I am not exactly sure how to identify social aggression. I am familiar with the steps one needs to take with a young pup to build confidence in the dog and to make the dog more suspicious of strangers. But the term "social aggression" is something that throws me off a little. I have seen dogs that are not very stable and I have seen sharp dogs with poor nerves, but it is my understanding that a dog can have social aggression without any of these bad qualities.I want to see if anybody can explain this scenario to me: When my dog was about 9 mos. old we were in my car, it was nighttime and I have very dark tinted windows so I know she did not see out of the car. Well a friend of mine opened the door suddenly and tried to get in, this startled my dog and she lunged toward my friend with a very low aggressive bark. I will never know if she would have bit my friend because I grabbed my dog just before my friend got in. This also happened at my house when someone walked in without knocking and it also happened at a friends house while she was on lead with me and somone came around the corner of the house(while it was dark)and startled her, but she was fine every time after she knew everything was alright. She is now almost 3 yrs. and She has never done anything like this since. She is still curious who comes into my house but she is not aggressive at all. She is very friendly with everyone, but also very neutral with people. I have socialized her properly all of her life to ensure she did not get too protective, because she is a family dog around alot of people. Is this what one would diagnose as "social aggression"? I did not even know that dogs could show such behavior at 9 mos. old. I know that this is not a nerve or environmental issue. This is not bad behavior at all in my opinion because I know if I wanted to go the protective route with her I could have, which I like very much. I just need some help to recognize what kind of behavior this is and how to recognize it in the future. Thanks in advance.

I don't think it would be social aggression; I think that has to do with aggression between dogs only. But I would watch her body language when she gets startled. Are her hackles up? Does she seem overly aggressive in non-threatening situations? Because it's not a good sign for a dog to get too excited if there's really no threat. The issue could be her nerves if she startles easily, or she could have a lower defense threshold. I would also take into consideration the sex, as many would argue that males are genrally more apt for personal protection, and for different reasons.

Howard I agree with Mike thats not what I would call socail aggression. I think the dog is showing signs of puberty she seems to be fine when she knows the person is coming but if she startled or if she thinks you are threaten, then she shows signs of aggression.

Which form of aggression it is would take more information and testing. Initally it sounds like a puppy/dog coming into teenager/adulthood, becoming territoral and defensive is good. She just needs your guidance to know when things are Ok, and when they are not.

If its was a poor nerve thing she would probably do it with all strange things weather she sees it coming or not. Also if this was the case, in the extreme when startled she might pee, try to run away if she can then maybe try to bite.

Really this is not a factor until the dog is grown, theres a stage as a puppy when some of them act like they are afraid of everything, then they some snap out of it and are Ok.

There are some puppies that never act like they are afraid of anything. A 9 months she really just a strong puppy.

I agree with you guys about her just growing up and being territorial. Because I know it is not a nerve issue or an environmental issue. She is not really a sharp dog and she never showed signs of avoidance or started peeing. She never got her hair up either. It makes sense now that she needed to be exposed to those different kinds of scenarios, because she is fine now and has never shown this behavior since. This is my first working dog and I am just not used to having such a strong dog. What would be an example of social aggression? Also What qualities would a trainer like to see in a young dog that would qualify him/her for personal protection and at what age would these desired qualites be present in the dog? Thanks for everyone's help.

What qualities would a trainer like to see in a young dog that would qualify him/her for personal protection and at what age would these desired qualites be present in the dog?


A strong desire to challenge/investigate new and different things, Soild nerves.

Prey drive - To chase and or kill. As a puppy this can be enhanced wit right training or sent on the decline with a mistake.

Defense drive - To defend and protect itself and or handler. Not available until near adult or well into being an adult.

Fight Drive - To detain, hold and make retreat and or kill. Not available until near adult or well into being an adult.

These are genetic issues they are either there or there not. All three don't have to be present and you can still have a nice dog. And abundant of any of the last two can be bad.

Do a forum search on drives, for details on this subject. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

thanks everybody, all of this cleared alot up for me except the social aggression. Can someone give me an example of this?

Social aggression has to do with dogs desire to establish position in his pack. So strong dogs that are leader material have strong social aggression. It is instinctive and is not reactive as defense aggression so there is no stress or flight possibility.

Deep grumbling, very dominant posture.

Now, does this go for other dogs in the pack or does this deal with the dog challenging the handler or other people? It's starting to make more sense to me. Thanks for the reply.

Howard, it depends on what definition of social aggression you want to use.

From the situation and your dogs reaction that you described, I would offer an educated guess that what you saw was defensive aggression.


There are a handful of reasons a dog will bite and I'm going to break them down using these three definitions because I think this is the answer you are looking for. Some old school dogmen will refer to "aggression" in this way. So we have predatory aggression (prey drive?), defensive aggression (defensive drive?), or. . .social aggression (?? doesn't exactly fit into a drive, I think thats the reason we don't see the term that often any more).

I'm going to assume you have an idea of what defensive aggression and predatory aggression entail.

Social aggression, in this framework of definitions, is aggression that is socially driven. The dog has the desire to prove his mastery and dominance over anybody else, dog or man. The motivation behind an aggressive response is not to submitt, or to force another to submitt.

Social aggression can be triggered by body language, by invasion of personal space, by invastion of territory, etc.

So it kinda lacks a specific definition and isn't as clear as using some other definitions or modified definitions.


There are a number of sources that break the definitions of aggression down in this way, rather than using the drive terminology.

Helmut Raiser is one source, although I know he has said that his opinions on training and behavior have changed some since he wrote his Schutzhund book.


I'm not defending these definitions, I'm just throwing them out there for you. This is what some people mean when they say social aggression. That way you know. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

BTW, these are the terms that I grew up learning. . .with an old world bent to them.


"Ire" was a term that my grandfather used in place of social aggression, defensive aggression, and fight drive often. He always meant a dog that had a natural edge in him, a hate or anger for people and strong desire to eat them at the drop of a hat. LOL A rare quality, but one you can see in a second and here Pops say, "That dog has ire for his work."

Translated, "That dog has an easily aroused "anger" in protection work." (English was his second language, so we forgave him the grammar. LOL)

The old timers are pretty cool, if anybody still has one around write down what they say and share!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />