CAN DOGS GET ANGRY? Yup, I’m here to say that they can. Do they get angry as often as humans? Nope, and thank heavens for that. If they did, I doubt we’d live with them, given that they have carpet knives in their mouths. Just like people, they vary tremendously in how often they experience or express anger. I’ve known some dogs who appeared not to have an angry moment their entire lives. More commonly, I’ve worked with dogs who, on occasion, are clearly frustrated at not getting what they wanted or expected. And rarely, I’ve worked with a small number of dogs who appeared to live in a state of ‘road rage’ for weeks, months or years on end. So even though I would never say that anger in dogs is an exact replica of anger in people, both in its frequency and how we experience it, it is a basic biological fact that dogs are capable of experiencing anger. Here’s why:
Anger is as primal an emotion as fear, and if an animal can experience fear, then one is wise to assume it is capable of experiencing anger. The two, it turns out, go hand in hand. Both are mediated primarily in the amygdala and both evolved to protect us. Fear is the emotion that signals the body that it is in danger, and motivates us to take some kind of action to protect ourselves. Anger is the emotion that backs up fear when being on defense is not enough. Roger Abrantes tells a compelling story of when he was about to be in hand-to-hand combat as a young soldier. As he stood in a trench, watching the enemy soldiers run toward him with bayonets drawn, he was initially terrified. But at the last minute, just as the soldiers were within a few feet of him, he was overwhelmed with a burst of rage. That’s the emotion that poured energy into his body and allowed him to move forward to fight for his life.
That’s what anger does: it floods the body with energy, increases the heart rate, pumps blood into our muscles in preparation for action. Anger demands action; that’s why it can be so problematic. Have you ever done something you wish you hadn’t when you were angry? If not, please consider either offering life coaching sessions for the rest of us, or ask your parents if you actually are an alien. Anger, at varying intensities, compels us to do SOMETHING, anything, and thus… we sometimes do something we shouldn’t and get ourselves in hot water until we learn to take a breath and let our emotions settle. The same thing can happen to dogs. If you’re interested in following this thread, I write more about the biology of emotion in For the Love of a Dog.
Dogs have all the same wiring (and external expressions) related to anger as people. They just, as I said, don’t seem to experience it as often as we easily-angered primates do. (Ever seen chimps lose their tempers? It’s common, and it’s not pretty.) Of course, like all emotions, dogs exhibit a vast range of intensities of experiencing anger, from being slightly irritated, to being truly frustrated, to downright mad to being in an out-of-control rage. All of those are manifestations of anger, just at different levels, and all are within a dog’s capability. Of course, dogs don’t have the same complexity of cognitive overlays as we do; their experience of anger has got to be different in many ways than ours. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t share the basic, fundamental emotion of anger. As I’ve said before, glass half empty or glass half full, both are equally accurate.
Here’s a photo of a dog illustrating what I claim is an angry emotion. Note the furrowed brow, the offensive pucker and the hard stare. Any one of those things by themselves would not be enough to suggest an internal emotion of anger, but without the fur and black nose, this is exactly the face of an angry person.
ANGER MANAGEMENT? Here’s something else we share: a need to learn how to handle being frustrated or angry. Many of the behavioral problems I’ve seen in my practice relate to either dogs who have never learned how to handle being frustrated and lose their tempers when they don’t get what they want, or owners who, uh, have the same problem.
Dogs need to be taught to be patient and polite (the basis of the Feeling Outnumbered program), and we need to learn to take a breath, or two or twenty, before expressing anger or frustration at our dogs. I needed this advice just recently: until recently Willie had stopped harassing Sushi with his obsessive indoor herding, but after his long, long period of inactivity and Sushi now being inside more because of the weather, the problem cropped up again. I found myself starting to get truly frustrated about it, until I put on my behaviorist/trainer hat, took a breath and put Willie in his crate when I found myself unable to do anything constructive. (Things are improving again, whew.)
I’d love to hear your thoughts: How do you interpret the dog above? What are your best coping strategies for dealing with your own frustrations, and helping your dog through his or hers? Never happens at your house? Ever? Really? Wow. Can I come over?
MEANWHILE, back on the farm. Well, two steps forward physically, and four back behaviorally. Willie’s shoulder is doing well, really well. As I said earlier, I’ve adjusted to a new normal, and have accepted that his shoulder will never be sound, but given that, he’s doing really well. He can play with his current favorite toy (Flappy) without any sign of regression, so that’s just heaven for both of us. However, last week he literally peed his pants (okay, he didn’t have any on, but you get the idea), barking in terror at a man he didn’t expect, standing in the kitchen. Granted the guy is tall, has hair like Einstein and was standing stock, staring, but still… Willie has never, ever reacted to a person like that. He became somewhat nervous around unfamiliar men when he was an adolescent, but it was easily countered by having guys throw ball for him every time we could arrange it. Willie has always adored people, guys especially, but as you may know, has had a lot of fears over the years, but primarily toward other dogs. A few days later another man came over. I asked him to sit down before I let Willie out. Willie didn’t bark as he did before, but he was clearly frightened of the man (who he’s seen at least 15 times over the years and always been fine with.)
I’ll write next time about the factors that could be contributing to his behavior (our hermit-like existence after his injury clearly being one of them, but I doubt that it’s the only one). There are at least 4, maybe 5 I can think of… I’ll discuss them, and our treatment program, in the next post.
Here are the noses of Barbie (on the left) and Butterscotch, one of the ewe lambs we’ve kept from this year’s breeding. It looks as though she did get bred by King Charles, so stay tuned to see if we have a teen0-aged pregnancy (that’s a good thing in sheep). The sheep must be loving the cool but not cold weather; who knows though, maybe they are yearning for snow?
Laurie says
My Amos can regress like that with no discernible triggers. It is so frustrating to watch and try to intervene with. We just go back to square one, but it seems we move along more quickly than before. I look forward to hearing your approaches.
Leah says
I definitely interpret that dog as being angry! Actually, to be really specific, I interpret it to be saying “Get off of my turf!” or “Stop what you’re doing!” to whoever/whatever it’s looking at off-camera, because it really reminds of the looks I’ve seen on dogs who growl at anyone who passes by their fence. I’m not sure it’s exactly the same, but that’s what I immediately thought of when I saw the picture.
Fjm says
Thank you for making me feel better about occasionally getting snappy with my animals! Since I accidentally retired, and started getting more sleep and less stress, life has been very relaxed – but just occasionally I am busy, a concept which my animals find hard to accept! We are all getting better at managing irritation though (we don’t really do full blown anger, thankfully). They give me some space if I ask them to firmly enough, and I make time for regular play breaks, as well as two good walks a day.
But if you know a way of explaining kindly to a cat that, loving as it is meant to be, kneading a human or dog with very long, very sharp claws is NOT a good thing, I would be very grateful, and a significant source of contretemps would be removed from our lives!
Christa says
One of the biggest challenges for me with training my reactive dog is keeping my own cool. Sometimes I just want to yell at him…”what is your problem, there’s nothing to be upset about!!!” Thankfully, I refrain from doing that. But there have been times when I’ve gotten angry. I used to let my frustrations get to me and I’d find myself yanking on my dog’s leash, or simply getting cross with him.
Now I’ve learned to just stop and remove myself (and my dog) from the situation if at all possible, all the while telling myself “be calm, be calm.” I’ve also learned to laugh more at my dog. Things that might have upset me in the past, like my dog grabbing a steak from the counter, just amuse me a little now. I’ve accepted that my dog is a dog, he’s not perfect, and sometimes he’s going to drive me crazy 🙂
As for the dog in the photo, yes I think he’s angry as well. My own dog gets very angry with puppies, he has no tolerance for them at all. He’ll ignore them for a few minutes, then lash out with a face like the dog in the photo, clearly annoyed.
Jenn says
My current dog is pretty happy go lucky, and tends to give up easily if things are frustrating him. There are many reasons he’s earned the nickname Ghandi. However, there are times when he tries my patience, and I did the same thing you mentioned above, put him in his crate before I “do some violence.” Having grown up taking care of horses where one of the first things my instructor told me was “If you’re going to hit that horse, I’d better hear the whip whistle on the way down.” it’s easy to react quickly and thoughtlessly when my dog is frustrating me (usually with some hollering and a threatening charge in his direction, since that’s all I ever usually had to use on a horse that was being difficult). Since switching to positive methods I’ve gotten better, but there were days when he was younger where he literally did not seem to know how to settle down so I’d stick him in the crate for twenty minutes (usually with a stuffed toy or kong) so he could do some forced settling and I could regain my composure. The other thing I’ve done is umbilical him to me, so he couldn’t get into anything, and I could calm myself down with some pets and then have some quiet time, with the bonus of my dog having to hang out and do some bonding.
jackie says
I interpret that dog as saying “don’t you dare come any closer, this stick is mine”.
Having a nuts dog has made me more patient, I think. People tell me I’m patient, anyway! What I find though is that although I am patient with his serious problems (including anger management), what sends me over the edge are smaller misdemeanors like barking at the TV! Similarly with our new dog – I can cope with housetraining accidents and recall practice but it drives me nuts when she chews the leg of my chair when I am trying to relax!
As far as possible I manage his problems by keeping him at a distance from his triggers (nearly all humans, nearly all dogs, indoors and out) and feeding him liberally for calm behaviour around them. When possible I reward him with increasing ‘distance’ as well, as in BAT. At home we are doing some sanity saving downstay practice at the moment with attention-seeking New Dog – when she is yipping and seething about naturally Problem Dog gets all hyped up and then frustrated. As do we!
Laura Anne Welch says
Several years ago I woke up late, and my husband told me that Cassie, our Aussie, must have really “ticked off Pollux”, our shepherd mix. They had been playing outside for a long time when Greg heard Pollux ask to come back in with one short, very loud, sharp bark. Pollux then “stomped into the house in a huff”. Cassie was nowhere to be seen in the yard, (probably under a bush?) About fifteen minutes later Cassie came to the door with her head down and her tail nub tucked and quietly went to her bed, where she stayed for quite some time. Neither dog interacted for the next hour or so, then all was well.
I just called Greg here to look at the photo of the angry dog. He said that it is exactly how Pollux had looked on that morning with the exception of the snarling mouth. That dog looks a lot like our Pollux did, but without Pollux’s prick ears!
Donna in VA says
Not so much myself, but my sheltie has learned to anticipate situations in which my hubby becomes angry. The scenario is that I come home from work and as I am coming in, sheltie starts barking – loudly and more than a few barks. Hubby gets mad about the barking and yells the dogs name and SLAMS his office door. Initially the barking was excitement about me coming home. But now, its is directed AT hubby. He faces my husband and is totally wired and barking at him because he anticipates the yelling and the slamming door. Not much way for me to undo this behavior since I am just now coming into the house from outside. Telling hubby to stop his behavior hasn’t worked. I have tried calling the dog to me as soon as the door opens but he is totally engaged in defending himself from the perceived threat.
That is the the usual behavior pattern for this dog. Any reaction that seems threatening (yelling, noise, can of pennies, spray bottle) just escalates his excitement level and bad behavior. The correct handling is to send him to a lying down position, attach leash if necessary, and have him just wait for a minute or five. When he seems calm, he is released. He seems to get that while he is lying down and waiting, nothing is going to happen to him.
I also add that if hubby is not home when I arrive, the dog’s behavior varies. If he was sleeping, he just waits for me at the bedroom door with hardly a peep (yeah, he sleeps on the bed when nobody is home.) Yesterday he did come to the door barking when I came home (and hubby not home), but it is an excited bark, not the defensive one.
I would also love to see a discussion of “indignant” behavior. My sheltie expresses this perfectly! I need to try and capture it on video. It is a combination of a bark and grabbing a soft toy at the same time (so the bark is sort of muffled into the toy) and dashing away from whatever he is objecting to.
Jeff says
Luckily I do have awesome dogs. Labs from reputable breeder that are bred for temperament and improving the breed. They aren’t perfect but I honestly can say I have never seen any of them angry. I also begin working with them from the day then enter my house to socialize them and teach them right from wrong. However, when I say socialize they get daily socialization time with other people. But I do get frustrated sometimes and angry. I am normally very calm and relaxed person much to the point where people even comment on that my ability to be calm in stressful situations is amazing. However, my dogs have been dragged by the collar to their crate so I can step back and breathe. I have had to leave my house before and go for a short walk on my own to regroup. However, I find this frustration more often with puppies than dogs. As soon as I get mad I have to step away breathe and relax. I also reevaluate what I did wrong are there things I could do different. It is not always the dogs fault, they just don’t know any better. A lot of time it is my own fault and I have to step back and first cool off and then think where did I go wrong to let it escalate that far. Sometimes I come up with an answer, sometimes I don’t.
I do have to have those breathers. But I tell you what the joy and pride I feel when something clicks and goes right. The praise I give them I sure hope it makes up for the times it doesn’t. My latest puppy I have been working on teaching patients especially with feeding. I have been working on setting the food down and he waits for my command to go get it. Which is super difficult with him. Last night I was tired and really didn’t feel like fighting it so I just made the food and set it down and went to wash my hands. It wasn’t until I was washing my hands did I realize he wasn’t eating. My first thought was, Oh crap he is sick, fine end to a bad day. Then I realized I hadn’t given him the ok to eat. So I gave it too him and he dived in to the food like he hadn’t eaten in months. I gave him all kinds of praise and some extra, plus a few treats when he was done. I realize the treat probably didn’t mean anything to him as part of he did good but I was sure filled with pride and the whole day just turned around for me in that one moment.
Jennifer Hamilton says
In doing my research before embarking on all of my dogs orthopedic surgeries, one common theme I heard from aware dog owners was that repeated surgeries and periods of confinement “changes who they are”. Based on my own dog’s experience with 5 orthopedic surgeries and periods of confinement, I also found that to be true. Although I did many things to counteract the confinement, boredom, and restricted activity, my dog still has mental issues that she didn’t have before. Some of them we’ve worked through and improved, some of them we simply accept and manage now. I wish the orthopedic surgeons would include the “emotional risks” when they counsel clients as well as when they determine their “surgical success rates”. If a dog is physically returned to full range of motion but is now an emotional basket case the rest of it’s life, I’m not sure I would call that 100% success. Fortunately our situation was not that extreme, but I’ve seen cases that were that bad.
Ann W in PA says
My biggest challenge, like others above, has been to train myself to remain calm when my dog has a reactive outburst. I think the key for me has been to replay a situation in my head, and visualize myself doing what I would *rather* have done. Maybe there have been some other things at work that I’m not thinking of, but this seems to have been the key to changing my own reaction. At first this was an emergency U-turn, but as our training progressed I visualized in as much detail as possible what I strive to do when this happens:
1) Become still and calm. (not frozen, just taking a breath, and focusing on what my body *should* do instead of yanking the leash or yelling)
2) Think.
3) Use my “tools.” (either leave or if possible use it as an opportunity to train / reward a better choice.)
Things are so much better when I’m not *part* of the reactive outburst. 🙂
Of course it really, really helps to have support from others constantly reassuring you that your dog isn’t a monster that needs to be punished, but a creature that needs your understanding and help – because no matter how much you know something in your brain, it’s hard to remember in the moment when it feels like everyone is looking at you and your emotions are flowing. This wasn’t always people I knew, but sometimes books (and blogs 🙂 ) were my source of support.
Taryn says
Because I can see the corner of a stick or some kind of chew in the photo of the dog, I don’t perceive anger but just plain old resource guarding. Is resource guarding a form of anger? Whatever it is that is going on, I definitely would NOT approach that dog!
Karissa says
Okay, okay, I’ll give. I was one of the people posting that I believe dogs are inherently joyful beings and don’t experience anger as we see it as a human emotion. But yes, I suppose I can buy the argument that if a dog can experience fear, they can also then experience anger.
That said, similar to an above poster, I just don’t see MY dogs exhibit anger. Even in the last week with a new puppy in the house, the corrections they make towards the puppy aren’t done in anger, they are done as a warning. I suppose if the puppy didn’t listen (or if I didn’t step in to control the situation) then the warning could escalate to anger — But ultimately, I just don’t allow that to happen in my house.
Interesting, too, to read how we all struggle to control OUR emotions while training. I can’t help but be angry when one of my dogs lashes out at the puppy for getting too close to something they want (their food, toy, etc.) — But ultimately, I am only angry with myself for allowing it to happen.
Kat says
Ranger and I, fortunately, share the feeling that getting angry is tiring and we’re both pretty lazy by nature so doing something tiring that doesn’t feel good doesn’t have a lot of appeal. It makes it a lot easier to hang onto the temper. I can’t remember either of us being actually angry with the other–irritated yes, angry no. Not that we both haven’t had our angry episodes. I have an almost teen son who knows every one of my buttons and has been known to push them all in succession. Ranger, I’ve seen truly angry twice in four years. He got angry at the ill-mannered Great Dane who persisted in trying to pin Ranger against the fence and mount him. Shaking him off and moving away repeatedly didn’t get the message across, displaying his teeth didn’t get the message across that the Dane’s advances were unwelcome. Finally Ranger got angry, full on threat display; snarling teeth, hackles up, low menacing growl, stiff posture, and a clear if you don’t stop I WILL kill you message. I was actually frightened that I was about to be responsible for some very large vet bills. The Dane was convinced of his immanent demise as well and tucked tail, turned and ran to hide behind his people. Ranger glared after him for a minute and gave himself a vigorous shake and went to play with his friends. The second incident was similar, this time an American Bulldog unneutered puppy of about 10 months who kept trying to mount Ranger. After shaking him off about 20 times Ranger whirled around with a snarl and a low growl that had the Bulldog backing down in a hurry. After that Ranger showed the Bulldog some games they could play together. In both cases it was striking to me how quickly he stopped being angry. When I get angry I’m angry for a long time. I get frustrated and irritated with the dogs sometimes but I don’t remember getting angry and Ranger’s crazy new sister has given me multiple opportunities. When I’m frustrated or irritated I just start reciting my mantra, “everyday you do the best you can but some days the dragon wins” and walk away.
Kerry M. says
This topic has really had me examining my own definitions of emotions. What is the difference between anger and frustration? I have no hesitation to say I’ve seen my own dogs frustrated… who hasn’t? But I had to debate quite a bit about whether I’ve seen anger in a dog and then, what did I consider the difference between frustration and anger. I agree with those who have said anger generally stems from frustration but that they aren’t the same thing.
And I finally pinned it down how I think of them differently. Frustration is targeted. If I’m a dog, I want that bone or to bite the other dog. Anger is global. And here is where I think of dogs who redirect as angry – not just frustrated. If I want to bite that dog and I can’t, maybe I’ll bite this dog who I can reach since he’s walking right beside me. He is taking it beyond frustration and the emotion is too big any more for that one target and it’s now an overwhelming experience that needs another outlet. For humans, this may be snapping at the person who is asking if you’re OK after stubbing your toe, which I am sadly very guilty of, and I can tell you I feel anger (admittedly, very inappropriately) in that situation.
There is also an intensity difference. I think some resource guarding is anger and I don’t know why it took me a while to think of that as one of my dogs has a checkered past with resource guarding and he does look angry that another dog is thinking of eating his food, taking his bed, etc. However, I don’t think all resource guarding is necessarily anger, because I had another dog who seemingly methodically taught my other dog to stay away from his bone. He started by teaching her that when it’s in my mouth, it’s mine. When it’s six inches away, it’s mine. When it’s six inches away and I’m not looking at it, it’s still mine. I wish I had caught this on video because it looked like resource guarding, and it was, but it seemed to stem not from anger, but from some place far more calculated. In this instance, he was an excellent dog trainer and did a phenomenal job teaching my other dog to “leave it”, far quicker and more effective than my own attempts to train her.
trisha says
To Fjm: Ah the “happy paws” problem, as I used to call it! My best coping mechanisms were nail trims (large amounts of food was involved!), gentle nudges to the side, holding the cat’s paw like you are shaking hands or, in desperation, standing straight up if my cat was on my lap. (This requires 1) a quick movement and 2) a cat who will NOT dig in his/her claws to hold on.)
And it’s so true that reactive dogs help us learn to stay cool. Working with reactive dogs for years helped me profoundly with Willie. I was incredibly lucky for over 12 years, having 4 dogs who were mellow and loving and had no serious behavioral problems. They weren’t perfect, and Luke could shoot me a look that should not be translated in print, but I can’t remember a moment when any of them expressed anything even close to intense anger. Then I got Willie, and when he was a pup he veered between terror and rage around other dogs. I’m thankful I had over 20 years experience working with dogs before I got him, it’s made it so very, very much easier.
teresavet says
I’m seeing an angry dog staring down. Better back up!
With my clients’ dogs I work with BAT, and it really works. With the human clients I tell them they can’t say a word if it’s not praise. And it works too! Somehow anger (in both of them) dissipates easier if they don’t shout or yell at the dog.
Me? I take a deep breathe, and think of my mistake. Was I going too fast? Were we too near?
Then I try to make it better. At home I change rooms and shout nasty things to the air, take some deep breaths… If it’s the dogs’ “fault” I let them out so they also “take a breath”. And then I clean the mess.
My dog is a chocolate lab I think I’ve never seen angry. The female is a Schnauzer mini mix, and she barks, but I just have to “chssst” her and shuts up. I’ve some couch potatos
Beth with the Corgis says
Sorry to hear about Willie’s behavioral regression. I do think that enforced confinement makes anyone squirrely. I missed nearly three weeks of work last year with a virus I could not shake, and when I returned to the world I found it a) somewhat scary and b) somewhat foreign; I felt like I had lost half or more of my social skills while cooped up at home, and I’m over 40 and have always worked with the public! So if it’s that hard for people, imagine for the dog who doesn’t have the ability to rationalize.
I have often wondered, when you discuss the difficult decisions you had to make about his treatment, how one is meant to determine what is the best course of treatment for a dog? I think for one of my dog’s, I would only choose a path that involved long rehabilitiation if the only other choice were euthanasia. I think that for that particular dog, he would go literally stir-crazy and if I could ask him, I think he’d rather spend a life of modest pain than 3 or 6 months of severe restrictions and rehab-type handling. I think my other dog (the female) would probably do better with the rehab, and I would make the opposite decision for her. But my high-energy guy is so smart and so NEEDS to be active that I think he would quite literally lose his mind if he was penned/crated for long.
I have some thoughts on the anger issue but out of time now….
trisha says
To Donna: I absolutely agree about “indignant” expressions. Wish I could get one on video! If anyone has….. let me know.
To Taryn: Dogs can be both… Resource guarding is a label of a set of actions within a particular context. Anger is an emotion. We can accurately describe dogs as both, one or the other, or neither. I’ve seen dogs ‘on offense’ who had virtually no sign of emotion at all, the hit men of dogdom. I’m suggesting the dog above is not just guarding the bone, but is also experiencing something akin to human anger. The best expression of it that I know is a ‘hard eye,’ but that is very, very difficult to convey in a photograph.
To Kerry: I see your point about how you make the distinction between anger and frustration, but in a biological sense, there’s nothing ‘global’ about anger. Individuals can be in a rage about a specific thing or action, just as one can be frustrated by something universal and generic (‘politics’ for example, not that anyone in the country finds that frustrating at the moment.) The difference, is we are to use the terms in a biological sense, is really just about intensity and context. Frustration develops within a context of not getting what you want (which is not true of all anger), but the actual feeling we experience is a form of anger related to the context. Make sense?
mungobrick says
Caroline McKinney says
Oh, this brings up sad/bad memories. My PWD who just died at only seven was put here with me to show me my own faults. One of which is that I can get angry too much. He would make me crazy with his constant chewing–destroying furniture and much else. Until he was five, I had to crate him when we left the house. He also had a very low threshold for frustration. If I was not perfect in my handling during training, or even if I just stopped to reward him, he would get in front of me and bark at me. I hated this. And, yes, I yelled at him.
Fortunately, I learned to appreciate his good qualities before he died. We had both sort of reached an agreement. He could hold his startlines even. and without barking. And I did not even hear his barking all around the course because he could still do his job. I am still sad that he had to leave when we were really coming to appreciate each other–in agility and in life.
Beth with the Corgis says
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Maddie angry. She’s a pretty soft dog (for a Corgi) and with people she would not dream of being angry. She’s one of those dogs that will look sad if you do something that might make another dog angry. Even at the vet, she’s more inclined to give Sad Ears (or even shiver) than protest. She would sooner die than argue with a person.
With other dogs, I have seen her snark to protect her space but it hardly strikes me as anger. More of a “Please back off, you are making me uncomfortable” sort of thing.
Jack definitely gets angry. He has pretty good self-control, though. In the house, if Maddie tries to make a grab for a toy or treat that he wants he will pick it up and snatch it out of reach but not discipline her. When we first brought her here she would try to mount him if he’d run and he’d turn around and put one paw or even two over her shoulders but never hauled off and told her off (which is what she needed). The only time he gets mad at her is if she crowds him (he is very sensitive about personal space). He’ll growl-yap and move away. Clearly he’s annoyed but he’s basically a peace-keeper at heart and while I hate to humanize his actions, it seems almost that he’s decided that keeping a good relationship is more important than correcting her impudence. In all other ways he’s definitely boss dog of the house; he gets first dibs at toys, dropped food, etc.
With other dogs he is generally extremely steady. He’s one of those more dominant dogs who is confident of his place and does not feel the need to push his weight around. However, he does get very angry about one thing and that is other dogs who don’t know where their bodies are in space. He will happily play-fight or wrestle or chase and is ok with body-slamming in that context, and if the other dog is just too big and too rough he will give a mild correction or two and then walk away and end the game. But if a dog barrels into him when he’s not even playing, well that just pushes him over the top. He still maintains self-control, but there is no other way to describe his actions than anger. Last time something like this happened, he was nosing around by a favored person and a young (about a year old) border collie-Aussie mix that he sometimes plays with went running by full-speed and knocked Jack over from behind. Jack got up, turned, and charged the dog, growl-barking loudly for quite a few seconds. I say he maintained self-control because he made no effort to make contact with his teeth, but he DID tell him off very loudly. The other dog tucked tail and vacated the area. I watched to see what would happen next and a few minutes later Jack walked calmly up to the other dog, the other dog got low and licked the corners of Jack’s mouth, then Jack play-bowed and they had a brief mock fight and after that all was well. We’ve seen the dog several times since and he is actually one of Jack’s favored play-mates now.
If the same thing had happened to Maddie, she would have looked at me and made Sad Ears and said “Did you SEE what happened?” but definitely would not have reacted with anger. She sees her place most times as near the bottom of the pecking order and figures it’s her lot in life to be there. And she seems very content with that.
Jack will also grumble loudly to protest when my husband or I do something he does not like (towel his belly, for instance). I think this is more annoyance than true anger. He does not growl in a threatening way but does make obvious sounds of displeasure. He’s a very vocal dog.
He also has what I call his “stubborn face” when we go for a walk on a non-favored route and he was hoping to go another way. At a certain point when he realizes what is happening, he’ll stop and point his ears backwards (not pinned) and make a face like a pouting toddler. It’s really quite amusing and I’ve never seen a non-Corgi make this particular face.
So I do think dogs experience the full spectrum of anger, from the low-level “You are my people and I trusted you to do what I like and now I am severely disappointed in you” to full-fledged seeing-red anger.
Gail W says
I am a volunteer trainer in our local Humane Society Companion Dog Training program [all the fees we charge are donated to the HS]. We use your Family Friendly 6 week training book for our beginning course. Most of our clients are rescues. We have had amazing success and lots of our students come back for intermediate, advanced, and CGC training. I tell my students that although dogs might feel frustration and irritation, I don’t believe that they truly understand anger in us – particularly when it is directed at them for something that seems perfectly acceptable to a dog [like digging up the flowerbed]. I strongly discourage rage and punishment, but I think it is okay to show disappointment and give them the “temporary cold shoulder”. If the human needs to blow a fuse, put the dog in her crate for some alone time and deal with the anger. I tell my students that my personal goal in life is to learn to forgive as quickly as my dog does, because that will make me a better human! I remind myself of that goal when any of my six dogs get on my nerves 🙂
em says
My husband and I discussed anger in dogs this just after the survey post. I expressed surprise that some respondants said ‘no’ to anger in dogs. I’d said yes without a moment’s hesitation, so I wondered what the naysayers’ reasoning was. To my ongoing surprise, my husband turned out to be among them! His initial thought was that dogs didn’t feel anger in the way that people do, but instead responded reflexively to provocative situations. I agreed that dogs do not seem to feel rational anger (as in, ‘I was thinking abstractly about this situation and have decided that it is fundamentally unacceptable to me.’) and that it is also possible for a dog to lash out violently as a fear-reflex without experiencing something I would call anger (I’m thinking of a panicked animal lashing out at someone trying to provide medical treatment) .
But I stuck to my guns, arguing that the EMOTION that an aggressing dog is feeling, at that moment, is often anger. Territorial aggression, in particular, sprang to my mind. Otis has a strong reaction to coyotes. If he scents one very close, he will piloerect, scan the area, stand with his chest puffed out and his head and tail high. He will growl, often, but won’t bark. If he spots one, he launches after it like an arrow from a bow, gaze locked and very hard, brow furrowed and neck stiff. It’s likely that instinctive fear motivates some of this intense reaction, but I don’t see any physical sign of it in his posture or behavior. The coyote, running away as fast as possible with tail tucked and ears flat, is displaying fear. Otis seems angry. Killing rage angry. He’s never caught a coyote (he’ll stop chasing 50-100 yards away) so I can’t say for sure what would happen, but it looks to me just like the footage I once saw on National Geographic of a pack of wolves attacking and killing a coyote, efficient and lethal. The coyotes never seem to have any doubt about his intent. I seem to see them much more often than most people in my area, and I suspect it’s because animals that typically lie low and wait for dogs and hikers to pass break cover and run when they see Otis scanning for them.
His reaction to coyotes (the red-haze gaze, as I call it) is very different than his predatory chases. When he chases a deer or a squirrel, Otis seems happy-his muscles are loose, his mouth is open and face is relaxed, and his gait is bouncy afterwards-he’s excited and intent, but not tense and never piloerected.
His reaction is also different than when generally startled or threatened. The other day we were walking past a marshy area and a beaver took down a small tree just as we passed, I glanced up and saw it fall, but my first thought upon hearing the crashing noise was, “holy cow! What in the world is coming through there?!” Otis, who wasn’t able to see what had actually happened, evidently jumped to the same conclusion. He piloerected, held his head high (but tail neutral) and barked, several times, higher pitched than normal–alarm barks. He danced several steps to the side while staring into the marsh, evidently nervous and anticipating that something VERY big must be coming. He stood his ground but showed no inclination to go in pursuit of the swamp monster.
I’ve had dogs that I can’t honestly recall ever showing anger and honestly, almost all of the examples that I can think of are in the context of the dog park. I think many dogs do not show anger toward people, but that irritation, frustration, jealousy, and indignation are much more commonly seen in interactions between dogs, especially between those who do not have an established relationship. The interesting question, to me, is whether dogs actually don’t FEEL anger toward their human families, or whether they just don’t EXPRESS that anger. I’m inclined to think that most of the time, whether happy-go-lucky or very soft and submissive, dogs that don’t show anger don’t feel angry, but I’ve also known enough dogs from whom I’ve caught a sideways sliding gaze directed at the cat on her bed or the other dog being handed a treat that makes me think it is possible that dogs sometimes do refrain from overtly expressing the anger and resentment that they feel.
Anyhow, I’m sorry to hear that Willie had a setback. I do hope that he works through it or better yet, that it turns out to be a brief inexplicable phase that ends swiftly and without further incident. It can’t hurt to hope, right?
Roberta says
I just put down a lovely dog who was so erratically reactive, we all were on tenterhooks trying to keep one another safe (me and the other dogs) – I took 5 smaller dogs with bite wounds to the vet; when she picked up a 40# Beagle (yes, the weight is dropping) and put her on her back over some vomit in the field, I no longer could deal. I lost my very best dog two years ago because I could/would not believe the Coonhound mix I had brought into rescue was truly dog and human aggressive; three dogs died that day because of him. As I looked at the mix of my current pack with a large number of seniors; I couldn’t risk coming home to a dead dog because I missed something. What gets me is, were I alone w/o dogs but knowing what I know now, I would have adopted her :(. She wasn’t angry, she was reactive…so sad.
I now have a Beagle/Basset who, I think, was rolled and bit by my Dobie mix. I didn’t see this though the bite caused a large abscess in her neck. The reason I think Justus is the one who did Clementine “wrong” is she has very little tolerance for him; she remains “angry” at him – in the yards, when opening a gate, she will wait, go after him barking with raised hackles. He backs away and does not engage, thank God.
Other than Clementine’s persistent vendetta against Justus, I don’t know I have seen truly angry dogs except that Coonhound (and he sure was an anomaly; totally against type); I have seen dogs hold grudges – a beloved dog who I had to send to another rescue was mauled by a neighbor dog – after healing, keeping her in the yard and away from that dog was tough. She is in a wonderful home now though has had recurring mast cell tumors.
@Donna in VA – I have a Sheltie, too, who seems to be indignant when I throw the ball for other dogs; she will bark, chase and even snap at the fetching dogs, though she has no interest in the ball but, I think, the disruption of my being with her even to just remove my arm to throw.
All the dogs here are rescues, mine and the adoptables, so I don’t have any breeder background to go on; some of them are very well adjusted, some not so but the pack is stable and we are happy; saving those who need saving while maintaining a quality rescue pack is tricky. Thanks for your books!
Roberta says
Oh, gosh, it sounds like my dogs are killing one another which isn’t true; I am simply trying to relate to the topic but all the bad is on one entry :(. We actually have a pretty good time here.
Joan says
regarding cats with the happy paws, sometimes they can be redirected to do their kneading on a nice, soft, cat sized stuffed animal
Lisa W says
This topic couldn’t have come at a better time for me. My two dogs have polar opposite temperments. One is extremely sensitive to noise, tone, body language, moods, and is a little reactive sometimes. Training her has taught me a lot about patience and body language and style. My other dog is a true peacenik, never gets angry or snarky, is patient and is a bit of a lunk-head (said with all the love I have for her). She also has been the hardest dog I’ve ever trained. She came to us after spending the first several months of her life in a crate because her people couldn’t handle her when they let her out (she was literally crazy with energy and enthusiasm;) She and I have worked long and hard and there is still one area that I can’t break through and brings me to this post’s topic. Leash pulling.
I’ve tried everything and for the most part she is good about walking with a loose-ish leash (she’s pretty good abut staying on a “here” by my side off-leash, but that’s not always possible on some of our walks). But when she gets a whiff of something or my other dog is smelling something, all bets are off; she will yank and sometimes it takes me off guard and actually hurts.
I try very hard to not get angry, I sing or laugh or talk in a squeaky voice, but one day, I got mad. After being pulled in the opposite direction my body was facing, I yelled and scolded her, which doesn’t affect the puller and has a very negative affect on the sensitive dog. I knew I shouldn’t do it and felt bad afterward, and I also know it will happen again.
Recently, I started using a Sporn harness on her and it really has made a big difference. No more pulling and no more tension (on either end of the leash) and it makes me wonder if I am somehow “cheating.” Using the harness as a tool seems like a good idea, but am I teaching her anything? I have experimented with alternating days with harness and without and without we are back to yanking.
She is not fond of the harness, but it has made our walks much more peaceful and less stressed for everyone. Anyone else use these devices and is there a way to transition out of them successfully?
Beth with the Corgis says
em, Jack gets similarly angry when other critters walk across his yard, be it a stray cat or an opossum or even a loose dog. He loves dogs, wants to meet and greet every dog he sees (except the ones that give strong “keep away” signals”), but one walking across his lawn while he’s in the house makes him very angry. As you described, he stares fixedly, he does bark but there are many deep growls (from his chest) mixed in with the barks, and we have always described him as being “very angry.”
He will alert-bark to strange sounds, odd activity in the neighborhood, etc, and that bark is a mixture of barking and baying. But strange critters on his law? Ooooh, that ticks him off to no end. He will go stand by the nearest door to the offender and growl and mutter and you can almost here him saying “So help me God, if I were out there you would NOT be walking on my lawn….”
When he sees critters in the woods, he does not pay any attention to them. We’ve had strange dogs in the house or yard and he’s fine, but that’s because we’ve invited them in.
trisha says
Lisa: There is NOTHING wrong, nothing whatsoever, about using good, humane equipment that makes life better for you and your dog. So often I’ve heard owners express guilt that they haven’t taught their dog to be perfect and have to use equipment, like a harness, that makes life easier. But I’ve never heard anyone apologize for walking a horse on a halter. Granted, you can teach most horses to follow you using good methods, but my point is we don’t expect ourselves to be able to overcome all obstacles without help sometimes with species other than dogs. I don’t know the brand Lisa mentions, but I’m a fan of body harnesses that attach at the front like Easy Walker and Sensation Harnesses. I used them on Willie when he was young and after his surgery, and have helped hundreds (thousands?) of clients use them. So, throw away your guilt and be proud you found a good solution. Perhaps over time you can work on the lunging issue, but for now, keep your arms in your shoulder sockets and make walking fun and relaxing again.
Donna in VA says
“Indignant” expression – I was thinking about it some more. Maybe it is more like “exasperation” ? It sounds something like “Hmmpht!!!!!!” – usually when I say he can’t do something or can’t have something.
There was one fascinating example. He knows “stick” and he knows “out”. He proudly brought a stick inside where were were sitting and dropped it for me to throw. I pointed out through the open door and said “stick out”. Well he grabbed that stick with his rather shrill “Hmmpphhttt” bark and carried it outside. My sister-in-law and I were totally flabbergasted.
Kerry says
Trisha: that explanation makes sense. I still see a targeted/global component in my own definitions which is what I was trying to work through. But it’s always good to how it is defined by others plus I can see a good argument even in my own experience that targeted/global is a circumstance of the degree of the emotion. I am sure that doesn’t make sense, but I’ll keep thinking on my own experiences with humans and dogs to clarify my thoughts.
Melissa says
One time when Erik was a puppy he was harassing my older dog Kivi relentlessly. Biting, mugging him when he walked past, snatching all his toys off him. Kivi has the patience of a saint, but even saints get fed up sometimes, right? He reached breaking point and with a frustrated ‘rowf!’ he charged Erik and body-slammed him. What ensued was a very rough and boisterous wrestling match where both dogs vented, but they were both controlled enough to inhibit their bites and make sure the interaction remained essentially playful, even if there was a little argy bargy.
In contrast, one time a dog decided to defend Kivi against Erik as if he were this dog’s resource. The dogs had only just met, so it was not really a comparable situation, but Erik was so outraged that this dog dared to tell him he couldn’t go near HIS Kivi that he threw himself at the dog with a vicious snarl. Fortunately he had a Ruff Wear harness on and so I could grab the handle as he flew past and hold him back. Once again, Kivi came to the rescue and just got up and sat down between the dogs with his back to Erik and gave the new dog a little nuzzle. It calmed both dogs considerably.
I am generally a cool-headed person with a long fuse. If I get frustrated with my dogs I just take a deep breath and walk away from whatever I was trying to do. I can always fall back on just being with them and it will make me feel better. For the last few weeks I’ve been struggling with my partner’s parents staying and one of them annoying the hell out of me interrupting me when I was trying to analyse data and write papers and generally tax my intellect to the extreme. I bottled it up for 3 weeks and just avoided them wherever I could. Eventually I convinced myself I should say something. I thought I said it quite calmly and politely, but it incited a massive emotional explosion and ultimately they left. I just keep dragging it up in my mind until it doesn’t make me angry anymore. A form of desensitisation?
Lumi says
When I decided to get a dog, I made myself a promise to always be fair and patient with my him. I have kept that promise pretty well, but there have been two incidents when my dog has given me a warning growl and I have totally deserved it.
The first time was when my dog’s tail got crushed between the lift’s door and I had to change the bandage by myself. I was very nervous, it felt horrible to have to hurt him and it took ages to get the old bandege with dried blood off. Then I couldn’t get the new bandage to stay on place and my poor little dog kept turning his head to see what I was doing. I got so frustrated that I pushed his head back and scolded him. The second time I did this, he growled shortly and I immediately came back to my senses. I took the deepest breath ever, pushed away all the negative thoughts in my mind, even the horrible guilt for what I had just done, and turned back into the calm and supporting person I have always been with my dog. I had no trouble with the bandage after that, and my dear dog let me change it every day with no further protest. I have always known he’s the most respectable creature on earth, but it was on those terrifying bandage changing days that my appriciation got onto a whole new level. He was so cooperative even if the whole procedure must have been painful for him, and the only thing he asked for me was to do what I had to do with respect.
The second time my dog growled at me was just a few nights ago. I was watching a film on my laptop when he walked all over the keyboard and the picture disappeared. After I finally managed to reset the laptop, he decided to take the shortcut again. Without thinking I yelled something like:
Lisa W says
Thanks, Trisha, for the encouragement and reminder that humane tools are often a good thing. I appreciate it. I love the horse analogy, and I will remind myself of that when I feel like I should have or could have done something differently. It’s hard for me to realize that we still have not gone past this block, and we’ll keep trying. The harness (it’s a body harness that clips on the back) does decrease my anger risk factor and increases gross national happiness.
Pike says
The dog looks like my hound does when the “wrong” dog (most are allowed) wants to get up on her couch. Threatening more than angry – though that could change in a moment if the other dog doesn’t back up.
She gets angry very easily and it still amazes me how quickly she can go from relaxed sniffing on a walk to full-out snarling, barking and lunging at another dog that unexpectedly barks at her from a passing car or such. And almost as quickly she goes back to being relaxed again.
She absolutely hates it to be yelled at – not just by dogs, even birds protecting their nests will get an anger response. Much milder though. My cat has perfected the art of making Ronja jump up in surprise and fear when hissing at her from some kind of hidden spot – which then turns into Ronja yipping and pawing very angrily at the cat.
Whenever the hound’s anger surprises me and/or becomes dangerous or painful (like her ripping out my shoulder yet again) I get just as angry. I am convinced that this dog came into my life to teach me how to get better with anger management! My own that is. We both have made some improvements – but there is plenty of room for more…
Pike says
@ Lisa, I have used about every kind of harness (incl. the sporn harness) trying to not have my muscles ripped apart on walks when the hound does one of her powerful lunges.
Ronja hates all of the ones that work and will do the “OMG why am I in a straight-jacket” walk in them. Indefinitely. So…. what can I say – she gets to walk in wide and comfy Neoprene Hurtta harness (you can only get them in Europe) with a back clip and I have learned to live with her infrequent lunges as good as I can.
Kat says
@Pike, with our crazy Finna we’ve discovered a wacky walker leash which goes some ways toward saving shoulder muscles. Sadly, we found this after Finna damaged my rotator cuff. https://wackywalkr.websitesource.net/ It doesn’t eliminate the power of a Finna Frenzy but with the leash absorbing some of it we find the rest more manageable.
essmac says
I agree that anger exists in dogs, but I cannot say that I have ever truly seen it. I have witnessed dogs correcting other dogs for bad behavior, bullying, frustration, reactivity, but never true anger, at least that comes to mind right now.
I am of the opinion that anger needs to be distinguished from rage. To my (amateur) mind, anger can be managed. The dog pictured above would likely ease in degree of anger if the object of his wrath were removed from the situation. Rage, however, has components of irrationality and lack of control. I would compare a dog in a state of rage to a human with road rage? Not rational and out of control. Very different emotional states.
I do think that there should be a separate category for “indignant”, or as in the look that my female cattle dog routinely used to give me (but not so much anymore), “die now”, a look of such utter scorn that the intent could only have been to wish me dead on the spot. No anger at all, just that glare. My two border collies are intense in the way border collies are, but never any show of anger. However, I also distinguish warning growls from anger, e.g. when I am clipping or dremeling nails and get too close to the quick my one dog will warn that they are uncomfortable. Not anger, just communication?
Karen says
My dog gets really aggressive when I take her collar off. This is a mystery to me. She has no problem with me putting the collar on. Thoughts, anyone?
Julie says
I agree that the definition between frustration and anger might be important in this discussion. For instance in this definition I read “frustration can cause us to feel upset and vulnerable whereas anger may cause us to react in a more physical manner”. If this definition is accurate, I’ve seen my dog get angry. I was shocked the first time I saw it. I had given him a frozen kong to enjoy. When he got halfway through it and couldn’t get the rest of his treats out he got extremely ‘angry’ and started destroying his bed. He’s done this on a few occasions now.
Beth with the Corgis says
essmac, I’m curious: if a person snaps at another person because their own threshold has been crossed, do you say they are not “angry” they are just “reactive?” If you witness a teenager barge into an adult and the adult yells “Hey, *expletive deleted* watch where you are going!” do you say “Well, the adult isn’t angry, he’s just correcting the teenager’s rudeness?” Or if you witness a person getting cut off in traffic start cursing and blowing their horn, do you say “He’s not angry, he’s just a bit car-reactive”?
I’m not giving you a hard time, it just seems to me that those who say they have never seen a dog angry have, by the definition of anger, probably hardly ever seen an angry person either. In other words, it seems that some people have a picture in their head of what an angry person looks like, and when a dog behaves in exactly the same way for exactly the same reasons, define it as something other than anger.
Or to put it another way, it seems that people excuse anger in dogs as generally being justified and therefore not really anger.
Anger is what lets us know our personal space/values have been violated. I think it’s the same basic thing in dogs. And just like in people, some dogs have a shorter fuse/lower threshold.
Alison says
We had guilt and anger in our house today. I was very angry at Meg this morning and she was very guilty. I let both dogs out to potty. Meg peed, I called her back in, she came to the edge of the porch, looked at me, and then took off (took herself for a walk). It was very clear that she knew what I asked and chose not to listen. It wasn’t long before she came back but instead of coming to me she went and hid in the dog house outside. (I was silent but she clearly knew I wasn’t happy.) I walked halfway to the dog house and called her. She came, crouching. When she got to me I gave her a rub behind the ear to show she was good for coming and then walked away. In the house, I ignored her and praised Bear (who was a good boy). Still mad at Meg, I told Bear in a happy tone all about how Meg was a bad dog for taking off and what a good boy he was. Every time I said “Meg’s a bad dog” she (on the other side of the room) got lower to the ground like she was trying to just disappear. This was without my paying any attention to her and keeping a happy tone with Bear.
We don’t yell or hardly say “bad dog” in this house so I found it strange that she’d pick out those words. It could be something someone did in one of her past homes or maybe she just heard her name, but she clearly knew that she had done wrong and I was not happy with her.
Back to anger…Bear occasionally gets angry at the cat. She’s an indoor cat and sometimes entertains herself by annoying the dogs. She’ll walk back and forth in front of them, rubbing her tail on their noses. She doesn’t do it often and if I catch her, I’ll shoo her away. Bear tries his hardest to tolerate her, but occasionally he loses it and snarls at her. The cat is smart enough to head for high ground at that point, but it takes Bear a few minutes to calm down again. He glares and get all in a huff. That’s about the only time I’ve seen him truly angry.
He is also a resource guarder with other dogs, but I don’t really see anger then. He usually gives a low growl warning to say ‘this is mine, go away’ and thats the end of it. He might take it further if allowed to, but after his warning either the other dog leaves and Bear goes back to his toy/food/sleeping, or I step in and remove the object or the dog.
Jane says
Em’s description really helped me distinguish examples of anger versus prey drive–I know the happy prey drive look from one of my dogs–it’s intense, but it just can’t be construed as ‘angry’.
I’m curious to know whether others view redirected aggression resulting from barrier frustration as anger, as someone suggested above.
I agree completely with Jennifer H above, who said that long recoveries after orthopedic snafus can change a dog’s personality. I had a dog who loved dog parks when young, and happily played and wrestled with any dog of any size. After bilateral hip surgery at one year of age, and the long (6 month) recovery, she emerged very fear-reactive to every dog we saw and remained so the rest of her life, with only slight improvement. My own training skill level then was not as good, so my efforts to bring her around were only half on-target, knowing what I know now. She finally made tentative friends with an extraordinarily calm Bernese in her last couple of years, which was quite a victory.
DeAnna says
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Corrie truly experience anger. Or maybe i just haven’t seen him experience rage. If you are using “anger” to mean the whole spectrum from frustration to rage, then he has certainly been frustrated. But if “anger” is only the emotion that is felt strongly enough to to trigger a “Do Something NOW!” response, I haven’t seen him do that.
When I read your description of the biological basis for anger, I see it as a fairly extreme thing. Like, if my fight/flight/freeze response is triggered, and I choose “fight”, that’s what you are calling anger. I’m not following how that translates to general frustration in a non-reactive dog. I know that some reactive dogs can be triggered into rage by frustration, but that seems like an abnormality, not part of the basics of how things work usually. And even then, it’s not the frustration that’s a problem, but the choice to escalate into rage as a result. So I guess I’m not clear on where exactly you consider it to cross the line into anger.
One of the huge lessons of having a dog, for me, has been to realize that I have the capacity to be abusive. And I’m really glad that I had the tools/awareness to educate myself about making different choices. It sounds like a lot of people have learned similar lessons from their dogs. I definitely have the ability to flip the switch into rage mode as a result of frustration, but I only had to make Corrie cower in fear once before I realized that wasn’t the kind of person I wanted to be. That’s when I discovered positive reinforcement and specifically your books, Trisha.
On a somewhat related note, some friends and I were discussing rage and anger management in terms of self-defense recently. We were theorizing that men in our culture are socialized to have better access to their anger than women are. Martial arts are so popular with men because it gives them tools to manage that anger appropriately. But when women take self-defense classes, they don’t need to be taught how to manage anger because we’ve been socialized our whole lives to keep a lid on it. What women need in self-defense training is practice at letting yourself be in a rage, so that when the enemies are storming your foxhole (or trying to grab your wrist on a dark street), you can allow that rage to carry you through action, instead of curling up in a fetal position.
Pike says
Thank you for the link, Kat. I did order one.
Sorry about your shoulder! Hope it heals quickly!
Beth says
I wanted to add that the reason I relayed the incident with Jack getting angry with the aussie/bc mix that bowled him over, and then the follow-up “makeup” moment was because I always thought of dogs as being “in the moment.” I understood they had relationships and liked some people/dogs better than others. However, the incident seemed to indicate that at some level the dogs recognized that the anger incident could impact the relationship and that some sort of easing of tensions was required. After the incident, Jack (the one who got angry) was the first to approach the other dog. He sniffed his backside in a greeting ritual. The other dog then showed appeasement (something he normally does not do at greetings). Jack then seemed to accept his “apology” by play-bowing (something HE normally doesn’t do with dogs he knows; he gives abbreviated play signals rather than full bows) and they then had a short mock-fight to show all was well.
The entire interaction seemed full of intent and perhaps can illustrate what we should do on those occasions when WE lose our temper with our dogs. We (the angry one) should perhaps allow a short cool-off period, then approach the dog the way we do when we greet after an absence, and then invite the dog to play or cuddle or train or whatever it is that gives our dogs the most pleasure in interacting with us.
I also tend to think that dogs best understand our anger when it is in the context of dogs breaking their own rules. So for instance if we get mad at errant teeth, it will make more sense to them than if we get mad at dumped garbage (errant teeth is against the rules in dog-to-dog interactions, knocking down garbage isn’t.)
I can think of one time I truly lost my temper with one of my dogs. Jack was a very mouth puppy, the worst I’ve ever met, and we worked for ages on first getting him to be gentle with his bite, then on not biting at all. I used positive reinforcement combined with ignoring and it worked wonderfully. Then when he was coming on a year old, I was playing with him and he grabbed for a toy and bit me HARD by mistake. I reacted on pure instinct, out of pain. He was collarless so I held him by the loose skin on his scruff (I didn’t pick his front end off the ground or shake or anything, just held him still), pointed my finger at his face and growled something to the effect that if he ever bit me again I’d have his head on a plate.
I hate to say that it worked (and I know with more reactive dogs it could have had the opposite effect and worsened the situation, so I don’t recommend it— again I acted on pure adrenaline). But it did work and he’s been super careful with his teeth ever since, and if he does happen to make any contact when playing he instantly releases whatever he was going for. He doesn’t look afraid or anything— ears forward, alert, he watches my face for my “ok” and then will go back to where we left off. He’s only hit me with his teeth once since then and I was tugging vigorously with him while practicing weave poles, waving a tug in the air so it was an easy mistake. I did not need to correct him but did say “ouch”.
Anyway, the whole incident lasted just a few seconds but I think the reason why getting angry in that situation might have a better impact than getting angry at, say, a potty accident (which I never did) was that I reacted in much the same way an adult dog might correct an adolescent (which he was at the time) for playing too rough — a few seconds of growling followed by a couple minutes of ignoring, followed by an invitation to play again.
Again, not recommending the method and it can seriously backfire. Just thinking about how the dog might perceive that correction compared to one for a behavior that the dog does not see as inherently breaking the rules.
Margaret McLaughlin says
Lisa, Keep the harness! I use a Sensation (front clip) harness on my CDX Flat-Coat all the time. I started using it because her happy bounces at her favorite places–the training building, going to the line at an agility trial–were causing severe pain.I learned the hard way that when something hurts me it’s easy to get mean. I have since had a shoulder repacement, but I am still using the harness, & look forward to the raised eyebrows it will earn me when I hand harness & leash to a steward before entering the Utility ring.
Lisa W says
Thanks, Margaret and Pike, it’s good to know others are managing their pain, too. 🙂 We just got back from a walk, and Phoebe was in her harness, and it was very pleasant. One thing I noticed today — when Olive, the sensitive one, pulls not only is she much more responsive to correction and positive reinforcement, she is smaller, and I am not worried about getting hurt. Your comments on the real physical discomfort of lunging and pulling allowed me to feel better about using the sporn and helped me connect the fear of physical pain with my anger at Phoebe’s pulling. Thank you.
essmac says
@ Beth with Corgis- I am not sure where in my post you think I was excusing bad behavior, either in humans or dogs? I am also not certain why you would think that if I don’t see angry dogs, then I don’t see angry people? Unfortunately, I see a lot of angry people; I really don’t think that many people handle anger well at all. There are appropriate ways for humans to handle anger, but I see an awful lot of people getting bent out of shape for relatively minor infractions. Not being a psychologist, I will leave that there for others to sort out.
So, maybe I wasn’t clear. I was simply trying to distinguish anger from other behaviors. A dog doesn’t have to be angry to correct a rude dog, does it? It is simply telling the other dog to get out of its space. In and of itself, is a dog who is offering an appropriate correction to a rude dog necessarily angry? I would equate it to an adult human telling a couple of boisterous kids to “knock it off”, not angry, just expressing displeasure with the behavior. Regarding reactivity, at one point in time my girl reacted to everything under the sun, but she wasn’t displaying the body language associated with anger,such as the dog in the picture above. I never read her as being angry, simply as being rude and not knowing any better (she does know better now… grin) Certainly there are situations where a correction can escalate into anger or when a reactive dog becomes angry.
The only human example I used was in differentiating rage from anger. I see rage in both dogs and humans as being at the extreme end of the spectrum, and associated with irrationality and lack of control. I equated a dog who is raging with a human who is experiencing road rage. I see a difference between a dog who is angry over a bone, but who will scale down the anger if the other animal backs down as opposed to a dog who goes into a full blown rage and doesn’t de-escalate appropriately.
Again, I am not sure where you are seeing that I was excusing bad behavior. Maybe the confusion was simply a matter of semantics and/or my not having had enough coffee to be coherent and clear? I think I will now bow out of this conversation. No offense intended or taken. I am not angry, not even a tad bit perturbed 🙂
Melissa says
Nothing gets me angrier than frustration. When Erik is frustrated, he is liable to chomp someone. I can’t believe that he is not angry in some sense when he’s like that. When I’m frustrated, I’m liable to snap at someone verbally. It’s hard to draw a line between frustration and anger. I don’t know if I’m liable to snap because I’m frustrated or because I’m angry. They go hand in hand. Whether the frustration caused the anger or not is a bit beside the point.
But I do understand the idea of ‘pure anger’. When Erik flew off the handle at the dog that told him he can’t talk to his BFF, it wasn’t because the dog was somehow preventing him from doing it and frustrating him. The dog growled at him, but Kivi was still right there in front of him and if it had been Kivi who was being growled at, Kivi would have ignored it. He would have noticed, but he would have treated it like a socially retarded dog behaving in an inappropriate manner, which is what it was. Erik reacted to the threat with rage, where other times he reacts to threats by backing off or disengaging or pouring out submissive behaviour.
Interestingly, a couple of times I’ve got angry with Erik and he has responded with a string of appeasement and displacement behaviour. One time it was because I had found Erik chewing on my $900 pair of binoculars. Obviously not his fault. I was the one that left them where he could find them. So all I said was “Nonononono” and Erik dropped them and looked up at me with a tentative tail wag as if to say “Did I do good?”And when I couldn’t look at him because I needed to master myself, he hung around and circled and came checking on me with the same tentative tail wag until I finally let him come up for a cuddle. He gave a big sigh of relief as he collapsed into my arms and started the serious business of licking it all better. It was clear to me that he sensed things weren’t right with us and he needed to bridge the divide. It amazes me that he behaves like this. He seems very sensitive to the way different members of the family interact with him and if bonds are stretched or damaged, he has to come and try to mend them with affiliative behaviour. A cohesive group spends a lot of time doing that kind of thing. My Lapphund has his rituals of affiliative behaviour, but he is nowhere near as sensitive as Erik. Erik needs his tight-knit family.
Beth with the Corgis says
essmac, I think I’m the one who wasn’t clear. 🙂 I didn’t mean you were excusing bad behavior. I meant it seems that you define similar actions as anger in people, but as something else in dogs.
I think that most of the time when one dog corrects another dog’s “rude behavior” it is because the correcting dog is at some level angry. Remember, annoyance and frustration are levels of anger— they are the same emotion. Dogs can posture or vocalize at other dogs out of fear or discomfort too, that’s true, but when a confident out-going dog snarks loudly at another dog for barging into him, or trying to take a valued toy or food, it sure looks like anger— and for exactly the same triggers (invading my space, taking my stuff) that trigger anger in most people.
And while it’s certainly true that primates may be quicker to anger than canines, the fact is that most of us are expected to interact with dozens of people we don’t know every day. I go into an office with 80 or so people, just the ones who work there and that is not counting the number of people I see on my commute or the customers and clients I deal with. So while primates are quick to rouse, I can honestly say that if my dogs were mingling freely with 80 other dogs every day, and expected to all eat together and work in close confines I’m pretty sure we’d see lots of angry interactions then too. Humans face a population density every day that we would never expect our pets to deal with well. I think sometimes we are too hard on our own species when we say that people seem quick to anger.
Laura says
Like most have said, I’m also a patient person when it comes to my dogs. Today though, I snapped at my dog when he kept trying to eat what ever was on the floor of the parking garage. As for the picture, I can’t see the dog’s face, but I get a vibe from angry dogs. I don’t know what it is but I can just feel how tense they are. Also, if they growl softly I can hear that. Compensation for the lack of vision I suppose.
chloe De Segonzac says
The dog in the pic is telling me to stop where I’m at, do not approach or he/she will bite, but if I back up it will be fine. I see him/her as a very confident dog who can express his/her desires clearly and at this moment is resource guarding the stick.
With my dog I use the command ‘down’ to diffuse an angry situation. I wait a few seconds time out. I remove her from the source of her anger mostly because she is often just trying to get space from an overly enthusiastic dog or puppy. With children I demand patience and I use toys and reroute the focus on children to focus on a toy or a game.
I have made no progress on chasing cats, or skateboard/skaters/or close proximity to children screaming and running.
chloe De Segonzac says
Oh and I forgot something very important. I NEVER stop or punish growling.
Kat says
@Pike, I hope the wacky walker helps. It took us a few days to get used to it but now I don’t think I’d like to try managing one of Finna’s freakouts without it. Ah, the joys of a reactive dog. And with her, she’s been with us less than two months, we’re still discovering all the triggers so we never know when a freakout might happen.
Larry C. says
While we’re on the topic of doggie emotions, I have a friend who has curly coated retrievers. Her adult alpha male started showing anxiety problems, tearing up the house, freaking out when he was left alone or kenneled. The vet put him on prozac, which resolved the problem. The current fad antidepressant is Lexapro, which is Prozac with one irrelevant radical changed. It is so similar they didn’t even have to do trials, it’s just Prozac, but Prozac is out of patent so the drug companies don’t want to sell it., but it’s cheap and effective.
Larry C. says
I should have included a warning about Prozac/Lexapro: the stuff is seriously addictive. I used it for a while, and you get seriously sick if you miss a couple doses. It took me 3 months to taper off and quit the stuff. It would be cruel to make a dog go through cold turkey withdrawal.
JJ says
This post was very helpful. But there is one part I want to push back on. (I don’t have time to read all the posts here, so please forgive me if this has already been addressed.)
From my own personal, inner experiences of emotions, I totally agree that anger motivates one to action. I also agree that anger can come at different levels/intensities, from mildly miffed to road rage.
However, I think that frustration is a completely different emotion than anger. The reason I think so is because frustration, at least for me, is always a feeling of inaction – helplessness. Frustration can lead to anger. Just as fear can. But I question that frustration is merely a mild version of anger. Frustration can occur at various levels from mild to extreme and is always (at least for me) a freezing emotion, not one that leads to action.
At the same time, I can experience anger from mild to extreme and it feels like a completely different emotion internally to me.
JJ says
I also wanted to express my sympathies over Willies new behavior problems. How frustrating!
I so appreciate your willingness to share all this with us, including your analysis of the situation and what you plan to do about it. I find it very educational. Though, of course, I wish that you could educate us without having to go through these problems.
Beth with the Corgis says
JJ, I think you illustrate the importance of defining terms. Different people may mean different things when using the same word. Curious by some responses, I went to some dictionaries and psychology sites to see what the consensus is. One of the definitions of “frustration” according to Merriam-Webster online is: “the feeling of impatience or anger caused by another’s repeated disagreeable acts.” It is the third definition; the others are similar but don’t vary that much.
But feelings are subjective, to be sure. One thing I find interesting is that in some women’s studies’ classes I took many years ago (and in some psych classes) I learned that anger is often not considered an acceptable emotion for women, so many women will label what they are feeling anything other than “anger.” Women who are angry will often say they are hurt, disappointed, frustrated, feel like there is a lack of communication, etc. I am not sure of your gender and certainly people of any sex can experience a wide range of feelings in response to similar stimuli. Because feelings are subjective and we can’t really compare notes, I’m not sure there is any true way to say concretely what anyone else is feeling. Still, I find it interesting and hadn’t thought of it in some time til this very thought-provoking post and resulting comments.
Mary says
Thank you so much for sharing Willie’s problems with us. I tried to do all the right things when my now 5 year old dog was a puppy, but felt somewhat like a failure when he reverted to an old phobia about a year or so ago…fear of slippery floors. Interestingly, he also started to become uneasy with thunder a year or so ago – so maybe he went through some developmental stage around 4 years of age. It’s hard for ME to become angry at HIM, even if I’m frustrated, because he’s so sensitive to a raised voice. He’s teaching me to be patient. I’m thankful that his anger issues are nothing major – he just likes to have some space around new dogs…. allows polite sniffing but will “peck” them if they are persistent with their sniffing. I’m eagerly awaiting your plan of action with Willie.
JJ says
Beth: Thanks for your response! Very interesting.
I am female, but I am relatively young and was raised by a very progressive mother. I am not at *all* reticent to label exactly what I am feeling. I have no problem at all expressing anger or coping to it.
I have two very distinct emotions in me – one is frustration and the other is anger. One inhibits action and the other promotes it. I’m very sure of what I feel in this aspect. For many years, I’ve been interested in emotions and understanding my inner self. I analyze my inner thoughts and emotions a lot.
I have noticed that frustration can morph into anger extremely quickly and go back and forth so much that it can be hard to distinguish. I wonder if science hasn’t caught up to being able to measure the difference.
I have another explanation: Perhaps what I label as “frustration”, other people would label as different emotion called maybe “helplessness”. And thus maybe what I consider to be low-level anger, other people would label as “frustration”. I don’t believe this to be true, because I know what I feel when situations arise that would be called “frustrating”. However, it is possible.
I love that you went to the dictionary. This made me curious what my little pocket dictionary would say. Here was the definition from American Heritage: “to cause discouragement or bafflement in.” Also: “to make ineffectual or invalid”. An on-line dictionary had this definition: “a feeling of dissatisfaction, often accompanied by anxiety or depression, resulting from unfulfilled needs or unresolved problems.” All of these definitions support, to my mind, that frustration is not the same as anger.
Wikipedia has this to say: “In psychology, frustration is a common emotional response to opposition. Related to anger and disappointment, it arises from the perceived resistance to the fulfillment of individual will.” While it could be read both ways, I read this as frustration is “related to anger”, but not *is* a form of anger. Though later examples on the page both support and refute my assertion.
Beth with the Corgis says
JJ, I think I get what you are saying. If I think carefully, I can label two related but distinct feelings that I call “frustration.” One is more akin to disappointment, but at a deeper level. So, for myself, I sometimes feel frustrated by being in a job that is great on paper but nothing like where I imagined I would be at this point in my life. That sort of frustration at lack of advancement of long-term goals is not really anger, more like what you describe as a sort of helpless disappointment. Seeing a problem and being either unable to see a solution or unwilling to pursue the solution. Other people might feel similar frustration at a relationship, or living situation, or the like.
The other thing I label frustration is definitely a form of anger. Frustration at being misunderstood in a conversation, for instance. Frustration at being in a rush and not being able to find something, or dropping something. Frustration at being stuck in traffic when one has somewhere to be.
That type of frustration I see as being a sort of primitive response that is meant to drive one to seek an alternate solution to the problem, or to give an adrenaline rush to allow one to overcome a physical obstacle.
In my mind, when my dogs seem frustrated they seem to be feeling something closer to my second definition than my first, though of course I can’t ask them. Come to think of it, though, a working dog without enough to do to keep his mind busy might feel something more like my first definition, though without the self-reflection.
Very interesting.
em says
Wow, what thought-provoking comments. The more I reflect on this issue, the more I am struck with how similar the dog experience of anger seems to my own. My dogs show signs of feeling everything from rage to irritation and angry frustration (I do think of anger and frustration as distinct. Otis and Sandy, for example, react very differently. Otis shuts down and disengages when thwarted or frustrated (when another dog claims his toy, for example), the sad kind of frustrated. Sandy is likely to snark at a dog who is frustrating her efforts to have the toy, mildly but decidedly angry. They clearly also recognize the signs of anger in others (human and canine) and take steps to avoid/appease/confront creatures showing those signs.
Even beyond that, I would say that Otis, at least, has a sense of appropriate anger as distinct from inappropriate anger. If a dog snarks at him for approaching too closely/approaching a toy or food item/ approaching the other dog’s human, Otis jumps back and gives the dog equivalent of a shrug-he skirts around the snarker, averting his gaze and goes about his business, not showing any signs of being angry at or afraid of the snarker. Tension between them dissolves and often the dogs will subsequently play and/or interact calmly.
If however, a dog charges or snarks at Otis for no discernible reason, or for a reason that Otis does not understand or accept, Otis does evidently become alarmed and often angry, confronting the offender. It doesn’t happen that often, but the best example I can think of is this- a dog Otis was cordially acquainted with (but not a regular playmate) had carried a rock into the play field at the park and was lying with his prize under a tree. Otis trotted past, not more than glancing at the dog/rock. He had already passed and was moving away with his back turned when the dog evidently became so angry/concerned about Otis’ presence near his rock that he dropped it and charged the 25 or so feet after Otis, snarling and barking. Rather than deferring to the snarker, as is typical, Otis whipped around, delivered a swift hard shove/paw slap combo and pinned him to the ground, growling. He held the dog there for perhaps three seconds, then released him, trotted matter-of-factly over to the rock, and lay down, foot placed conspicuously on the prize, making steady eye contact with the snarker, who lowered his head and turned away.
Despite not being actively challenged by Otis, the rock hoarder clearly felt angry enough to charge at him. And despite not being angry enough to lose his temper, Otis felt angry enough at being charged ‘for no good reason’ to pin the dog and take his prize (which he had zero interest in before or after the interaction). He seldom seems to get angry with dogs himself, but I’ve seen many other examples of context influencing Otis’ reaction to other dogs’ anger. Generally, he won’t react to a dog defending itself or the things it can legitimately view as its own, but he will confront dogs whose aggression seems either unprovoked or uncontrolled-he’ll block a charging dog, break up a fight, snark back at a dog who snaps at him over things that are HIS, not theirs (though he will readily allow other dogs to calmly take his stuff-one golden at the park routinely takes his ball right out of his mouth-she turns her head 90 degrees to his, reaches in and pulls it out, not the in the least concerned that most of her face is inside Otis’ mouth).
So all of this has led me to wonder-how conscious are dogs of their own anger? I know that they have some degree of self control-the rock hoarder charged at Otis for passing within fifteen feet of his rock, but once he’d been pinned, watching Otis purposefully claim that same rock provoked an emotion that seemed closer to sadness or shame than anger and he never reacted aggressively toward Otis again even when in a similar situation. Do dogs think about their feelings and actions at all, or is this all happening on an emotional level–Otis’ anger and strength taught that dog to feel more fear than anger? I don’t know. I can say that the rock-hoarder has had several calm and pleasant interactions with Otis since-he’s not generally afraid of him.
I don’t generally subscribe to the notion that dogs are self-reflective creatures-I doubt that they do much in the way of abstract thinking, but it seems to me that they must have some (sub?)conscious thoughts about anger, not just because they express and inhibit their expression of it in so many ways, but because they PLAY at it, much the way that children do. Dogs in play often exhibit the physical signs of anger, but with subtle differences in posture, tension, and gaze that alter their message from one of rage to ‘pretend rage’ . Dogs that frequently playfight are often the most adept at drawing this line finely. Otis is relatively hamfisted-his tooth fencing almost never reveals actual teeth and his play grumbles don’t sound enough like actual growls to fake out anyone but the most nervous humans.
THIS dog, though http://www.flickr.com/photos/47504277@N05/6554649953/ if you just saw the still, you’d think he was very, very angry. Nope. Totally play. With dogs who know him, this husky can playfight like that for hours without ever crossing the line into aroused/angry. Generally, though, the more convincing that pretend anger is, the more likely it is to cross that line and result in real snarking between over-excited dogs. But in person I can tell at a split-second glance when that has happened, and so can the dogs. It most often seems that one dog mistakes the other’s pretending for reality (or the pretending breaks down when the teeth close down a little too hard) and responds with real anger.
So how much of this is conscious? Social play seems to me to be among the most clearly deliberate, self- controlled interactions that dogs have-it’s purposeful, co-operative, and strictly contained within social and physical boundaries, making it safe to go through the motions of hunting,fighting, killing, feeling at least an echo of the excitement of these things without doing any actual harm. In order to pull this off, dogs seem able to communicate about anger and pretend anger on a very sophisticated level. So sophisticated, in fact, that I would argue that they have at least some minimal abstract concept about what it is.
Or maybe not! Maybe I’m way too far out on a limb here!
Chris Carney says
Yes. I’m a relatively calm person and I’ve recognized that the only time I get angry is when (or right after) I’m fearful. It’s the only time I get angry at my dogs, too, if they’ve done something that I think could have hurt them (or I’ve let happen).
I’ve almost never seen my dogs get angry, (they’re goldens), except for a couple of times. Annie and I were out for our morning walk and a man came walking toward us and she began growling and then bouncing with rage–I’ve never seen her do that before or since, and she watched him threateningly until he was out of sight. I was grateful she was on a leash, she sure didn’t like him! She also saved Smooch, who was a puppy at the time, who was attacked by an Irish terrier. Annie started running toward them, the terrier raised up, Smooch slithered out from underneath him and Annie jumped on top of him–mayhem ensued, flashing teeth, horrible snarls, until finally the terrier was still with Annie on top of him. He didn’t have a mark on him, she just subdued him through sheer force of personality. Turned out he’d just got off of 10 day quarantine for biting a person! And the idiots let him off the leash! Geeshh! Jeez, I’m starting to tear up now, I really miss that wonderful girl, she died last year from hemangio.
Nancy's Point says
Patricia,
Very interesting post. I never really gave much thought before to my dogs being angry. As you said, if they experience fear, it’s logical they also experience anger. The dog in the photo definitely appears to be angry. Anger and fear so often have such negative connotations, but they’re both legitimate feelings. As a breast cancer survivor, I’ve noticed they do go hand in hand. And you’re right, anger can create action. For both humans and dogs, this action must be appropriate. Thanks for the great post. Just discovered your blog and I’ll definitely revisit.
Tamara says
Just catching up on the blog, but this post is timely. I rehomed an English Shepherd last spring. There were so many things about that dog that I adored, but I could no longer abide the way he treated the other animals. He had caused so many injuries to another dog that they had to be kept separate, he had injured numerous goats, and the day he went for my favorite cat I decided enough. We found him a home where he could be an “only child” and from all reports is relishing that role. As is, I believe, human nature I have spent a great deal of time in these following months trying to figure out how I could have changed the outcome. My getting angry at him certainly did nothing to change his reactions. My removing him from the situation calmly did not deter him the next time. And it occurred to me recently that the dog had anger management issues. It was like a switch would flip. One minute fine, the next moment “here comes Kujo”. Maybe, just maybe, I did the best thing for him by finding him a new home. I have lived with many dogs, and currently live with 5 in the house. I have never seen another dog that could flip into what I perceived as anger as quickly as that ES. And not just snarling and snapping, but anger that resulted in injuries to another animal. So, yes, I believe that dogs experience anger. And I believe that for some it can be a very difficult emotion to control. Could I have managed it by restricting his freedom? No doubt. But he is now in a home where his anger is not triggered, he has freedom about the house, and he is adored. My other pets, from the cats to the other dogs, now move around the house freely. Seems like a win/win to me.
Anne says
I don’t like to use anthropomorphic terms for animal behavior. The dog in the photo is displaying what some behaviorists term “correcting”, toward another dog (animal, human). This is simply communication. If the other animal is a dog which understands its’ species displays, it will react appropriately. If the animal this communication is directed at is not a dog, the next thing that happens will depend on whether the recipient has learned what this display means.