I saw a similar incident to the buffalo story, on the animal planet show "growing up wolf". The alpha female killed off a bunch of puppies fathered by her dad and then killed him (her own dad), who was the alpha male, to take over the pack. They were worried that she would kill the newly released pups but instead took them from their real mom and adopted them as her own pups. She then disciplined the real mom and did not allow her to show very much affection to her own pups (well, I guess in pack life they weren't hers anymore though.) Can you say hereditary?
I think the the same- some are gonna be dominant and try to take over at every opportunity. I can't see myself forming a good relationship with a dog who refuses to accept it's role and respect a leader though.

Aggression is not a disorder or a disease, therefore it cannot be treated (although some might say severe fear-based aggression might signify mental illness and I agree). Every single dog has the capacity for aggression. As one previous poster mentioned, animals become aggressive for a number of reasons, to protect mates, resources, and to gain status in the pack. Some animals become aggressive when they are in pain. If a dog couldn't get aggressive when he was called upon by his pack to do this, he would be killed or never gain a mate, (or be able to protect his pups from predators if he did mate) and his genes would have been eliminated from the gene pool. Here is where selective breeding can help reduce aggression in companion animals.
If you have an animal that often displays aggression, there can be a number of things going on. But if its a pet dog, the most common cause is improper rearing. This dog doesn't know his place in the pack. Dealing with aggression is a matter of control, bottom line. A dog who respects his pack leader will not growl at or bite him, ever.
My clients are often amazed at how submissive their usually aggressive strong-willed dogs are with me. Its because I'm a natural dominant and dogs can sense this. I am strong, and athletic, and calm - all the features dogs look for in a pack leader. However, my clients cannot often change their personalities, so I help them establish a routine and better control of their dogs by changing their outlook on their relationship with their dog. This usually involves teaching about pack structure, obedience training with both positive and negative motivators, and lots of exercise.
Now, speaking on the levels of aggression in different breeds, you can usually find breeds that on the whole, have less aggressive tendancies. Labs, for example, because of the work they were bred to do, would not be good at their jobs if they fought with their handlers when turning over game. OTOH, GSDs would not be good at their jobs if they didn't have the prey drive to chase and bite a criminal. Some dogs are not a match to some owners, so as a dog owner, the best you can do is research your breed, look long and hard for a good breeder, meet the parents of your litter and establish a good pack structure from day one.
Best,
Michelle

Michelle,

Thanks for your very insightful comments. Having mentioned positive and negative motivators, is there any merit to a "purely positive" training schedule? My take on it is that it can work for some dogs but not many, as a matter of fact not most. However, a good base in positive training methods is beneficial, IMO. I feel that for precision training of any kind, corrections are sometimes required...

...Thoughts?

Having said that does positive training have any place in modifying aggressive behavior?

When I teach a dog a new command, I use only positive motivations, praise, a marker word, and treats (and a combination of these).
There are three stages to teaching your dog to perform a command:
The learning phase
The proofing phase
The reinforcement phase

Each phase takes time and with each phase you have to use lots of praise. However, when proofing and reinforcing, you must also use corrections or the dog will never "get it". He will work for treats when he wants, but if there is something he wants more that what you have to offer, he will ignore you. If you correct when the dog disobeys, you teach the dog that he MUST listen to you (or it hurts), and if he does, he gets a reward. Quite often corrections are brought in too soon, and a dog who is over corrected is scared to work and not easily motivated by toys and food.

There was another post on the e collar board I believe, where the owner was having trouble with the dog complying (an 8 month old akita if I remember). I believe this owner didn't properly take the dog through the learning and proofing stages. He jumped right to the reinforcing stage, and the dog became confused and didn't comply because he didn't understand what was being asked of him. Here is where positive motivators are essential in the learning phase (which takes more than one day, more than one training session), to mark the desired behavior precisely when they are performed. At the same time when proofing, corrections also must be properly timed so the dog knows when they disobeyed. During the learning stage, and sometimes during proofing, you often have to guide the dog back into the command using your hands, leash, or both, followed with praise.

Modifying aggressive behavior can be difficult, and the technique to do so will depend on they type of aggression being displayed. Positive techniques will be used to a certain extent (works better for fear-based aggression), but it takes more than even simply saying yes-reward and no-correction. This is because the urge to act aggressively often preempts any physical cue we can pick up on, and so praising the aggressive dog at the wrong moment will reinforce aggressive behavior. It often takes a complete overhauling of the relationship between dog and owner to modify aggression.

Hope that helps.

Good luck,
Michelle

Dominance dictates where a dog sees himself in the pack or always tries to become the alpha.At least that is what mine is always doing and the corrections are the same , actually I always think that had I gave him the corrections he REALLY needed long ago I wouldn't have the problems I have today.But the corrections are the same, it's the response you are looking for , and if you are not getting it, you better keep on correcting

Angelique,
You can't gain dominance over your dog by only giving corrections. But that said, one good correction is better than a thousand nagging ones! In my experience, all corrections are NOT the same, some infractions are so bad, they need a level 10 correction, and some minor mistakes can be corrected with a dirty look.
Good luck,
Michelle

Hi again,

I understand the use of both types of motivators in a training regime and I am aware of the phases which must be undertaken when training a dog. I appreciate your comments all the same though, thank you.

However, discussing the phases of learning and how corrections are applied within doesn't really answer the question I was asking. I am more concerned how to use all "trainer tools" with aggression itself. Specifically my last question was, "Does positive training have any place in modifying aggression?" Fear based aggression was mentioned so how about starting with that?

The two I am focusing on learning about right now are fear aggression and dominant aggression, as they seem to be the two most common. Hopefully narrowing down my topic might help to better focus some replies. My original post did start off kind of vauge, but I wanted to tap the river of knowledge as best as I could.

When training dominant aggressive dogs, I do not gush over them the way I would a softer, more subordinate dog. Praise is kept to a YES! or GOOD BOY! or the toy reward (never food).
In terms of modifying aggressive behavior with praise, I don't do it and I don't see any reason to. To modify dominance aggression, you have to change your pack status with the dog so the dog sees you as the dominant. That is a lifestyle change between dog and owner. Aggression towards any pack member is met with a swift hard correction. Any aggressive dog in my care always wears a prong or an e collar so I can correct any infractions.
In terms of fear-baesed aggression, you have to work both the owner and dog in my experience, because the fear aggression often sparks fear in the owner and then the cycle perpetuates itself. I acclimate the dog to a muzzle. I usually try obedience work in low stress situations. Then, when the dog becomes happy doing obedience work at home, and the owner becomes more confident in working the dog, they go out in public and work muzzled.
HTHs.

Sorry maybe I misunderstood, I thought you were asking, a correction for an agressive dog that showed agression towards dogs or handler.To me they are still the same in content that a correction is a correction what level does not matter if you are not getting your point accross.I think that you can pretty much figure out what level of correction by the response you get, but what I meant by the corrections are the same, a correction with a prong is the same for any aggression, meaning that if you are not getting the response you want then your corrections are not getting accross, correct him harder, the point is to get your point accross to your dog.We had a guy that came to our club with a one year old shepherd that showed extreme aggression towards other dogs and his handler said he corrects him all the time for it, my point to him is obviously the corrections meant nothing to the dog,some people are afraid of corrrecting their dog the way they need to be corrected so what happens is they give little correctinos and get NO results, what's best?? bunch of little corrections that mean nothing and get no results or a good correction and succeed.My corrections are hard ,quick and swift and I get the job done, I rather than correct my dog all over the field all night and get nothing done and have a dog that looks like he gets corrected ALL the time.I like to get my point accross quick and have my dog understand and respect what I want from him,then have him blow me off.I have a great relationship with my dogs and on the field it shows , I don't give small or soft corrections when a good one is needed.And don't misunderstand, I am talking about Agression.

Thanks, Michelle. Your newest comment does clear up some of the cloud in my head.

Angelique, you did not misunderstand; I was originally talking about a dog that showed aggression toward animal or handler, or in any form. It just seemed that the thread was heading toward a more "basic training" type of answer. So, thank you too for the black and white perspective, you present your thoughts and what you have gained from your experience in a very clear way.

I hope this thread doesn't die here, I'd really appreciate more feedback or some thoughts and ideas of any others who feel comfortable enough to share an opinion. I realize that giving advise on aggression presents moral and ethical issues as the potential for injury could present itself. However, I would like to point out that I am only now proficient enough with dog behavior and training to enter this area of training. Any opinions shared would not be scoffed at by me should the techniques be attempted and I were to fail at them. I would also like to point out that I am not personally dealing with an aggression problem at the present moment. I am only trying to become a better student of temperament in order to better aid the clients with problem dogs were I am volunteering and improve myself as best and diversely as I can as a trainer.

Anyhow I am starting to beg.. so, down boy! But seriously, I thank everyone who contributed to my Q&A and should anyone have something they would like to share on this topic, but not in the open forum, please feel free to PM me!