REDIRECTED AGGRESSION

When it wasn't really about the one who got his head bitten off.

Why do some dogs who are barking frantically at the end of their leash or at a fence or window suddenly whirl and take their frustration out on an innocent bystander?

Q: To Whom It May Concern:

We have three dogs a 7 y/o neutered male mini-schnauzer (Tarzan), a 5 y/o spayed female mini-schnauzer (Jasmine) and an 11 y/o neutered male great pyrenees/shepard mix (Sooner). Sooner joined our family April of 2008 when we adopted him from the Humane Society after his original owner no longer wanted him. He has been an amazing dog, very skittish as if perhaps he was hurt by someone in the past. He is extemely well behaved and gentle, he tends to keep to himself a bit but plays and interacts approporiately most of the time.

Over the course of the last year, he has developed what I have been told is fence line aggression. He and Tarzan run along the wood fence line of our house (on the sidewalk side) and bark at passers by, especially others with dogs. Sooner will all of a sudden turn back to Tarzan who is usually behind him, and just attack him. First it would be his large paws pushing him to the ground but now he is biting and snarling at him. It happens in a snap of a second and it does not happen each time. Tarzan has sustained two injuries, most recently a bite along his spine requiring 5 stiches and medication. We are unable to keeep them apart and they are miserable when we do. We have used the bark-free ultra sonic product and it slows some of the barking but it doesn't seem to make much difference.

The Pet ER vet says when it escalates to this level, she believes it does not go away especially in a dog the age of Sooner. She recommends a new home for one of the animals. My reading shows that when it escalates, that they can snap and bite at humans due the frustration they feel at the moment. The vet expained it like a moment of temporary insanity, they loose control. Your thoughts?

Thank you,
Shirley

A: Hi Shirley -

What you are witnessing is "redirected aggression" - when frustration reaches a point where it needs an outlet, and an innocent (or not so innocent) bystander takes the brunt of it. Like when you are driving in terrible traffic and you've had a bad day and then someone cuts you off and as you are honking and telling them off, your husband makes some comment about which lane you should be in and you bite his head off.

You're not an aggressive person or a bad wife, sometimes you just need a release - and your husband or kid gets yelled at when it wasn't them you were really mad at. Sooner is doing this (literally) to Tarzan for getting in the way of his job and out of frustration at his innability to control the "traffic" down his street. Some traffic is easier to keep your cool over than others, so sometimes he is isn't irritated enough to really deck Tarzan, or Tarzan isn't so annoying.

Pyrenees and Shepherds are flock guarding breeds. Running the perimeter and chasing off intruders is what they were bred to do. It's an innate responsibility. Not insanity - although you could say when you snap at your husband when you are mad at your boss, it doesn't make sense to him either. ;-)

Before you resort to rehoming one of your kids, I would recommend taking a good long look at how you can reduce the frustration at the fenceline. Change how much of the yard they are allowed to be in so they aren't in the "traffic" side of the yard. Create a "buffer zone" - an inner fence to keep them from getting to the fence to patrol it. Make it "more solid" so they can't see through any cracks, plant heavy bushes and big rocks along it to disrupt their path and their view. If there are "high traffic" times of day, bring them in.

Train along the fenceline - rewarding Sooner for ignoring people/kids/dogs with generous food rewards and sincere praise. Sometimes the one "chiming in" (Tarzan) is really barking at the patrolling dog (Sooner) or gets in front of the "in charge" dog, provoking a stern reprimand for being in the way of his job. Reward Tarzan for not swinging in on his vine to join in with Sooner's patrolling! Teach a rocket recall to both separately and then together - http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/come.html Reward it hundreds of times when there is no traffic concern, so they are so good at spinning on a dime and running to you so well when it's easy, they can respond when there is a hard to resist temptation, too.

Redirecting on another dog doesn't immediately mean that a human is at risk. Lots of dogs redirect on dogs and never do it to people. Others get snappy with anyone or anything when they are upset. If he were likely to do it to people, you'd probably see it by now.

Hope this helps!
- Carol

Follow up:

Oh, thank you so much!

I feel so much better about the situation than the picture the pet ER vet painted for us. It makes more sense to see it this way as he is a sweet boy and I have never questioned our safety or the safety of others; that has just not been the case. You could tell he felt badly about Tarzan the evening it happened. Sooner won our hearts and a place in our home the moment we saw him and we absolutely do not want to loose him. We are looking at alternate fencing inside the big back yard to the opposite side of the house next to the neighbors with no animals. I printed the information in the link and will try that as well.

Thank you so very much,
Shirley

You are welcome! I hope you'll let me know how it goes. Watch closely for signs that they are repeating the long practiced habit of running the inner fence and be ready to interrupt and redirect it. Chances are there will be a much less intense storming of the perimeter so you won't see the same escalation and you'll find it easier to get their attention. Be sure to implement the new habit of being rewarded for disengaging and coming to you.

Good luck!
- Carol

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