WEEK ONE: SEE: Functional Aggression: Click Here To Watch
Lesson One
- Aggression is functional, not emotional. It’s a learned strategy for achieving a goal, like creating distance or protecting a resource.
- Aggression escalates when subtle signals fail. Dogs communicate discomfort with cues (lip-licks, freezes) before resorting to growls or bites.
- Barrier frustration is a key trigger. When a dog’s high arousal is blocked (e.g., by a leash), it can redirect that energy onto itself or the environment.
- The goal is observation, not intervention. For Week 1, focus on identifying the function of your dog’s aggression by asking: “What is my dog trying to achieve?”
Next Steps
- For Week 1: Observe, do not intervene.
- Identify Functional Aggression: Watch for behaviours where your dog is trying to influence its environment.
- Analyse the Function: Ask:
- Video Submission: Upload a video of your dog using functional aggression to the Skool Community Forum.
Week One: Understand: Click Here to Watch
Lesson Two: To explain the science of functional aggression in dogs.
- Aggression is a learned, functional strategy for survival (e.g., gaining resources, creating distance), not a personality flaw.
- It’s a symptom of stress, not the root problem. The dog’s brain shifts to a survival state, making rational thought impossible.
- Punishment-based training fails by intensifying a dog’s defensive reaction during a survival response, often escalating aggression.
- Effective training uses LIMA (Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive) to teach alternative behaviours and change the underlying emotional response, making aggression unnecessary.
Next Steps
- Dog Owners: Reframe aggression as a problem-solving strategy to identify its function (e.g., creating distance, protecting resources).
- Dog Owners: Observe conflict signals (lip-licking, yawning, freezing) to understand the dog’s internal state.
- Dog Owners: Use LIMA-based training to teach alternative behaviours and change emotional responses, making aggression unnecessary.
Week One: Apply: Click Here to Watch
Lesson Three: To explain how pain can drive aggression and how to identify it.
Key Takeaways
- Pain often causes aggression, as dogs use behavior (e.g., snapping, growling) to communicate discomfort and create distance.
- Physical issues are frequently missed in vet exams, requiring a collaborative approach between trainers, vets, and specialists.
- A pain relief trial (short-term medication) is a key diagnostic tool; if behaviour improves, it confirms a physical driver and guides further investigation.
- Correcting pain-driven aggression is counterproductive; understanding the root cause is essential for effective, humane solutions.