Posts Tagged ‘Pet Items’

Protective, Territorial, and Possessive Aggression

Protective, territorial, and possessive aggressions are all very similar and involve the defense of valuable resources.

Territorial aggression is usually associated with defense of property, and that “territory” may extend well past the boundaries of your yard.

• For example, if you regularly walk your dog round the neighborhood and allow him to urine mark, he may think his territory includes the entire block.

Protective aggression usually refers to aggression directed toward people or animal whom a dog perceives as threats to his family, or pack.

• Dogs become possessively aggressive when defending their food, toys, or other valued objects, including items as peculiar as tissues stolen from the trash.

Redirected Aggression

• This is a relatively common type of aggression but one that is often misunderstood by pet owners.
• If a dog is somehow provoked by a person or animal he is unable to attack, he may redirect this aggression onto someone else.
• For example, two family dogs may become excited and bark and growl in response to another dog passing through the front yard, or two dogs confined behind a fence may turn and attack each other because they can’t attack an intruder.
• Predation is usually considered to be a unique kind of aggressive behavior because it’s motivated by the intent to obtain food and not primarily by the intent to harm or intimidate.

Individual Variation

• The likelihood of a dog to show aggressive behavior in any particular situation varies markedly from dog to dog. Some dogs tend to respond aggressively with very little stimulation.
• Others may be subjected to all kinds of threatening stimuli and events and yet never attempt to bite.
• The difference in the threshold prompting aggressive behavior is influenced by both environmental and genetic factors.

o    If this threshold is low, a dog will be more likely to bite.

o   Raising the threshold makes a dog less likely to respond aggressively. This threshold can be raised using behavior modification techniques, but the potential for change is influenced by a dog’s gender, age, breed, general temperament, and the way in which the behavior modification techniques are chosen and implemented.

o   Because working with aggressive dogs can be potentially dangerous, behavior modification techniques should only be attempted by, or under the guidance of, an experienced animal-behavior professional who understands animal learning theory and behavior.

What You Can Do

• First, check with your veterinarian to rule out medical causes for the aggressive behavior.
• Seek professional advice. An aggression problem will not go away by itself. Working with aggression problems requires in-home help from an animal-behavior specialist.
• Take precautions. Your first priority is to keep people and other animals safe. Supervise, confine, or restrict your dog’s activities until you can obtain professional guidance.
• You are liable for your dog’s behavior. If you must take your dog out in public, consider a cage-type muzzle as a temporary precaution, and remember that some dogs are clever enough to get a muzzle off.
• Avoid exposing your dog to situations where he is more likely to show aggression. You may need to keep him confined to a safe room and limit his contact with people.
• If your dog is possessive of toys or treats or territorial in certain locations, prevent access and you’ll prevent the problem.
• In an emergency, bribe him with something better than what he has. For example, if he steals your shoe, trade him the shoe for a piece of chicken.
• Spay or neuter your dog. Intact dogs are more likely to display dominance, territorial, and protective aggressive behavior.

What NOT to Do

• Punishment won’t help and, in fact, will often make the problem worse. If the aggression is motivated by fear, punishment will make your dog more fearful, and therefore more aggressive. Attempting to punish or dominate a dominant-aggressive dog may actually lead him to escalate his behavior to retain his dominant position. This is likely to result in a bite or a severe attack.
• Punishing territorial, possessive, or protective aggression is likely to elicit additional defensive aggression.
• Don’t encourage aggressive behavior. Playing tug-of-war or wrestling games encourages your dog to attempt to “best” you or “win” over you, which can lead to a dominance aggression problem. When dogs are encouraged to “go get ‘em” or to bark and dash about in response to outside noises or the approach of a person, territorial and protective aggressive behavior may result.

Adapted from material originally developed by applied animal

behaviorists at the Dumb Friends League, Denver, Colorado.

©2000 Dumb Friends League and ©2003 The HSUS.

All rights reserved.

Related topics at http://www.petsforlife.org/

_ Dealing with a Dominant Dog

Promoting the Protection of All Animals

Do you have a Disaster Plan for your pets?  What constitutes a disaster?  What emergency supplies should you have on hand?  What other pet-saving items should you have on hand?  What do you think you should have on hand for your pets?   Check out our blog at http://www.2pawsupinc.com/blog/ for tips on Disaster Preparedness for you and your pets.

Disaster Preparedness Tips for Pet Owners

Your pets depend on your for their safety.  If you live in Atlanta you probably don’t think we are prone to natural disasters.  I am sure we won’t forget the floods of 2009. Natural disaster tragedy can strike without warning.  What can you, a pet owner, do to provide care for your pets during an emergency situation?  It is so important to have a disaster plan in place.  Listed are just a few guidelines to help you tailor a plan for your pets.

Before Disaster Strikes

• Call your county’s emergency program manger to determine which types of natural disaster can occur in your area.
• Remember most shelters don’t accept pets.
• Contact your veterinarian, pet sitters, and kennels to see if they will admit your pet should an emergency occur.
• Contact local hotels and motels to see if they will accept pets during an emergency.

Emergency Supplies

• A Week supply of food for each pet.
• A can opener.
• A gallon of fresh water per pet.
• Cleaning supplies.
• Favorite toys or treats.
• Spare collar with ID tags.
• Grooming items
• Secure chain and leash.
• Crate or carrier.
• Flashlight and batteries.
• Battery operated Radio or hand crank Radio
• Fresh batteries.
• Pet First Aid Kit.

Other Suggestions:

• Keep a current photo of the pet with your emergency supplies in case the pet is lost.
• Keep the pet crated or on a leash to limit exposure to danger.
• Have all medical records for your pets, as you will need these to board them.

What is a Disaster? It’s more than just a hurricane or a flood.  Here are some:

• Avalanche/Mud Side
• Blizzard
• Broken Gas Main
• Building Collapse
• Chemical Spill
• Earthquake
• Explosion
• Fire
• Flood
• Hurricane
• Lightning Strike
• Long-term Power or Water Loss
• Volcanic Eruption

The information was provided by Pet Sitters International. Contact your local American Red Cross branch for more information on disaster planning for you and your pets.  You can also contact your professional pet sitter, and your local veterinarian. They would be happy to assist you with more information.

We welcome your positive comments.  Please respond.  Thank you.