Being "civil" and social aggression?

[gagsd]

I considered Ari a medium-high threshold dog. If someone eyeballs him in a challenging manner, he will stand up, give strong eye contact, then lean forward, then escalate .... or de-escalate if the person "gives."
His brother will immediately offer aggression.

Others have told me they consider him low threshold because all it takes is a stare.
<shrug>

[KristiM]

To me that would be describing thresholds and possibly nerves? Both dogs react at the same threshold? Different reactions, nerves?

(The reason I ask is I am looking for different ways to describe good nerves. I am strongly considering a working line Aussie for my next dog and when you talk about nerves to non gsd people you get a blank stare lol. I have met several working line Aussies with IMO weak nerves, so I want I make sure I am asking in a way that I get the right answers. I know that has nothing to do with this thread but I think the question is still relevant.)


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[gagsd]

Totally OT.... but cool! My first dog was a working Aussie. Sink-or-swim intro into dog-owning. Most of the working Aussies I have met are pretty intense and quick to react.

[KristiM]

Lol I know totally OT my Aussie was half show half working, she was awesome! I really miss having a spunky lil bunny butt running around! It won't be for several years but I am going to start researching now I have met some that were blow your socks off amazing and some that were overly nervy. (I think a little nervy is pretty common for a lot of the working herding lines.) I want a dog that can compete at the higher levels of agility AND be an awesome companion If my GSDs were 30 pounds lighter they could do it lol.


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[hunterisgreat]

Originally Posted by gagsd

I considered Ari a medium-high threshold dog. If someone eyeballs him in a challenging manner, he will stand up, give strong eye contact, then lean forward, then escalate .... or de-escalate if the person "gives."
His brother will immediately offer aggression.

Others have told me they consider him low threshold because all it takes is a stare.
<shrug>

In my mind, locking eyes *should* trigger a response. Thats the first step of aggression. just a glancing look should not, but prolonged staring should. The dog that doesn't react to prolonged staring is not socially/civil aggressive enough and they are submitting/going into avoidance at the challenge, or are just so far bred away from being aggressive/open to challenging a human that they just don't respond to posture from a human.

[gagsd]

Originally Posted by hunterisgreat

In my mind, locking eyes *should* trigger a response. Thats the first step of aggression. just a glancing look should not, but prolonged staring should. The dog that doesn't react to prolonged staring is not socially/civil aggressive enough and they are submitting/going into avoidance at the challenge, or are just so far bred away from being aggressive/open to challenging a human that they just don't respond to posture from a human.

I agree. I also prefer Ari's slower escalation to his brother's immediate fury. However, Ari has had a lot more training so perhaps that is it?

I have seen dogs that, when confronted in this manner; just look back, or wag tail, or sniff the ground, get up and look around, and even hide behind the handler.
Just from a hard stare.
(and I am talking about adult dogs' reactions, not puppies.)

[Vandal]

Others have told me they consider him low threshold because all it takes is a stare.
<shrug>

Pffft.....contrary to popular belief, dogs are animals. Ever watch Natural Geographic? Or the behavior of two dogs before they fight? A stare is certainly provocation. I can get even the most "prey, ( usually play), driven dog to light up by staring at them.

[Lilie]

Originally Posted by wolfstraum

There is a common misconception that when a dog shows any aggression or "defense" as many label it, the dog is in fear and protecting itself......

There are too many nuances to behavior to label aggression with one rubber stamp....

Lee

I think this is true to a point. I don't think enough information is provided to describe the scenario.

If I were to have the UPS man walk down my drive (to my door) my dogs will bark. The closer to the house the more aggressive the bark. At that point, that tells me nothing about the dog's aggression levels. If the same UPS man walks past my house and walks directly to the fence where the dogs are, THEN what my dogs do tells me what type of aggression they are exhibiting.

To say my young dog was barking at the UPS man, doesn't say enough about the dog's behavior to form an opinion on the dog's reaction to the UPS man.

[Jack's Dad]

Originally Posted by Vandal

Pffft.....contrary to popular belief, dogs are animals.

Ha, not so. If you venture outside of breeding,training and sports threads, you will realize they actually are not animals.

[Vandal]

Ha, not so. If you venture outside of breeding,training and sports threads, you will realize they actually are not animals.

I tend to avoid those threads but since I have a boarding kennel here, I am forced to confront that mentality on a regular basis. It is so bad here in Los Angeles, I am now getting calls from people who are desperate to find a place where their dogs are kept in dog runs instead of turned out with 40 other dogs.
Seems like the pendulum is swinging back in the right direction but not NEARLY fast enough. What I offer as far as animal care is now a novelty but a necessary one for people who have certain kinds of dogs, or , who want their dog to stay with someone with my experience. More and more, I am boarding police service dogs as well, since they certainly do not want their dogs turned out with the herd of "fur babies".