. Most domestic dogs are not great leaders, and if we are not teaching them to do our bidding, they start to feel like they need to fight to lead us. Watch any documentary on Canids in the wild (coyotes, painted dogs, etc) and you'll find they sort things out rather violently. While this is understandable, it is certainly Not the recommended way to solve things just by letting them 'figure it out.'
- Too many Intact Animals in the same place; Boy animals fight for Girl animals. It is nature's way. I am not saying all pet dogs must be 'fixed.' Some intact animals, both male and female, simply cannot stand to share space with another member of their same sex, especially if a member of the opposite sex is present. They cannot handle their own hormonal urges, and this can lead to heightened states of stress, which can lead to fights, which brings us to our redirected aggressive issue.
They are so intent on the "THING" that they are just putting their teeth into whatever they can. But does this mean that your dog is truly 'aggressive'? Not really. What he is, is lacking impulse control in that moment.
Have you ever been so mad, but feeling like you can't do anything about it?
Looking for some place to put that HUGE emotion, and then possibly snapped at someone?
So amped up, that any little intrusion has you yelling (or worse) at anyone who happens to get in your way?
Well, in essence, That is Redirected Aggression. The person or thing happened to 'trigger' the reaction from you, just because they bumped into you...or got into your line of sight, when you were in a state of extreme frustration. That poor person or thing, is now the recipient of all that emotion.
How do you deal with it?
For starters, teach your dog to play The Name Game. I know, I know, baby stuff. But building an 'automatic response' to the sound of their name, can be a real game changer for dogs that get too focused on things that feed the prey drive, motivate their hormonally driven behaviors, trigger Defensive or Offensive reactions, or if they are working from a place of fear.
Imagine, how much you would bring down that kind of intense energy, if you could only get the dog to look away from it....This is exactly what The Name Game teaches.
Not only is it the foundation for teaching a rock solid recall, it is the opening of the door to whatever 'next command' or 'cue' you want your dog to follow.
"Randy.....Come" away from the woodpile.
"Randy...Leave" your sister alone, or "Randy...Come" away from your sister--thus avoiding the fight.
"Randy...Leave it" alone, there is no reason for you to respond to the dog on the other side of the fence.
"Randy...Here's a snack" while the other dog is walking towards us on our walk. This will help distract you, but should be geared towards your learning that dogs that get closer to us, actually mean good stuff for you.
There are of course differences in every situation. For instance, Randy's people should probably walk him without his brother, until he can respond to his name and ignore other dogs. Then maybe he should be slowly exposed to the idea of walking closer to strange dogs, until he no longer feels elevated when he sees them. At this time, he can then start a walk with brother, but someone else should walk brother, so Randy can get used to the idea that adding brother to the walk, does not mean revert to reaction.
Randy should also be on a long leash in the yard, until he doesn't need the physical assistance of being pulled off the fence fight. Using Randy's tennis ball to throw the OPPOSITE DIRECTION of the angry neighbor dog, can help him think that the neighbor dog's overreaction, is actually a good thing for Randy...But be careful, in using intense play as a reward, you may be ramping up his energy. Start slow and work up to it.
Randy's fights with his sister, can be avoided by putting up a pen, or gates to keep them separated, until Randy can be trusted to respond to his name and allow you a chance to stop the fight before it happens. If you have a small dog, an oversized crate (of the wire variety) can work as a wonderful "indoor pen" to prevent fights, as you work on this. ***Note: It can be tempting to muzzle dogs that start these kind of problems. A dog in a muzzle cannot defend himself. Even if he starts it, he won't be able to finish it. So please do this with Extreme Care. Use a basket muzzle, not a cloth grooming muzzle. They cannot breathe/pant properly in those if they are in too elevated a state: This can cause brain aneurysm, and/or aspiration on their own fluids.
We get it; sometimes they go to level 11 before we can stop them. The least we can do is set them up for better chances at success, by teaching them behaviors we want instead.
So how do we teach The Name Game?
OMG, it is suuuuper simple. I am glad you asked!
Start indoors, with your dog on a leash, or inside a puppy pen, so they cannot wander too far away. Try not to have too many distractions around to start. In training, we start with boring, predictable places, and work up to the intense distraction.
Be close enough to your dog to reach out and touch them. Have some wonderful, stinky amazing treats handy. Or just use the regular food kibble, if your pup will eat it joyfully. If your dog is the picky sort, choose a reward that you KNOW he is crazy for; a tennis ball is a fine reward, if that is THE THING your dog normally goes bananas for.
Say your pup's name. Give them a treat within 1.5-2 second of saying the name. That's it.
Remember, you are not asking or anything else. Not a Sit. Not "come," not anything but 'I say your name, and give you a treat.' If you are using a reward such as a Tennis ball, your dog also will need to know how to Drop It....Or you can start with a Bucket Full of Balls. Who cares if he won't drop the first one, toss another!
After a few repetitions, test to see if it is working. Wait for your dog to lose focus a bit, like looking away from you. Not too big a distraction, like another puppy, or a cat, or another person they really want to see. Just looking away. When they do, say their name One Time. Wait a second or two. If the pup turns to you at the sound of the name, Yay!!! It's working! Say "Good" and give the pup the treat.
Once your dog gets the idea, and you find that you can say his name Anywhere in the house, without other dogs or big distractions, and get a good response, go ahead and unhook his leash. Now say his name from a slightly farther away distance. Don't hide from him in the other room, he's not ready for that yet.
Just start small. Randy the Dog wandered over to the window, in the room with you...now say his name. If you've done this right, he should quickly look at you, expecting that reward. Offer it to him, but do not go to the dog.....Randy should have heard his name, looked at you, and realized he cannot receive the reward from that window. Randy the Dog is now crossing the room to get his reward. Guess what? You just opened the door to work on "Come" when called.
Ultimately, dealing with Redirected Aggression is a process. Safety first, for all involved. Hence the need for leashes, puppy pens, or crates. It won't go away overnight either. This is one of those, set up your environment for the routine that may become the way of life for your dog...at least for a while. As your dog gets better at responding to you, in more "intense" situations, the routine can change. Go at the speed of success, not at the speed of expectation.
