Conflict-Related Aggression and other problems In the past many cases of aggression towards owners and also a variety of other problem behaviours, such as lack of responsiveness to commands, excessive vocalization, excessive aggression in play, etc. were attributed to dominance problems, i.e., that the dog was trying to assert his dominance over the owner. In recent years this theory has been challenged. Retrospective studies have revealed that social groups of dogs show a minimum of aggression towards each other, but that the social group is held together, by affiliative, or pleasing behaviours towards each other. Behaviourists worldwide are recognizing that conflict, or lack of certainty within an animal s environment results in a variety of problem behaviours, including aggression but also a range of other, often hyper reactive behaviours, labelled conflict behaviours. Many dogs reacting aggressively to their owners also show concurrent signs of anxiety or fear. This is a contradiction to the traditional attitude that most dominant dogs were confident dogs, regarding themselves as the alpha dog in a pack. Lack of predictability within an environment, and also lack of controllability has been shown in a variety of species to cause long-term stress or anxiety. It is likely that the majority of dog owners behave in an inconsistent manner with their dogs. For example, a dog that approaches to jump up on his owner may on occasions be reprimanded and pushed away, and on another day welcomed and greeted, depending on the owner s mood, and whether or not the dog had dirty paws! As a consequence, the dog is no longer able to predict the outcome of that particular sequence of behaviour (jumping up on the owner), and in situations where he feels the urge to greet the owner, may enter into a state of conflict. Aggression is a useful behaviour in that the outcome is often predictable; i.e., the owner backs off. If the dog is experiencing inconsistency in owner behaviour in a variety of situations, they may begin to use aggression more and more frequently in order to take control of situations, and reduce the lack of predictability within the relationship. Unfortunately, through operant conditioning, the dog quickly learns that this behaviour brings about a favourable response. The behaviour is more likely to happen again. Treatment: Because there are many different types of aggression that can be directed towards the owner it is necessary to make a specific diagnosis and devise a treatment plan appropriate for the individual case. The following are techniques often used in the treatment of conflictrelated aggression.
Treatment should address The dog s temperament (e.g. fearfulness, anxiety The way in which the dog is managed The cause of conflict (e.g., inconsistency) in the owner-dog interactions. 1. Avoid Confrontation: Situations in which confrontations are likely should be avoided. Any confrontation may result in further performance of aggressive behaviour, strengthening the learned component of the behaviour. Segregation from children is advisable. 2. Access to valuable resources should be reduced : The dog should not be allowed on the furniture, including the bed, particularly if the dog has shown aggression in these situations in the past. Toys and other assets that can cause confrontations should also be removed 3. Increasing physical control over the dog: In the early stages it may be necessary to leave a trailing lead attached to the dog's collar, and if necessary, a headcollar. This can be used by the owner to remove the dog safely from a room or to remove him from the furniture if he has managed to gain access. 4. Regular exercise (twice daily minimum) will help to reduce the reactivity and anxiety of the dog. 5. Avoid Inconsistent Owner-Dog Interactions: The main reason for conflict resulting from owner-to-dog interaction is the fact that the dog cannot predict what is going to happen and does not know what to do to achieve a predictable outcome. Therefore, owners are instructed to avoid all casual interactions with the dog and interact in a command-response-reward format only. This assures that any interactions with the dog are consistent and predictable. The owner should give a command, the dog responds and is rewarded for performing the behaviour. 6. Structured Obedience Exercises: Non-confrontational obedience training will provide an opportunity for predictable owner-dog interaction and allow the owner to substitute appropriate responses for aggression. Obedience training will also have a long lasting effect on the owner s behaviour toward the dog by making it more consistent and confident. Obedience training allows the owner to tell the dog what to do before the dog makes the wrong choice (aggression), and the dog learns how to respond to achieve a predictable and desirable outcome. (See below) 7. Do Not Use Punishment: Punishment is contra-indicated in treating aggression. No punishment of any type should be applied. Choke collars, pinch collars, verbal reprimands or physical punishment are contraindicated in treating aggression. Punishment is almost always administered inconsistently and increases anxiety and fear. Punishment can occasionally be successful, and yield very quick results, but the risk of fear and anxiety occurring in the dog is high. Future conflict or fear related aggression is a likely consequence. 8. Consistency in all interactions with the dog is absolutely vital. Therefore it is important that all family members agree on the boundaries or rules applying to how the dog is managed.
9. Response substitution: Specific situations in which the dog shows aggression or other undesirable behaviours may be addressed by gradually exposing the dog to the threatening or conflict situation and rewarding the dog for relaxation. A previously threatening situation can be associated with a pleasant event (e.g. giving the dog attention and petting). An appropriate behaviour can be substituted for a previously inappropriate behaviour, e.g., a sit and stay response. Increasing general obedience. The owner should practice short obedience sessions several times daily. After the initial period (when the dog is obeying commands) the owner should use titbits as a reward at irregular intervals, but continue to use vocal praise and patting. Food rewards should be used when teaching a new command to increase motivation levels. An owner should not issue a command if the dog is very unlikely to obey, e.g., if a dog is chasing a cat, he may not respond to 'come', and may come to associate the word with running away or doing whatever he wishes. Once basic commands have been taught the owner should ask the dog to obey a command before feeding the dog, taking him out or anything else that he enjoys. In this way the frequent interactions between dog and owner become more structured, and more predictable, thereby reducing conflict. During walks, the owner should again have short obedience sessions. Obedience levels in public places often diminished chewed to greater distraction. The owner must be prepared for this. It is important that all members of the family issue commands to the dog regularly. Many undesirable behaviours such as jumping up, are performed in order to get the owner s attention. Where this is the case the owner should ignore undesirable behaviour (by avoiding eye contact, turning away, and not talking to the dog.) Alternatively, commands may be used to distract the dog and to engage him in another, desirable behaviour, e.g., by asking him to sit, and rewarding him by patting and playing with him). Response substitution When the owner has established a greater degree of control over the dog, through obedience work, the owner may then ask for a calm behaviour in place of undesirable behaviours such as
aggression, which the dog was previously displaying in specific situation, e.g., lunging at passers-by while on walks. The owner should plan a series of training or 'habituation' sessions with the dog, during which the dog will be exposed to situations in which he previously displayed undesirable behaviours such as aggression. The owner should begin by keeping the dog at a distance from the situation, and ask him to sit quietly while they are passing by and reward his calm behaviour using food rewards, vocal praise and patting. During each consecutive session, the owner should position the dog closer to the problematic stimulus, but if at any stage the dog shows a fearful or aggressive reaction, they should return to a previous stage and spend a little more time on this stage before progressing further. It may be helpful for the owner to ignore the dog for half an hour before each training session so that the reward and attention got during the training sessions will be of more value to the dog. As long as a dog is comforted and patted when he growls or behaves aggressively he is likely to continue to perform this behaviour. Several sessions per day would be ideal, to make fastest progress.
Learning Theory or How Dogs Learn A thorough understanding of learning theory allows a greater insight into how a behaviour pattern develops. This is of particular importance after the initial causal factors have been removed. Treatment of behaviour problems in dogs also relies heavily on the correct use of learning theory. Habituation Habituation is the process whereby an animal gets used to something in it s environment, as long as the animal does not experience something unpleasant or pleasant while in contact with that situation. Habituation is an extremely important type of learning, and is taking place both in dogs and in all other species, including humans, on a daily basis. Most dogs can habituate or get used to most things they encounter in their daily lives. Associative learning Associative learning is where an animal learns to associate two things that happen together or very closely with each other. The two most important types of associative learning are operant conditioning and classical conditioning. Operant conditioning This is the way in which an animal learns to associate its behaviour with the consequences of that behaviour. For example, if a dog barks when in the back garden, and the owner opens the door a response to the dog in some way, the dog will have learned that this behaviour works and therefore the dog will be more likely to repeat that behaviour again in the future. Classical conditioning Classical conditioning is the way in which animals learn to associate two stimuli which occur simultaneously in the environment. [Stimuli refer to cues or events]. For example, dogs associate the rattle of the lead with a pleasant experience of being walked. They can also associate unfamiliar people with the fear that they have experienced in the past and the
presence of unfamiliar people, and therefore continue to show fear, or fear-based aggression towards strangers. Reinforcement of behaviours Reinforcement of behaviours refers to the way in which we can increase the likelihood of certain behaviours being performed. Positive reinforcement Positive reinforcement (or reward) refers to the addition of something pleasant or positive for the dog, after they have performed a behaviour, to increase the likelihood of the dog doing that behaviour again. Rewards can take the form of food, verbal praise, physical praise or patting. In order to reward the behaviour which has just taken place, it is vital that the reward is given within one second of the behaviour being performed. Otherwise, the dog will not associate its behaviour with the consequent reward. Most owners do not use correct timing in issuing a reward. Negative reinforcement Negative reinforcement refers to the removal of an unpleasant pressure or contact once the animal has performed the desired behaviour. For example, relaxing pressure on the lead when the dog stops pulling. Reinforcement schedules When first teaching a new behaviour to a dog, we should reward the correct behaviour every time. Once an animal has learned a behaviour, the most effective reward schedule has been shown to be a variable reward schedule. This means that the animal is rewarded for a behaviour on a variable basis. The animal may be rewarded after one successful attempt at a behaviour, and then not for another two or three successful attempts etc. Extinction If a dog has learned to carry out a behaviour in order to get a reward of some kind, the behaviour will continue as long as the dog is even intermittently rewarded for that behaviour. Intermittent responses for barking in the garden will strengthen the behaviour.
Extinction burst When a behaviour is no longer rewarded. For example, if the owner stops responding to the barking dog, the dog will initially try harder to achieve the reward he has become accustomed to getting. Therefore the behaviour will be more frequent and more persistent for a period of time initially. This is called an extinction burst. If the behaviour continues to not be rewarded, it will diminish and cease eventually (extinction). Punishment Punishment is the use of something unpleasant, administered to the dog, in order to reduce the performance of an undesired behaviour. As with rewards, it is vital that, if the punishment is to be effective, it must be delivered within one second of the behaviour which we wish to punish. The use of punishment in dogs can result in fear of the owner, with a subsequent risk of fear related aggression occurring towards the owner. Primary reinforcers When rewarding a behaviour, initially, certain rewards will be of greater value to the dog than others. Rewards that are of intrinsic value to a dog, such as food, are called primary rewards or primary reinforcers. Food is a valuable commodity to a dog, and is an easy reward to use. In comparison, a pat on the head, or verbal praise [ good boy ] may not be of any value to that dog. Secondary / conditioned reinforcers Secondary reinforcers are rewards which have been associated with primary reinforcers, through classical conditioning, and have therefore attained a reward value of their own. Clicker training is a commonly used approach, using a noise [the clicker] which initially will not have had any intrinsic value for the dog. By arranging for the dog to be given a food reward immediately after hearing the clicker, the noise of the clicker can come to have a reward value, on its own, for the dog. This can then be used to reward a variety of behaviours. Similarly, verbal praise (good boy), and a pat on the neck, may not initially have any value for the dog, but if linked to the delivery of a food reward, it will then attain reward value.
Learned helplessness If a dog struggles to remove itself from the situation that it finds unpleasant or frightening, and it fails, the dog may cease or give up struggling, as it will have learned that it's efforts did not remove the unpleasant situation. This is not perceived in dogs as frequently as in some other species (E.g., horses).