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Dog Health News Articles
Page: 1
| Posted: 7th August 2004 |
| Aggressive Behavior In Dogs and Cats |
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Aggressive behaviour in dogs and cats can, unfortunately, be a source of conflict for humansA certain percentage of dogs cats will display aggressive behaviour toward their owners/caretakers or other humans. In the feline the aggressive mode may come upon the cat for unknown reasons. The cat will seem to be in a play mode, then the playing turns to more serious stalking, with ears held back and back arched, and often they will growl softly. You can see the fear/anger in their eyes. Or the behaviour starts out while the cat is being gently stroked by the owner and the cat begins to become annoyed, then more defensive, then outright aggressive to the innocent owner.
In the canine the fear and aggression occasionally seems to "come on out of the blue" but more often is triggered by getting into the dog's "space" or protective territory. This unsocial behaviour, while it may be "normal" if the dog or cat were interacting with another dog or cat to defend territory or signal "leave me alone", can be dangerous to people. Cats in this fear/aggression mode will bite and scratch...sometimes really terrorizing the owners. And dogs, with eyes glazed, teeth bared and with fearful barking and growling, will back owners into a corner or up onto a kitchen counter! In dogs this is often referred to as RAGE SYNDROME and can be a very shocking event for the owner (and I suspect, for the dog as well).
The only way I know to defuse the aggression is to leave the pet's area, just get out of eyesight. Trying to calm the dog or cat, or restraining and disciplining it will simply make the dog or cat even more fearful and aggressive. What is the cause of this aggressive/anger state? It probably stems from very early personality/behavioural development experiences in the pet's life. Events such as deliberate abuse, accidental trauma from objects falling on the pet, scary stimuli such as thunder and lightning, or other animals frightening the puppy or kitty may make a permanent impression on it regarding the world around it. |
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