Sheila isn’t a mean dog.
She’s a big Mastiff mix that loves to snuggle with her family. She sleeps in the patch of sunlight next to the patio doors, and chomps playfully on her Gator, a barely recognizable stuffed alligator from the family’s last trip to Florida.
So why did Sheila sink her considerable teeth into her owner’s hapless wrist?
The background: Sheila and her next door neighbor, a Vizsla named Charles, engage regularly in fence bullying. The dogs race back and forth on opposite sides of the fence, paws clambering in vain attempts to vault over the barrier, howling obscenities at each other. Both dogs vie with each for a 10 on the Wild Agitation Scale.
Really, guys, give it a rest.
One day, Sheila’s owner made the mistake of attempting to intervene during a Sheila/Charles Fight Club meeting. He grabbed Sheila’s collar to haul her away, and was bitten by Sheila in the process.
Several stitches later, I met with Sheila’s owner. “I don’t get it” he said. “Sheila is SUCH a good dog. Why would she bite ME?”
The sorry truth has a name. It’s called Redirected Aggression.
Its actually quite common, like road rage in us humans, stemming from Frustration with a capital F. A dog has an aggressive response to another dog, or animal, or person, and then is prevented from attacking the object of his anger. He then redirects this aggression onto someone nearby.
Extreme excitement mixed with increased levels of adrenaline creates a toxic stew that can make some dogs react in what owners have characterized variously as “Psycho Dog,” “Cujo,” or “My Dog on Crack,” putting innocent bystanders at risk. The dog’s focus and fury causes him to lash out at even his nearest and dearest.
I’ve seen this happen with a Dachshund that bit her owner’s leg during a door-answering melee. In another case, two Jack Russells were so inflamed by the audacity of a UPS truck in their driveway, that one dog bit the other while both barked frantically at the window.
As always, training can help.
Sheila’s owner agreed to NOT get in his dog’s vicinity whenever Sheila’s agitation rose to dangerous extremes. We worked on basic obedience, getting Sheila to focus and respond more consistently to her owner. We also established some rules for acceptable behavior in the backyard, and helped Sheila learn to channel her irritation into sturdy toys and vigorous play. Through a combination of improved behavior and supervision by her owner to redirect her BEFORE her agitation reached the danger zone, Sheila is keeping her teeth to herself.
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