Fear, Anxiety, reactivity & Aggression

Fear is an emotional response elicited by a specific external trigger. For example, your dog may have a fear of strangers but be comfortable with people he or she knows. It is not until the trigger is presented that your dog feels stress.

Anxiety is a general feeling of unease associated with apprehension. Dogs that are anxious are generally triggered by the possibility of something unpleasant occurring. Some dogs live in a state of generalized anxiety much of the time while for others, the anxiety is associated with a specific event, such as separation.

Aggression is a behavioral response to a perceived threat. Aggressive behaviors fall along a continuum from warnings to contact and bites. These behaviors are symptoms of an underlying state of discomfort and stress.

When dogs growl (or display other unwanted behaviors associated with fear, anxiety, and other stresses such as barking or desctruction), they are trying to communicate their discomfort.

There is nothing to be gained by punishing your dog for growling, snarling, nipping or using other warning behaviors. In fact, there is everything to lose.

Punishment may suppress your dog’s warning system and add even more stress to the trigger. When warning signals are suppressed, some dogs go directly to the bite.

Aggressive behaviors are symptoms of stress. Listen to your dog. If your dog is displaying aggression, or any other behaviors that are resulting from stress, please get your dog started on a behavior plan with a very experienced behavior specialist.

Aggressive behaviors rarely occur out of the blue but it sometimes may seem like it. Why might aggression seem to suddenly occur?

First, it is possible your dog is experiencing specific pain or general physical discomfort. Many dogs are masters at hiding their physical discomfort. If your dog has suddenly become uncomfortable with things he used to tolerate or enjoy, please see your veterinarian for a thorough medical exam.

Second, it is possible your dog is being asked to cope with things which he was not previously exposed to and prepared for.

Third, it is possible that your dog’s discomfort has been slowly building and now has reached a critical tolerance threshold. There were likely signs of stress before but they might have been subtle and easily missed.

If your dog displays signs of fear or anxiety or behaves aggressively, the time to seek help is now.

Schedule an appointment with a certified behavior specialist who is knowledgable about current science-based approaches to behavior change.

If there is a possibility that pain or discomfort is an underlying cause, please visit your veterinarian.

And, starting immediately, manage your dog’s environment to prevent those things that trigger your dog’s fear, anxiety, or aggression. “Practice makes perfect” so allowing your dog to continue experiencing the stressful situations, emotions and resulting behaviors will not help you and your dog move toward improvement.

A solid behavior program will include exposure to challenging situations gradually and in a way that builds new, positive associations and behaviors.

When dogs feel scared, stressed, or threatened, they respond with one, some, of all of these four behaviors.

Flight - they may try to put as much distance as possible between that which is scary and themselves. Creating space is a good thing.

Fight - they may try to get the scary thing to move away from them by putting on displays of barking, lunging, snapping, and even biting.

Freeze - when scared, many dogs become stone-still with muscles tensed, eyes wide, and mouth closed. “Freezing” can be a precursor to other behaviors.

Fool around OR Fidget - in an effort to diffuse stress, some dogs will purposely act inconspicuous, sniffing the ground, averting eyes and turning away, and engaging in quiet, non-confrontational behaviors. Other signs of stress can include yawning, pacing, grimacing, and hiding.

Dogs communicate with their body language so we owe it to them to read their signs.

Dogs have two brains, or perhaps I should say two distinctive parts to their one brain.

One part is the emotional-reactive brain. When a dog is scared, stressed, or threatened, this emotional-reaction brain rules. This brain responds automatically to associations and, when stressed, is focused on survival. In these cases, the whole body responds; appetite shuts down and stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) ramp up.

The calm-thinking brain is active when a dog feels safe and is not in a state of stress. This is the brain that understands the if-then relationships of life such as “if I sit, then good stuff happens” or “if I see that (once) scary thing, great stuff now appears.”

What separates the two brains is your dog’s stress threshold. Your job is to recognize your dog’s threshold and do your best to keep him “under threshold” while you teach him or her new associations and behaviors.