Post by Bitten on Jan 24, 2010 5:41:00 GMT -5
Bitten, you say barking is a warning. A warning is a thread, a thread is aggression.
A warning can not be a thread - let me give you yet an example:
1 - SAR dogs, like used at earthquakes or similar working scenarios - they BARK when they find a person, a thing etc. This is a learned behavior where the dog do a so-called bark/hold on items/persons when finding / fulfilling the working task - in neither of these cases there can be reference to aggression - A dog trained for searching for persons, living or dead, gives out warning, when it has accomplished its task - again no aggression can be connected to this behavior - Dogs used for search of narcotics, can bark or scratch when it has fulfilled the task - when barking, still nothing to do with aggression
2 - A thread is not aggression, unless that the living thread shows aggressive attitude, which is a different scenario - Aggressive attitude doesn't mean that the aggressor barks/shout - it can be done in silence, hence barking/giving warning is not aggression
3 - A dog barks to give out warning, telling you something - this behavior we make consistent through training, when learning a dog the bark/hold, and whether this is on a training field for IPO and any other working situation.
4 - A dog barks to give out warning, when it tells you someone is coming, on your property, trying to get into your house etc. without your permission - this often comes naturally, but is, like in all the above situations, not aggression.
Finally, and as said before "aggression is a drive" - Aggression sets in, when the dog physically is attacked, must fight and protect, emerge when the dog actively goes into the fight.
Bitten