What is the Thought Process Behind Fear Aggression?

His name was “Ole Blue” and man was he big. He weighed in at just under 110 lbs. Being that he was a bull dog, the size of his head was intimidating enough. Now lets go ahead and add just a little bit of “gas on the fire” so to speak. He’s fear aggressive. Nice….ahhh this will be fun.

Fear aggression is a seemingly highly unpredictable behavior that in the wrong hands can go from bad to holy crap in no time flat. So when I came upon this challenge, I truly knew what I was up against.

The cure for fear aggression is never simple and never guaranteed but what I want to address in this article is the thinking behind it. Understanding what makes them tick is the best way to understand how you might find the cure for this behavior and ultimately save their lives.

First, understand that fear is survival instinct. Dogs being more primitive in thought, will naturally follow their instinctual reaction in just about every situation. It is what keeps them alive.

With these types of dogs, typically, but not always, they have a genetic disposition toward a heightened fear response to any new or unfamiliar stimulus. So…anything new or weird scares them.

Now on to the aggression part. Even us as humans have a flight/fight response. Most people like most dogs will choose flight over fight any day. (dominant stances will not be addressed as part of this discussion only because it will change the outcome) In the case of fear aggression, you are dealing with a dog who feels there is no option for flight. They have the misperception that their life is in absolute peril and they must fight to survive. We, of course, find this fear to be non-sense but that matters very little to them. They feel the feelings just the same.

The hardest part of dealing with fear aggression is simply the fact that it is such a high energy behavior. The dog in this case is fully committed to its survival.

Why do I say this is helpful to know? Once you realize what the dog is thinking and why he/she is thinking that it will lead you to a couple conclusions.

1) What can I do to show the dog an option for flight in these situations? Now this is not the final nor most optimum answer, but it is better than a bite. Let them see that they have a way out.

2) Find out all the warning signs so you can begin counter conditioning and hopefully begin to calm the dogs association to whatever it is that has them worried.

3)Through good training with the proper techniques, you can begin to encourage a state of mind that allows for your dog to begin a long term adjusting process that will encourage healing and hopefully a cure.