No Bad Dogs...(Case study)

Case 1- For this case I will use one of my own dogs as an example. He is a male, 3 year old American Bulldog mix, rescued directly from the streets of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit. He lived on the streets for approximately 2 weeks, before being rescued and housed in a shelter. I was part of the rescue effort so I can assure you his past is a mystery. He had a fair amount of existing scarring under the neck and on the back legs. He is missing several teeth, including one of his canines. To this point I knew he had shown aggression over food, and for the most part his body language was very timid - almost sad. Now lets get to the aggression. Within days of bringing the newly named “Saemus” home, I realized his body language had become much more evident - he kept his head below his shoulders at all times, never made eye contact, and avoided close communication with other canines or humans. He would aggress at either if they became too inquisitive. I could enter his bed, but could not touch him. As long as no contact was made I could circle him, raise my arms, and if I moved too fast he would close his eyes and lower his head. At this point, I dismissed the food aggression as a “primal issue” - an issue that is relative to circumstance. In other words he hadn’t been fed a proper meal he didn’t have to fight for in quite some time. Once he was given a pattern of provided food without consequence his aggression was alleviated. Within two weeks I could put my face in his bowl while he ate, and reach my hands in as well. There were many other particular issues to address with Saemus, but the food aggression gives us a clear example of testing the dog and coming up with a diagnosis. In this particular case what we are actually doing is ruling out the behavior as a true aggressive behavior. Had he truly been food aggressive, it would not have been motivated by the level of hunger as much as it would be motivated by his general demeanor.
It is absolutely critical to understand the difference between aggressive actions that are in response to fear and physical circumstance and understanding a truly aggressive dog. In a case like this, aggressive action is taken as a final resort, or at least a secondary action. In a truly aggressive dog, we would have seen what would seem like unprovoked attacks, lunging, biting, and very confident posturing (at least during the aggression). Again, it is absolutely critical to understand the difference between aggressive responses, and a dog with a true aggression problem.