Why would a dog suddenly attack its owner? Surprising Answer

What Kinds of Things Commonly Trigger Aggression Towards People?

Aggression rarely just happens. Something your dog is feeling, or something in his environment triggers that fight or flight response.

Depending on your dog and his unique situation, triggers could vary greatly.

Some of the more common triggers I see include:

Being touched, moved, or lifted.

The dark can exacerbate movement or sound-related triggers

Someone getting up off the couch or moving around the house. This could be one person in particular or anyone who moves.

Moving near your dog’s bone, food or favorite toy.

Approaching strangers or other dogs when on leash.

Having someone visit the house.

There are so many scenarios and different triggers, and each one could have a different root cause.

My dog, Juno, is “people selective”. This means she likes certain people and dislikes others.

The people she dislikes either look unusual to her, are doing something unusual, or they try to approach her.

Her resulting reaction stems from general anxiety and fearfulness of unusual or novel stimulus. Because I am aware of her specific triggers, I can better control her environment, and we can work on positive and controlled socialization.

I suggest making a list of all of your dog’s triggers. I also have people keep a journal. Sometimes we don’t know what the trigger is (or all of them) until we start logging the situations as they happen. But by journaling, you may start to see a pattern emerge.

What does it mean when my dog turns away from me?

A dog will generally look away from its owner to prevent eye contact. In dogs, staring is used to initiate a challenge and it is seen as a threat. So, turning is a dog’s primary way of pacifying and preventing any potential conflict. For humans, making eye contact is generally considered the right thing to do.

Illness and Injury

Some medical conditions can cause dogs to become aggressive. If a dog that has never shown any sign of aggression suddenly begins growling, snapping, or biting, it may be caused by a disease or illness.

Pain is an especially common cause of aggression in dogs. Your suddenly aggressive dog may have an injury or an illness thats causing major discomfort and stress. Some possible causes of pain include arthritis, bone fractures, internal injuries, various tumors, and lacerations.

Other illnesses may affect your dogs brain, leading to seemingly unreasonable aggression. Conditions such as cognitive dysfunction and brain diseases or tumors may provoke the onset of aggression. These problems are more likely to occur in older dogs but can happen at any age.

If your dog is exhibiting sudden, unexplained aggression, talk to your veterinarian before attempting to address it as a behavior problem.

You may be tempted to try giving your dog medication to relieve pain, but this is something you should not do. If your dog is sick, youll need to know exactly what is wrong with it before you begin any treatment. Dont try to take matters into your own hands until you know what youre dealing with. Only a veterinarian can advise what medications are appropriate for your dog.

A fearful dog can easily develop aggressive behavior. Most dogs only exhibit aggressive behavior if they sense that they are in danger, cannot escape, and feel the need to defend themselves. For example, this may occur if a dog is backed into a corner with no way out, or if it thinks a hand raised over its head means it is going to get hit.

If your dog is a rescue dog that exhibits more aggressive or fearful behavior than is normal, it may have been abused, neglected, experienced a traumatic event, or not properly socialized as a puppy. Any information you can get from the organization where you adopted the dog could help you determine the best way to handle the situation.

Sometimes rescue dogs need obedience training with an instructor who specializes in teaching dogs that have been abused or those that have not been properly socialized. In some cases, you may be able to manage your dogs fear on your own with training and patience. You can speak to a veterinarian about the best course of action.

To avoid provoking this type of aggressive behavior, approach unknown dogs carefully (better yet, let them approach you). Train and socialize your dog to help prevent fear down the road.

Possession aggression, or resource guarding, occurs when a dog is possessive of something. This is often food, toys, or some other object of value. A dog that exhibits possession aggression may growl if someone approaches his food bowl or gets too close when he is chewing a favorite toy.

A dog may also bite or show aggression to a stranger who steps into your home or onto your property, which is the dogs territory. This is a common scenario with dogs who “hate the mail carrier” or bark violently at people just outside the property boundary or fence.

Resource guarding is also a common cause of aggression towards other household pets. Some dogs will growl, snap, or bite other animals in the home who approach the dogs food bowl, bed, or favorite toy.

The degree of aggression may vary from one dog to another and between objects. For instance, your dog might not care if you sit down and pet him while he chews a rubber toy, but he may turn and snap at you when you do the same thing while he chews a pigs ear. It all depends on the value that the dog attributes to each object or resource.

Why dogs turn on their owners

There are multiple reasons that a dog may exhibit aggression toward family members. The most common causes include conflict aggression, fear-based, defensive aggression, status related aggression, possessive aggression, food guarding aggression and redirected aggression.