Sadly some unfortunate dogs have developed unhealthy levels of fear. The dog will have such a high level of anxiety that he will become aggressive. The source of the fear is usually something traumatic that happened to them in the past, such as severe neglect or some kind of abuse. On other occasions some dogs have what seems to be an irrational fear of things such as very loud noises-perhaps the loud sounds of  a thunderstorm or gunshots sets them off.

You can easily recognize the body language of a dog with fear aggression issues. You have most likely noticed a dog acting very oddly when he is very fearful. You can recognize fear aggression when you spot a dog that is cringing and skulking around with a greatly exaggerated submissive posture. A dog with fear aggression will tuck his tail between his legs and up against his belly but also have his teeth displayed in a nasty snarl, while he moans whines and growls. All it takes is one look at a fearful dog  and you know it is really suffering.

Do not try to pet or comfort a dog that is displaying fear aggression. This is because dogs that are suffering from fear aggression are sometimes likely to lash out and bite-at either the cause of the fear or possibly something or someone else near the dog. This is an example of misdirected aggression and you want to be sure it is not misdirected towards you.

In order to correct the fear aggression problem, it will mean first diagnosing the actual reason behind the fear itself. How did the dog originally become so traumatized? If you have raised the dog yourself, of course you will have insight as to when and why your dog became traumatized. If you got your dog from someone else it may have already suffered abuse from a person or a dog when it was a puppy. Try to figure out what is triggering his fear episodes by noticing if his fear aggression comes when the dog is around certain types of people, for instance, or maybe when he is around a dominant dog. If your dog begins to act very fearful and becomes aggressive at the approach or another dog or a particular person, you can start to get a pretty clear idea of what is going on inside his poor head. It is pretty easy to diagnose many cases of fear aggression (especially if it is due to something obvious like gunfire or fireworks exploding). But there are other times when the reasons that caused the fear aggression are not so obvious and may seem downright irrational.

Professional veterinarian dog behaviorists can help you diagnose the problem if it proves elusive for you. If you are going to be able to successfully correct your dog’s fears and resulting aggression problems, it is first necessary to root out the cause of that fear.

After establishing the reason for your dog’s fear, you can correct the problem through a gradual program of desensitizing your dog to the cause of his fear. If you have a dog that is fearful of another dog, you should try to expose your dog to a friendly dog for a few minutes at a time, to eventually teach him he can relax in the company of other dogs. It is smart to have a leash on your dog to prevent him lunging at the other dog or from running off. It might even be a good idea to use a muzzle when you are first working with a dog to correct his fear aggression to prevent the possibility of getting bit yourself during a misdirected biting lunge.

Be sure you only use positive techniques while working with your dog. If you hit him or yell at him you are just reinforcing his fearful condition. The problem of  fear aggression must be corrected through patience and understanding of what your dog is going through. The problem of fear aggression is curable, but you will have to make sure to take the effort and the time needed to remove the trauma’s effects from your dog’s psyche.  You will consider your time and efforts well spent if you can correct your poor dog’s fear aggression and turn him into a happy and confident dog.

Hopefully, this article has helped you recognize and understand why your dog may be acting aggressive out of fear and even given you a good idea about how to correct that fear.

If you would like to read more about dog aggression problem solving, or for other free advice on dog training please visit: www.BehaveDoggy.com.

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