Would this be a true statement??????? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
{I have never heard of ALL aggression being classified as Fear Based <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> }

ALL AGGRESSION IS FEAR BASED. Why the dog is "afraid" is the real key to understanding dog behavior. Aggression is the answer when a dog is stressed and feeling overwhelmed anxiety. Some respond with growling and retreating while others take the offense and will lash out and "attack" and of course everything in between. They react only TO CONTROL the situation because they feel out of control with the stimulus presented to them

You need to define aggression. A SchH dog shows what most would define as aggression toward the sleeve. But it has nothing to do with fear.

I just had a similiar discussion about "aggression" w/ a club member.
First,there is a lot of confusion in regards to terminology out there. Lets define, for the sake of discussion eventhough i don't like this definition, that aggression is anything that presents itself as biting, wanting to bite, guarding, or threatening, or capturing, chasing, etc.
Then to say that it is fear based only is way off base.
If you define aggression simply as unwarranted, vicious behavior, then you're still wrong.
The problem we are having among sport enthusiasts is that we do two very problematic things. First, we name something we want to see and somehting we don't want to see in the dogs the same thing......defense! You'll hear people talk about good defense, bad defense, optimum defense, active aggression (what a crock), forward defense, properly balanced defense, etc.
The problem is this: if I use human terms to define defense I then automatically assume that the dog would only use such behaviors in response to something that made them fearful. Because certainly we would never think of defending against soemthing that is NOT scary. Those humans that do such things are pathological, criminal, Mike Tysons of the world. We think ill of them.
Yet, in the canine world dogs were meant to acheive their goals through combat. They hold onto their prey from challengers, they take their prey down (who lord knows wants to fight it out if they cannot escape), they fight for the rights to territory, breeding, and rank.
THESE CREATURES WERE MEANT TO FIGHT.
Yes, we have altered their disposition through selective breeding, and their physical appearance as well, yet they are still dogs.
Until you recognize that fight drive or combat drive is a part of what makes them dogs you'll always refer back to any behavior that looks dangerous to us as defense and try to relate it back to fear.
To make matters worse, you can use self defense to make a dog feel cornered and need to defend himself. You can add this over their great desire to make prey and it can become conditioned and be successful. Some personal protection, and sport work revolves around such things.
Confusing the mattter even more is that a dog may show both behaviors born from fear and those not born from fear, having been conditioned to mix them.
We can also influence dogs to not work in prey "aggression" (again I hate this term) by working dogs in self-defense and fight drives primarily. This technique, while still common in well informed police circles is fading in sport circles due to the huge emphasis in grips that are more than 3/4.
So, have I confused everyone?
If you go to my web site and look under Police Dog Psychology there are definitions that work pretty well for communicating these varied responses.

Thanks for the input everyone. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Just for the record I think the whole statement is a giant crock...and told the person that wrote it that. I thought I'd run it by all of you as well just in case I was the one that was off my rocker, lol...I completey agree that agression has too many forms to classify into one category as being fear based.

General thoughts on dog aggression.

I define aggression as wanting to cause harm against another individual. In dogs, aggression can be a communication tool that is connected with its basic survival instincts. It is important to know aggression defines the behavior but does not define the cause.

We define aggression over all by its type. There are several factors that contribute to my determination about the type of aggression being displayed. Some of these factors are: intended victim or target, body postures before during and after the episode, location (context), health of the animal, location (environmental) and other factors.

There is seldom (if ever) only one single factor involved in aggression. Aggression is the combination of factors and stimuli that pushes the dog to a threshed which aggression is displayed. When the dog learn his aggressive response produce a result desirable the chances ore increased for a repeat of this episode. This is an important concept to understand since being able to deal with and handle and extinguish inappropriate aggression one needs to be able to predict when how and why it happened.

The classifications of Aggression

Dominance
Possessive
Protective/territorial
Predatory
Fear Induced
Pain Induced
Parental
Redirected
Play
Inter-male
Inter-female
Physiological

Aggressive Behavior and Normalcy

While aggressive behaviors can be considered normal, it is ultimately harmful act. Human safety must come first, as over 1.5 million dog bites happen each year with 60% of these involving children. Contrary to what some might think the most common dog to bite you is one you know or own.

Aggression as Communication

Careful watching of facial expressions and body postures can give away the dog’s intentions. Dogs also use eye contact as a means of communicating position and a flag of recognition as if saying, “I see you.” Dogs when they great each other will often display eye contact first. The more dominate dog, as a social pack animal will be looking for a subordinate dog to look away.

Prolonged eye contact between dogs is never a good thing and it is interpreted as a threat for all dogs. An interesting thing that often happens in this situation is the subordinate dog attacking the more dominate dog first. This form of aggression is fear based. In most dog to dog situations the more fearful dog will attack first if it is not an all out assault by the dominate dogs who is defending his territory. In this situation the dog will not even bother with communicative complexities but look for an angle of attack and take it when he feels his opponent is vulnerable.

Most dogs being more social then territorial will give interaction a chance before using aggression. If the correct communication between the dogs takes place and neither animal has an interest in dominating the other then there is a good chance they will form a loose “pact” and initiate play games.

The chance for two strange dogs getting along can never be accurately calculated but most dogs will defer to good human leadership once the owner demonstrates his or her displeasure effectively and the dog actually respects the human as the supreme leader. I have always stated no matter how strong my dog is he better not attack anything unless told to or I am attacking something in reality.

The key to minimizing aggressive behaviors is to supervise dog-to-dog interaction and have a way to correct telltale signs BEFORE the dog is triggered into action. Unlike the most common practice of waiting for an aggressive episode to happen, handlers should start reading their dog better and corrector redirect at the signs of aggression building up. Those signs as I have mentioned show up in the form of body language. If you can catch the dog building up pressures (internalizing) to an aggressive episode

...your chances are dramatically improved at stopping a potentially long-term problem.

What about people aggression. I am having quite a problem with my chow/lab mix (rescue) and I am not sure my corrections have been motivational enough.
Then again I am not sure what is considered motivational.
Dog wears a prong and choke (both my dogs do) because the last "bite incident" was when the prong collar came undone. He shows this aggression to folks when we are walking.

The hound/shep (another rescue) turns into an insane frenzied foaming at the mouth when he sees a postal work or paperboy. But, he as a rule ignores folks on walks.

Just starting working with a trainer (who does not use treats or clickers) and hope to see some progress.

Any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated.

I was told that about 80% of aggression is fear based. This doesn't mean that all aggression types are fear based (dominance, territorial, redirected, etc.), but rather, that the majority of cases of inappropriate aggression (defined as threat displays toward nonthreatening people or dogs), it is due to fear; for example, on leash aggression toward other dogs, or aggression toward approaching strangers.

I'm not sure where that 80% figure comes from, and doubt that there are any credible studies from which to draw that statistic, but I do believe that the majority of cases of inappropriate aggression are due to fear, and I don't think 80% is an unreasonable guesstimate.