Dogs tell us when they feel stressed. The more aware you are of your dog’s stress-related body language, the better you can help him out of situations that could otherwise escalate to inappropriate and dangerous behaviors. Many bites occur because owners fail to recognize and respond appropriately to their dogs’ stress signals. Even aside from aggression, there are multiple reasons why it’s important to pay attention to stress indicators:
- Stress is a universal underlying cause of aggression.
- Stress can have a negative impact on a dog’s health.
- Dogs learn poorly when stressed.
- Dogs respond poorly to cues when stressed.
- Negative classical conditioning can occur as a result of stress.
The smart, aware owner is always on the alert for signs that her dog is stressed, so she can alleviate tension when it occurs. Owners whose dogs are easily stressed often become hyper-vigilant, watching for tiny signs that presage more obvious stress-related behaviors, in order to forestall unpleasant reactions. If more owners were aware of these subtle signs of stress, fewer dogs would bite. That would be a very good thing.
With each behavior the appropriate immediate course of action is to identify the stressor(s) and determine how to decrease the intensity of that stressful stimulus. In many cases you can accomplish this by increasing the distance between your dog and the stressor, be it a child, another dog, uniforms, men with beards, etc.
If possible, remove the stressor from your dog’s environment entirely. If he’s stressed by harsh verbal corrections, shock collars, and warthogs, those are all things you can simply remove from his existence (unless you live in Africa, in which case warthog removal might prove challenging).
For those stressors that can’t be eliminated, a long-term program of counter-conditioning and desensitization can change your dog’s association with a stressor from negative to positive, removing one more trigger for stress signals and possible aggression. Another strategy is to teach the dog a new operant (deliberate) response to the stressor – for example, teaching your dog that the sound of the doorbell means “Run to your crate to get a high value treat.”
For more tips to communicate effectively with your dog, check Reading Your Dog’s Body Language from Whole Dog Journal.
