Dogs live in a world of silent communication.
Facial expressions coupled with body movements can mean much more to a dog than an audible bark. The curl of a lip can create peace far faster than a growl. But because of misunderstanding, many of these silent canine forms of communication are misinterpreted by humans as signals of impending aggression, when they are actually meant to create peace.
Aggression is a very complicated behaviour and many things have to go wrong before a dog decides that it must show true aggression. Aggression is when a dog engages in violent behaviour with the intention of either self-preservation or inflicting harm. Many times, the word aggression is hastily used to describe a dog's behaviour when there is no real aggression being expressed. Aggression (as described above) is not the preferred behaviour in an interaction between two dogs because they are not naturally aggressive animals. They do, however, choose to solve conflict by engaging in conflict. Conflict and aggression are not the same thing. No one likes to see dogs fight, especially when your own dog is involved. But fighting, or what I refer to as conflict resolution, is part of a dog's communication repertoire and it always has a peaceful intent. The intention is to solve the problem that caused the fight in the first place with the end result being peace.
As I said earlier, aggression has the intention of causing harm. Conflict results in peace. Now, this does not mean I am condoning fighting dogs. I am simply trying to put out a growing fire about perceived dog behaviour and the overuse of the word aggression and the resulting stigma. When there is a lack of adequate information and education, humans misinterpret canine behaviours. We can't all be dog whisperers. The behaviours are seen as black or white. As an example, people have been told that a dog that is aggressive shows its teeth, therefore any dog that shows its teeth must be aggressive.
This type of black and white thinking translates the simple gesture of a lip curl as an expression of aggression causing unnecessary concern and creating problems when none exist. A lip curl means, "Go away, what you are doing is annoying me." It doesn't mean aggression any more than a wagging tail means a dog is friendly. The lip curl or wagging tail, when mixed with other body postures - influenced by external or environmental situations that precede the behaviour - determines a dog's intention behind the expressed behaviour.
Aggression, or the expression of it, is so much more complicated than a lip curl or a paw placed on another dog's back. In dog language, that lip curl is actually a signal of peace because the dog is hoping the other dog understands it wants to be left alone. The intention of that lip curl is not to create violence. If the other dog does not respect the lip curl, or lacks proper socialization to understand that the lip curl means "go away," it may persist in its annoying behaviour.
When my dog Piper is eating a bone and my other dog Raider comes sniffing around, Piper curls his lip. It's not because he intends to violently harm Raider, but because he is warning Raider that he is getting too close and to respect his space. That's it!
When a mother dog curls her lip at one of her pups when it is climbing all over her, she is not intending to cause physical harm to her pup, but is expressing her annoyance and teaching that pup to respect her space and leave her alone.
Conflict resolution sometimes involves displaying teeth. Sometimes it involves two dogs getting into a dust up and making menacing noises. During this conflict resolution, floppy ears get bitten, there may even be a puncture wound. But it does not mean any of the dogs are aggressive. It does mean that one dog annoyed another dog and the annoying dog did not get the message.
As dog owners, it is our responsibility to know the difference and not necessarily discipline or label a dog for its warnings, but diffuse the situation by deterring the annoying dog from continuing its behaviour.
Joan Klucha has been working with dogs for more than 15 years in obedience, tracking and behavioural rehabilitation. Contact her through her website k9kinship.com.
