hi i wondered if anyone had any answers or veiws on if aggresive dogs (towards people or dogs) is learnt or the dogs are born with it.

we have never had an aggressive dog, we have only had rough collies and not from the same breeders or lines all the time but they have always been lovely dogs.

i know of others who have raised a few dogs with some being good and others aggressive so i just wondered if it is learnt or inherited or what? have we just been lucky with nice natured dogs?

i was just wondering?

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I don't think there's any definite answer to that to be honest.

Rupert came to me wary of other dogs but he'd go belly up rather than attack. I made sure he had lots of good experiences, met lots of friendly dogs etc and he was progressing well. Then he got attacked by a dog who meant serious harm and had a few bad experiences with dogs rushing at him barking and snarling and had another dog bite him. He became very, very aggressive towards other dogs that approached him on leash. He was terrified of them though. Introduced slowly and carefully at his pace he was friendly. He was a very anxious and fearful dog in general though, had he been more confident he may not have become aggressive. Not knowing his early history I don't know whether genetics played a huge part or whether it was purely a lack of socialisation. But then you get dogs who aren't socialised but who are still friendly so I would think genetics and the dogs individual temperament have to play some part.

Wolf was a very chilled out, confident dog in general. He had a lot of bad experiences with other dogs throughout his life, including having a hole put in his face as a 12 week old pup, yet he remained friendly his whole life. Nothing ever really bothered Wolf, he just took everything in his stride and shook off anything bad that happened to him like it had never happened. Well, except his fear of me anyway. His mum was also a very confident and friendly dog who didn't let anything upset her and she wasn't well socialised.

Sorry, not really answered your question there have I?

Oscar was fine a bit nervy but he had been through a lot and not really socilised when I got him however a few idiots who let their dogs jump on him while he was still very weak and a vicious attack have made him defensive while on lead..

It is just barking not actual 'i will bite/kill'behaviour and off lead he is perfect with other dogs so I think its because he feels threatened/vunerable while he is on lead..

An interesting question that doesn't really have an easy answer.

All dogs can be aggressive - it's a normal response, like anger amongst humans.

Behaviour becomes termed 'dog aggression' when the point at which aggression is displayed is low. This is inherited, just like breed traits are inherited and can vary from breed to breed and within breeds too, the temperament of the parents and lines have an influence. However, it is also dependant on learnt behaviours - from early puppy experiences and behaviour of the dam, to early socialisation which is so important and other learnt behaviours that the dog has encountered in situations. I know dogs that have been attacked on a number of occasions and still have a fantastic temperament, others only have to suffer a very minor attack and it develops DA.

So really, it is a combination of 'nature' and 'nuture' or genetic and learnt.

yes i think it can be interesting and have many varied answers.

i have never owned an aggressive dog but reading on here about the different types i became interested in behaviour.

billy my last dog wasnt that socialised he came from the breeder at 13 weeks as the xmas holidays had ended and she wanted to wait before letting them go to their homes, he was with his litter mates but didnt like dogs from early, liked people more and he shyed away from dogs. he was attacked a few times, minor but he never ever raised a lip to dogs.

alfie who i have now was hand reared as his mum got ill, when we picked him up he was so close to his litter mates they were still sleeping on top of each other and he is the most friendly dog ever, with people and dogs. alot of dogs have tried to attack him, one nearly having the owner over and his response is the same as my previous dog, just stand there plcid as anything.

they are nothing alike in temperament billy was the most laid back dog and alfie is highly strung but both the same if confronted and not aggresive.

i suppose there are many theories but no definite answers!

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Diathesis stress model may help to explain the answer to this one

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I don't think there is a yes/no answer to this. I tend to turn the question around and ask "how easy would it be to make this dog aggressive", and the answer I find is that some would be easier than others.
Therefore I believe that some dogs are more genetically predisposed to aggression than others. This is not a criticism or a slight to any breed. It's just like some dogs are more genetically predisposed to tracking or hunting or herding than others. And individual character/temperament traits tend to be more common to particular breeds. (yes, yes, there are many exceptions, I know) There is however no reason why they should become aggressive unless that trait is nurtured and developed, either by accident or deliberately.
For example, (and please don't all jump on me. I'm really not breedist) If you wanted to train a dog for personal protection, would you choose a GSD or a Golden Retriever. I'm pretty sure I could train both of them to be aggressive, but the GSD would be easier.
Having said all that, any dog can of course become DA in certain circumstances. Nature AND nurture IMO.

Mals are well known for their dislike of dogs and socialisation is paramount in making them less unsociable. Same sex aggression is known to be more prevalent than that of opposite sex but even that can still happen.

Take Flynn as an example. He is dog aggressive - I would prefer to say fear aggressive as he has been assessed by a behaviourist in the past as such. As a youngster when he should have been being socialised I was still raising him with his sister and one brother. By the age of seven months I finally had Flynn on his own and started training him more, although by this time of course he was very well behaved and walked perfectly on his lead. He was roughed up by two Airdales and I stupidly thought that he could get hurt so I thought I would keep him away from dogs for a few months until he was bigger and couldn't be hurt - my God I have regretted that decision ever since. Flynn then had hip probs at around twelve months of age, was diagnosed with severe HD at sixteen months of age, had his first hip replacement at eighteen months of age and the second at two. All those months away from other strange dogs and now I have a dog who is scared of dogs to the point of attack if they are too close.

Flynn has six brothers and one sister all of whom get along fine with other dogs and have many friends over the parks they go to. I could cry that I didn't do that with Flynn and now he has a sh*t life. Solitary walks and no parks - ever!!!

Now if I had someone to walk with for moral support and back up strength if I needed it, then I am sure Flynn could integrate with dogs eventually but as an incident yesterday proved, I cannot do this with Flynn when alone as he can be so very strong.

So I think aggression can be nature but it also can be nurture as Flynn is living proof that the way he has been raised has made him scared of dogs while all of his siblings are not!

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Flynn - Kali - Britches - Bruce - T-Bo - Marty



"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack"

It is a combination of both. As you say, his siblings are not, but is that not because they have been well socialised which Flynn missed out on? As you say, you have a breed that has a tendancy to dog aggression (particularly same sex), so therefore an inherited trait. There are some dogs that can be poorly socialised, attacked and still not develop dog aggression, others it can kick off by a relatively minor incident.

There is both a genetic and an environmental factor in all behaviours.

The fact is that there are some dogs which are raised in appalling conditions, under socalised, poorly habituated who turn out to be great animals.

there are others that have the best of upbringings yet still have issues.

Some breeds are predisposed DA, others are not.

Thus, as in most behavioural issues, DA can be a multi factorial issue.