Today’s headlines of beloved family pet killing a child stabbed me again in the heart. I have been thinking about this topic for several years and haven’t written about it because I haven’t gotten it all figuring out.
Having said that I feel an overwhelming need to shed light on what I do know. I know that a form of squealing triggers an instinctive response in some dogs to get aggressive.
I have seen it in my dogs. Very passive, loving dogs with no aggressive tendency will “attack” another dog that is making that squealing sound that comes with fear and vulnerability. The more the victim is “harassed”, the louder the squeal. The louder the squeal, the more aggressive the other dogs become.
I have seen this same behavior in dogs towards other animals – like moles, squirrels and other varmints. The more they “squeak” the more the dog continues its aggressive behavior .
Perhaps this is an ancient behavior from the past. A sound trigger that causes aggressive behavior.
Squeaky dog toys seem to play into this behavior stream. The more the toy squeaks the better the dog like it. They bite down to create the squeak again and again. It is fun. They like it. It is fun to watch and fun with play with a squeaky toy and your dog.
Here is where the scenario gets difficult. Young children tend to scream and make that squeaky sound. Should it cause a dog to get “rough” with the child , the child become frightened and screams more. A vicious cycle can be created.
I think that some dogs are more prone to this response. Perhaps dogs that are bred for their aggression tendencies are more likely to make this response. And while children are most vulnerable, adults are also vulnerable to this behavior. The worse thing you can do is scream if a dog attacks you. It increases the frenzy.
What you do when you are approached by an aggressive dog is directly related to what the dog does next.
Again I am not an expert on this but don’t scream, don’t raise your arms (again a thing that children naturally do), don’t continue moving forward into the dog’s personal space, don’t look in the dog’s eyes.
Remain calm, try not to show fear and try to walk backwards out of the dog’s territory when the dog relaxes.
Dogs are amazing members of our human family. They protect and save people. They nourish our souls. In return for their love and companionship, we need to understand more about dogs.
