Management of Aggression in Dogs: The Context of Animal Welfare 3
By Dr Ibikunle Faramade
How to Curtail Aggression
As previously explained, obedience training of dogs, especially, when they are young (between 3 and 9 months) is key to enhance human – dog bonding while reinforcing acceptable boundaries. Communication (verbal and non- verbal) with the dog as early as 3 months helps the owner to take control of the dog’s behaviour.
Human – animal communication seems magical but, actually, it is not. It is a matter of skill and experience. A lot of time has been devoted to this illustration under the topic ‘Functional Anatomy of Animal Sentience’ in this column, explaining the facts that all the sense organs in animals are made to perform corresponding functions. Have you ever thought of how one cattle herder (at times, a young boy!) controls a herd of cattle (at times up to 200). It is simply communication skill, both verbal and non-verbal! This requires time and understanding of the animals body language.
If you want to be in control of your dog, don’t relate with it from a distance. Praise your dog when it has done well and ‘discipline’ it when it has erred in a consistent manner. Don’t over- pamper your dog to the point of permitting any kind of behavior, no matter how unacceptable it may be. To manage aggression in dogs, care must be taken to understand the cause of aggression. This understanding is important in order to know how best to handle the dog. Some ethologists believe that overtly aggressive dogs should not be ‘punished’ or confronted forcefully. In this column, we support this view with a caveat; that any dog that is overtly aggressive towards its owner should be forcefully handled and sub-dued. There is no acceptable reason for a dog to attempt to injure its bonafide owner intentionally, as the saying goes, a dog that will go astray won’t listen to the hunter’s whistle. Dogs should not be allowed to disrupt human – animal command structure. This is important to prevent avoidable human fatality.
After persistent efforts to ensure that the behavior of the dog do not expose the life of the owner to danger without success, it is advisable that such dogs should be taken to the veterinary clinic or hospital for professional assessment by the veterinarian. Medications could resolve certain class of aggression depending on the cause. If all these interventions fail, the last option may be to humanely put the dog to sleep.
In conclusion, human – animal bond has been established since pre – historic times. Most especially, the history of human-dog relationship could be described as long and impressive, to the point of describing dogs as man’s best friend! We have examined aggression, breed disposition to aggression, causes of aggression and how to curtail aggression. In the context of animal welfare, efforts should be made to relate with dogs with love and confidence. Their behavioral patterns should be understood within the context of the breed. Each breed has its own peculiarity. Dangerous breeds such as pit bull should not be owned as family pet, it could be dangerous. When a dog is so aggressive to the point of no reference or deference to the owner, treating the owner as an unknown stranger, then, such dog should be humanely eliminated before causing irreparable havoc. Animal welfare principles do not attempt to jeopardize human welfare.
Concluded.
Dr. Ibikunle Faramade is a veterinary pathologist, sustainable development practitioner, animal welfare advocate and a lecturer at the Federal College of Animal Health & Production Technology, Apata. Ibadan. He’s the C.E.O of the Society for Animal Rights Protection, a non-profit and a non-governmental organization dedicated to the promotion of animal welfare, animal rights and prevention of cruelty to animals. animalrightsprotection2020@gmail.com , +2348028305284
