It’s a combination of things. Dogs can sense fear. And for a predator animal (including dogs) this can often signal an impulse to attack. Certainly, as much as running seems like the prudent thing to do when being charged by a dog, it’s one of the worst things you could do. This is a complex subject on which many books have been written. What I recommend is that you enlist the help of a local trainer experienced in dog aggression to come and help you work with the dogs.

Not knowing Imang or being there to observe to know the full picture, I can’t give you advice. What has worked for a friend in a similar situation was to get the dog to associate good things with them. I’d start by having the dog closed in another room and that person goes and sits at the kitchen table. Then someone else goes and lets the dog out. When the dog comes running, have a handful of dog treats that you know the dog likes and throw them on the floor away from you. When the dog eats those and comes to you, throw another handful not so far away. Then throw near you feet. Then sit quietly, and have someone call the dog back to the other room (not drag to the other room by leash) and close her back in. Repeat the process a few times each day until the dog makes friends with you again. It often doesn’t take long.

Again, by enlisting the help of a knowledgeable trainer, not only can you get help with Imang, but also with the dog outside. Letting the situation go is only going to keep reinforcing Imang’s behavior you don’t want. This is something that can be pretty quickly turned around with good guidance.

I was hoping someone could give me answers on this, on which why this certain dig started hating me.

I’ve recently moved in with a family that have two dogs. One outside, one inside. I’ve managed to get friendly with the dog that stays inside within three days (she follows me everywhere and curls beneath my feet when I’m sitting on a chair) so I figured she knew me well by then.

Last Friday, this particular incident occurred. The mother of this family I live with came home late at night, and didn’t have a key to the front gate. She asked me to open the gate since I had the key with me.

I went outside, only to see the pet dog they had staying outside run towards me as it barked.

I have a strong fear of aggressive dogs because of childhood experiences, so I immediately ran inside the house and shut the door. This seemed to have startled “Imang”, (the dog who was already friendly with me) and she started growling and barking loudly at me. I was so scared, I froze in place by the door.

The mom got to come in (I don’t know how,) and she managed to pull away Imang before the dog could attack me. Imang was furious, even trying to get loose from the mom’s grip trying to run after me. The mother admitted that she might have hurt the dog in the process of holding Imang back.

After I closed the door to my room, the dog kept barking by my door and growling. I couldn’t go out of the room without the parents around.

I left for the week-end, hoping that the dog will be better by the time I get back, but when I got back yesterday, it still continued to bark angrily at me, even following me to my room just to bark at me. I couldn’t go around the house without it aggressively barking at me.

I read your article, and I think the dog associated me with the bad things that happened that night (the door slamming loudly, being restrained by her owner, the door being shut loudly while her owner was outside.) This is probably the case, right?

Any tips to fix this problem? I don’t want to stay in my room the whole time I’m here, and I want to help around the house like I used to. Now the owners have to excuse me from the things I do around the house because of the angry dog.

Please help? Thank you!

Great post (as always). A few things I’d like to throw into the mix:

1. Thinking about aggression: No matter the brand of aggression (fear/food/protection/etc.) I think it’s helpful to think of it in these simple terms: what causes a dog to be aggressive is more stimulation than the dog, in that particular situation, can handle. Generally it’s because the dog physically tenses in that situation, reducing the flexibility of its response. So dog owners can look for signs of this tension in their dogs and focus on relaxing their dogs in the moment to help diffuse a potentially “aggressive” situation. And when someone like Andrew encounters a new dog, he can look for signs of tension in the dog as a way to know if he’s pushing the dog out of its comfort zone.

2. Holding out one’s hand (and approaching a dog in general): Even if a dog owner says “Sure, pet me dog, he’s only bitten a couple other people” you don’t ever want to APPROACH a new dog. What you do want to do is to encourage that dog to approach YOU. I suggest holding out a hand PALM-UP, with fingers slightly curled (i.e. the whole hand is relaxed), looking away from the dog, turning your body so that you’re not facing the dog directly, and slowly backing away from the dog. Basically the whole idea is to be as non-threatening (in Natural Dog Training terms “prey-like”) as possible to entice the dog. Also, by being prey-like you’re actually helping engage a dog’s natural social instincts. And by backing away you help get the dog moving, which reduces their physical tension. You were absolutely right in saying that the hand thrust out (as Andrew described it) could be seen as a threatening gesture…I liken it to the “talons of the hawk” descending upon the poor doggie’s head. By making yourself prey-like you’re not saying “c’mere and eat me!” – you’re saying “see, I’m safe. I’m no threat to you”

3. Eye contact (you mentioned this casually at the beginning, but I just want to emphasize): You DON’T want to make eye contact with a strange dog. Eye contact is a “predator-like” behavior – i.e. a dog, especially a strange dog, can find it to be quite threatening. Now I wouldn’t avert your gaze so completely that you become vulnerable – you still want to keep an eye on what’s going on. Just don’t look directly into the eyes of the doggie, even if they’re particularly soulful. And like Mrs. G alludes to in her comment, kissing (with or without steak in your mouth) is also generally a bad idea, as the face-to-face contact is also threatening to most dogs (save the rock solid ones).

OK, this is running the risk of becoming its own blog post, and I definitely don’t want to hijack the thread. Hope your readers find this to be a helpful addition, and thanks Karen for taking on this topic, as “dog aggression” is in almost all cases completely preventable – especially with information such as what you’ve provided.

Neil’s last blog post..Does Your Dog Always Have to Walk Next to You?

Miss — finally! :) Hope Michelle has a great success.

Loved reading your blog. My first time to the site but I’ll be back.
Just thought you’d like to know that my niece started a dog walking business after she read your first book. She said it changed her life. “magine that”.

Simply Jenn’s last blog post..For Melissa…..

Lynn, I don’t want to make people afraid of dogs. Let me put it all into context. There are approx. 4.5 million dog bites a year. There are approx. 73 million dogs in the US. That means that 94% of dogs don’t bit.

I just hope to help people realize that reaching out to pet a dog you don’t know can have consequences. It’s a simple matter of needing to learn how to read dogs better and remembering to ask owners first.