Dealing with Dominance Aggression

dealing with
dominance
aggression

by Jerry Bradshaw
Training Director,
Tarheel Canine Training, Inc.
Photos courtesy of Britney Pelletier

The mission of the Police K9 handler is a “usage” mission.
The police dog is a means to an end. The use of the K9 should
provide an efficient solution to the problem at hand, whether
that is a patrol, tracking or detection application.

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Efficiency means minimizing the expenditure of behavior problems which are estimated to be minor at
resources to solve a problem. Behavior problems can the time of selection can grow into more severe problems
impede the efficient training of the K9. It can also over time so they creep in under the radar.
prevent the efficient use of the K9, and may result in When a problem is identified we naturally do a cost-
officer safety issues during deployment. Behavioral benefit analysis. Is the problem worth putting up with,
problems can also decrease confidence in the use of the or is it a deal breaker? In many cases, the dog is just
K9 and affect the perception of the quality of the K9 canned from a practicality standpoint. It seems easier
held by the patrol officer, and can, in some instances to send the dog back to the vendor. This tends to happen
increase liability risks. with dogs that are identified as behavior problems early
There are some common temperament-related on in the training process. The irony is we often have
behavioral issues that we see: Dominance Issues such dogs with excellent drive and nerve, and if we could
as resource guarding (Food/Rewards), manipulating only ameliorate the behavior issue we would have an
the handler with aggression, over-protectiveness, excellent K9 and avoid the expense and cost of replacing
reactive or displaced aggression, all of which have dogs, which drives up prices of canines every year. If
implications for obedience and general you are a training class that washes a lot of dogs after
management of the K9. There selection, you are going to pay more and more every
are also sociability disor- year for dogs. In the end, the buyers pay for the costs of
ders, sharpness, social replacements.
conflict disorders, dog/dog Police dog trainers tend to concentrate on practical
aggression, obsessive-compul- training issues, not solving behavioral problems. Many
sive behaviors such as tail chasing/ handlers/trainers don’t know what to do with certain
barking/spinning/self-mutilation. behavior problems, whether they are dominance issues
Selection testing eliminates many getting in the way of daily training, or environ-
of these issues but not all. Tempera- mental issues. I think a better understanding of
ment testing during selection (e.g. behavior and how to resolve such problems will
sociability, drives, and nerves) can lead to fewer wash-outs, fewer replaced dogs,
weed out many problem dogs but such and more productive and safer training and
testing tends to be incomplete and deployments.
reactive. If an agency has had problems Behaviors can be genetic.
with dog aggression they may look at it in They can also be the result
selection, but if not, it may not be an issue
that is looked at. Additionally, behavior
problems may take time to manifest Use the stay to play on
-especially dominance problems which require your terms, makes the dog
show subordination in
a relationship to be established, something not neces- order to get what
sarily observable during selection testing. And some he wants.

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of a learned response. They can also be genetic and should fit the behavior, circumstance and achievement.
learning augmented. For the purposes of this article I Interval of reinforcement means: Initially, continuous
will concentrate on the behavioral problem of dominance reinforcement by which a dog is rewarded every time
aggression issues. In future articles I will discuss other for a correct behavior leads to rapid learning. Continu-
behavioral issues, including dealing with environmental ously reinforced behaviors are the easiest to extinguish,
problems. however. Intermittent (variable) reinforcement schedules
create the strongest learned behaviors, and as such are
Learning the hardest to extinguish. So training should progress
Behaviors can be learned by observation (and from continuous reinforcement to variable reinforcement
participation) which we call mimicry (e.g. teaching to establish strong behaviors.
open stairs or slick floors in a group of dogs – we will On the other side of operant conditioning is punish-
talk about that one in a future article). They learn by ment. We refer to positive punishment as providing an
classical conditioning, which is learning by association. undesirable consequence to reduce the likelihood of a
In classical learning, dogs respond to a signal in antici- behavior (like a collar correction). Negative Punishment
pation of another event. (e.g. they get excited seeing a on the other hand is simply withholding a desirable
decoy because they are anticipating biting). They also consequence to reduce the likelihood of a behavior (dog
learn by operant conditioning, which is learning by fails to bark at the door in a building search when he
consequence. Reinforcing consequences are those that located the decoy behind it, so we withhold his bite
increase the likelihood of a behavior and punishing reward until we get some barking). Timing, Intensity
consequences are those that decrease the likelihood of a and Intervals also impact the effectiveness of punish-
behavior. ment. Timing must be immediate and consistently
In operant conditioning, positive reinforcement applied for punishment to be properly interpreted. Incon-
is providing a desirable consequence to increase the sistently applied punishment can create a neurotic condi-
likelihood of a behavior (a dog sits on target odor, and he tion called learned helplessness. Positive punishment
gets his ball), while negative reinforcement is removing must be perceived as serious and be somewhat traumatic
an undesirable consequence to increase the likelihood in order for it to to register. Nagging punishments should
of a behavior (pull up on choke collar and push the butt be avoided. The consequence must be undesirable as
to the ground, and when the dog sits, give him his air perceived by the dog in question, and to some extent
back). Timing, intensity, and intervals of reinforcement that will depend on the temperament of the dog and how
shape learned behaviors. “hard” or “soft” they are.
For example, when it comes to timing, rewarding a
dog by throwing a ball at the end of an obedience routine Techniques for Changing
is generally pointless. You must reward individual behav- Behavior
iors immediately after they are performed. Intensity is There are a number of techniques for changing
this: rewards can be too big, and thus distracting, or too behavior, and the key is identifying which technique is
small, and as such inconsequential. Reward intensity the best in any given situation. It often requires some

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experience and careful observation to do so. One such flooding, and should be used as a last resort.
way is to remove the reward for or punish the behavior.
If a learned response is not rewarded any longer, the K9 Dominance Issues
behavior is gradually lost and the frequency of the Dominance can affect both new and experienced
behavior will return to naturally occurring levels. handlers. The typical response to dominance is to estab-
If naturally recurring levels are high, no noticeable lish rank by force (positive punishment). Fight fire with
change will be observed. In detection training we use fire. This may work, or may initiate a cycle of constant
extinction to proof dogs off plastic bags, for example. struggle for supremacy in the relationship if the punish-
Placing plastic baggies in known blank areas will allow ment doesn’t get the desired result. The problem with
the handler to move the dog off plastic bags and not this approach is that once you go there with the intent
reward the response on bags. Gradually the dog will to establish rank on the dog, if the dog doesn’t back
lose interest in plastic bags because there is no reward off immediately, you are likely to be in for a sometimes
for showing interest or responding on them. Punish- serious physical altercation that you better be ready to
ment can be used (either positive or negative) as well. take to the end and win. Too many times, when this all
However we need to carefully understand the conse-
quences of punishing certain behaviors. In the case of
dog aggression, for example, if your dog becomes aggres-
sive when in proximity to another dog, and you then
punish your dog for the aggression, the associated pain
can be interpreted as further reason to not like other
dogs, as pain in applied in the presence of the other dog.
Your dog learns this through association: pain from you
comes when near other dogs. This technique will likely
make the dog aggression worse, not better.
We can Modify behavior in a few different ways: (1)
Re-Direct the Behavior, (2) Train Mutually Exclusive
Behaviors, (3) Habituation: Constantly exposing a dog
to a neutral (non-harmful or non-rewarding) stimulus,
or gradually introducing the dog to a neutral stimulus.
This will allow the dog to habituate to the stimulus
(basically learn it is meaningless) (4) Flooding: Habitu-
ation through constant heavy exposure to a non-neutral
stimulus, or (5) Systematic Desensitization: Habituation
through gradual exposure. Some of these techniques,
improperly conducted, can cause the opposite reaction Attention is a mutually-exclusive behavior you can use to
and make the problem worse. This is especially true of counter-condition dog aggression.

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blows up, the handler is not prepared to carry through submissive (e.g. allow physical touching/handling) but
with showing the dog who is boss, and it is the person react to other triggers, like control.
who punks first, not the dog. Fighting with a determined Many new handlers think being the “alpha” applies
and mature dog who himself has won a lot of fights is no to the dog they just took out of the crate the first day
joke. Changing this behavior through negative punish- they get him. The idea that “ if I let him get away with
ment is used less often, and may be seen as less proac- anything, he will lose his respect for me.” leads to
tive, but may be safer and more effective. constant nagging of the dog about every little thing.
Dominance itself is a pack-relative social behavior. Alphas don’t sweat the small stuff, so when you become
As pack animals, dogs expect all relationships to be a nagging, over controlling handler you are exhibiting
unequal, in other words, somebody has to be in charge. non-alpha behavior, and likely are encouraging the
Dominance aggression is usually shown by male dogs dog to show dominance. The smart handler who sees
(85% of cases) and is most intense as social maturity dominance issues will avoid confrontations he cannot
is approached (2-2.5 yrs). Social maturity takes a lot control or are not certain you will win. Instead a behav-
longer than sexual maturity. Dominance aggression is ioral plan must be put in place.
one of those behaviors that is partly genetic and partly
learned. The genetic component is formed while still in Judo for K9 Handlers
the womb when a testosterone surge “masculanizes” The key to turning around dominance problems
the brain. Therefore, castration has little effect on is to gain the dog’s respect using your brain, not your
correcting this behavior. hands. Reject the model of “Alpha” that you have been
However, since learning is involved, extinction of taught and had drilled into your head. You are not a dog,
the behavior is still possible. Dogs tend to direct their and your dog does not relate to you as a dog. Think of
dominance aggression toward those that are threats to yourself as the “Super-Alpha.” You control all the dog’s
their social position (i.e. the K9 handler). Some of the resources, all of his activities, yet dogs are still able to
common triggers: Affection, especially when ceased. push us around! Dogs don’t expect equality, so your job is
Placing or removing collars/leads which initiate control to put all the odds in your favor. Imagine you are training
on the dog. Positive punishments (i.e., collar correc- a grizzly bear and not a dog. What would you do?
tions) are a big trigger, as well as negative punishments First, you must disorient his expectations, and set
(withholding rewards). the dog up to have to show deference or submission to
Withholding rewards can trigger dominance get anything he desires, including affection, rewards,
aggression in this way: keeping the dog under obedi- food, including toys, bite sessions. This is commonly
ence control when he thinks he may do bite work, and called the “No Free Lunch” program, and uses a
decides to redirect aggression on you to get something principle called the “Premack Principle” It states that a
he wants. Some other triggers can be: Grooming (often dog will perform a less desirable activity (obedience or
a postural trigger) or contextual, i.e. place associated social subordination) in order to get to perform a more
where a previous dominance altercation took place. Dogs desirable activity. Use obedience as a pre-cursor to his
can also be psychologically dominant and physically favorite activities or those where he gives you problems.

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You must always keep a level head, and do not take some of the dominance expressions. For example, some
dominance expressions personally. You must reward the dominant dogs will jump up on you, similar to climbing
obedience when he complies. Examples are sitting and on the back of another dog. Use a trained sit command to
staying before meals, before going in and out of doors, interrupt these behaviors, and reward with food when he
before playing fetch games, etc. Anything he likes to do, does the behavior. With one of my very dominant dogs,
he must perform obedience in order to do it. This extends I would always walk him with a pocket full of food, so
to going outside to the bathroom! Be results oriented, that I could manipulate him into obedience and reward
and do not become upset if you need a few trials to get it, when he showed unwanted behaviors. He would
the desired behaviors. When he refuses you, ignore bad sometimes not want to get in his crate, after walking, so
behavior, and start overstart over, use retreating repri- I just baited the crate with food rewards every time until
mands (my favorite is “knock it off!” just as I change the getting in was a habit, rather than get into a fight over
subject matter of whatever conflict we are having, then crating him.
ask him for something he will give me, maybe something Now I have absolutely no problems with loading him
very simple such as obedience for a piece of food, or to go in a crate. Know the things that trigger his dominance
in the car. Then try again. Remember this is a long term
fix, not a short term one. We are changing how the dog
fundamentally relates to us.
Second, regiment his life. He makes no decisions,
and he makes no choices on his own. Use negative
punishment (withholding rewards) to reduce unwanted
dominance behaviors. Positively reinforce appropriate
behaviors. Use rewards in obedience (food rewards work
well and there is little chance of fighting over possession
of the reward). Focus on the pre-cursors to aggressive
responses, and plan your training to set yourself up to
anticipate and re-direct possible confrontations. For
example, you may know he gets frustrated and impul-
sive prior to bite work, and challenges your authority
to control him when you correct him. Apply systematic
desensitization to the triggers such as corrections, by
focusing the dog outwardly during the use of physical
correction. When you throw his ball, hold him by a flat
collar, and “tap, tap” the pinch collar or choke collar
while he is straining to get the ball. This will desensitize
him to the action and some of the force of corrections. A hand coming near the bowl with a treat of high value can
Use mutually exclusive behaviors to deal with be used to counter-condition food aggression.

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responses and use the behavioral techniques to get
the dog to give you what you want. If you view that as
“bribery” rather than conditioning a response, you are
making a human judgment that has no place in dog
training.
Another dominance example is food guarding. I
would put down a bowl with a little bit of his food in
it. Make him sit and wait to get it, only on my release
(behavioral deference). While he ate, I would toss pieces
of hot dog or other meat into his bowl while he is eating
at first from a little distance. I slowly systematically
desensitized him to the approach of my hand to his bowl,
as he came to expect that my hand coming near his
bowl represented something he really wanted. Then he
came to accept it as a good thing instead of a challenge.
When he was done eating he would still want to guard
the bowl, but I used food to exchange for the bowl. The
food distracted him while I grabbed the bowl. And soon
he looked for the food more than worried about the Climbing on the handler can show dominance behaviors,
bowl. Now I can take his bowl without challenge, but I use a sit as a mutually exclusive behavior to discourage this
dominance play.
still sometimes reward his non-aggression with a food
exchange for his bowl.
Dealing with a dominant dog is a complex thing. If deference to you. This will change how he views you,
you are inexperienced, you may not understand why the not as a rival, but the source of all the things in life
dog is triggering. Talk about it with a trainer who has he wants and desires. Dominance behaviors blossom
experience dealing with the use of these techniques. because they get the dog something. Teach him those
The old way of just punishing the dominance will often behaviors are not as successful as being deferential,
make it a lot worse, and possibly get you hurt severely. and working his wants and needs, through your system.
Use your brain, and your knowledge of canine behavior If you have specific questions about dominant police
to solve these problems rather than relying on physical dogs, please email me below with your case and I try to
force. Even if physical force suppresses the dominance, answer as many of these issues as I can on how to help
it will not change the dog’s fundamental relationship you resolve the problems. n
with you. He will always be looking for the time when
he might be able to go to battle and win the conflict. Jerry Bradshaw is Training Director of Tarheel Canine Training, Inc. in
Sanford, NC. Tarheel Canine’s School for Dog Trainers holds Police K9 Instructor
Set up your relationship so he knows all good things Courses for Police K9 Trainers as well as civilians. Tarheel Canine trains dogs for
come through demonstrating obedience and behavioral police departments worldwide. Contact Jerry at jbradshaw@tarheelcanine.com

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Dealing with Dominance Aggression

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