What Type of Aggression is Least Acceptable?

[PaddyD]

Same here. I am not opposed to 'appropriate' human aggression, but the poll does not differentiate. I am opposed to what I thought the poll meant, which is full time human aggression. The poll also states fear based aggression (only when fearful) I (may have mis-)interpreted that as being a fear biter. Fear-based aggression is sometimes warranted.... as in, survival mode. So all my responses are modified to: 'It depends'.

[FG167]

Originally Posted by Zahnburg

But the shepherd dog MUST be aggressive to humans when warrented. Otherwise, he has no value to us as a protection/police/schutzhund dog.

ALL living beings experience fear. It is not a fault for ANY living being to demonstrate aggression against a real threat. As such, it is NOT a fault nor is it undesirable for a shepherd dog to bring aggression against a threat. Rather, this is exactly what they should do. In fact, our shepherd dogs are supposed to possess "courage". It is impossible to demonstrate "courage" without fear. The very definition of "courage" demands that there be fear.
What is unacceptable are shepherd dogs who act with irrational and unfounded aggression. Just as a soldier receives a medal for his courage while under enemy-fire, his same action would be repulsive when carried out against peaceable peoples.

[lhczth]

Aggression that comes from a weakness in nerves. Doesn't matter what it is towards.

[Zisso]

I didn't vote. My reason is that most human aggression is unacceptable however any inappropriate contact with humans is not acceptable either. For instance, my female is not aggressive and she does not bite, but she is very prone to scaring people because she will appear to be trying to bite when she is, in reality, mouthing. It is her way to communicate that she is insecure with strangers and their actions. There is no warning so I have to be diligent about managing her behavior.

I believe that they are within their rights to be protective of me at home and even in public if a true threat is present. I believe that their instincts can, do and will prevail when the time is right. I have no doubt in my mind that my female would instinctively act upon a true threat. If someone were to attempt a home invasion here, they would not be successful. If someone tried to rob me while walking them at the park, they would likely not be successful.

On the other hand I also feel that dog aggression is unacceptable. My male is usually aggressive towards all unknown dogs-kind of like kick butt first and ask questions later. This has several layers of factors in play from being an adolescent when I brought him home, not knowing how to properly introduce dogs and my own fear of my boy hurting other people's pets. We are getting better as time progresses. But in my book, it is not his decision to make.

In both cases, as in every instance of my life with my dogs I do try my best to be always aware of our surroundings and work hard towards managing them, their behavior and their attitude in general to help them be successful, well rounded happy and healthy dogs, mentally and physically.

[KentuckyGSDLover]

I think there are degrees in fear aggression, too. So far, Rey has been somewhat fear aggressive with growling or barking at new things, but she's quite okay once she adjusts to new things. Would I walk her out in a crowded place with new dogs, new people and new noises? No. But I think it may well be manageable. She got over her fear of the car real fast and loves to ride along and sniff the air (and all the new things) now.

[msvette2u]

Originally Posted by lhczth

Aggression that comes from a weakness in nerves. Doesn't matter what it is towards.

Yes, this. Which would include biting the girl scouts...

But then again I'm seeing more and more posts about dogs who cannot differentiate, apparently.

[KentuckyGSDLover]

Originally Posted by Mrs.K

It's the combination of weak nerves, a bad handler, very poor training and very very bad circumstances that lead to these disasters where a dog mauls a person, child or teenager.

I agree 100% with this.

And I also acknowledge there are some dogs that cannot be safely handled regardless of what is done.

[Zahnburg]

Originally Posted by PaddyD

Same here. I am not opposed to 'appropriate' human aggression, but the poll does not differentiate. I am opposed to what I thought the poll meant, which is full time human aggression. The poll also states fear based aggression (only when fearful) I (may have mis-)interpreted that as being a fear biter. Fear-based aggression is sometimes warranted.... as in, survival mode. So all my responses are modified to: 'It depends'.

I do not believe you misinterpreted the meaning of the origanal poster; and as such your response was entirely appropriate.

However, I thought it to be important to define the term "aggression" in a larger context that many readers (and indeed posters) may not be familier with.

[_Crystal_]

Originally Posted by Zahnburg

But the shepherd dog MUST be aggressive to humans when warrented. Otherwise, he has no value to us as a protection/police/schutzhund dog.

ALL living beings experience fear. It is not a fault for ANY living being to demonstrate aggression against a real threat. As such, it is NOT a fault nor is it undesirable for a shepherd dog to bring aggression against a threat. Rather, this is exactly what they should do. In fact, our shepherd dogs are supposed to possess "courage". It is impossible to demonstrate "courage" without fear. The very definition of "courage" demands that there be fear.
What is unacceptable are shepherd dogs who act with irrational and unfounded aggression. Just as a soldier receives a medal for his courage while under enemy-fire, his same action would be repulsive when carried out against peaceable peoples.

By human aggression, I didn't mean "shutzhnd/ppd" aggression, I meant uncontrollable, UNtrained, full blown aggression. As in the dog thinks "OMG a person, I'mma bite her for no reason."