Dogs are instinctively an aggressive kind of animal. This is because they evolved that way in order to be able to successfully hunt their food and to protect their family and den. Even though dogs need aggressive instincts to survive in the wild, theses days aggressive traits in dogs need to be under control. If your dog is an aggressive one,  knowing which reason causes your dog to be aggressive will help you figure out how to go about correcting his problem.

Here is a list of the 6 most common reasons for dog aggression.

• Dominance Aggression: Upon meeting each other, two dogs will always sort out who is dominant. Dogs are pack animals, and developed a hierarchy system in order to maintain peace among the various pack members. Most of the time, this process is figured out quickly and without any friction or aggression between the dogs. Displays of dominance normally only lead to dog fights when one of the dogs refuses to become submissive to the other dog.

• Fear Aggression: Fear aggression is pretty much the opposite of  dominance aggression. An extremely agitated dog suffering from fear aggression may lunge and snap at anything close by when it is in this state. One example would be of a dog who has suffered previous abuse by a human will sometimes show his fear aggression by being afraid of certain people. This type of aggression is easily recognizable-the  fearful dog will display a cringing, slinking body language that includes tucking its tail up between the legs and up against its stomach. Because the dog might also snap its teeth and lunge at anything nearby, you want to avoid trying to comfort a dog in this state.

• Territorial Aggression: Territorial aggression is a very common form of aggressive behavior. It is a natural occurrence and stems from a dog’s instinct to protect his den and his pack-which these days are your house and your family. You must be sure your dog’s territorial instincts don’t get overly engaged or he may end up attacking a passerby or another dog. Be aware of territorial aggression problems, and correct them as soon as you notice them with your pet dog. You can’t allow your dog’s aggressive barking to turn into actual biting.

• Redirected Aggression: You have probably seen examples of this type of aggression before, and confused it with another type of aggression..  An example would be two dogs that get so over excited by something on the other side of a door or fence that they can’t get at, that they snap at each other. It reminds me of a shark frenzy. Even thought the dogs were not usually enemies, the aggression got the better of them and they ended up going at each other.

• Predatory Aggression: Predatory aggression is also something that is instinctive with dogs. You probably see examples of predatory aggression almost every day. Predatory aggression is often expressed by our dogs when they chase a cat or another dog or a bird. Many times they are only chasing because they enjoy the thrill of the chase and not to kill. If the chasing is more serious and not just for the thrill of the chase, your aggressive dog could  cause serious damage, so be sure to correct this type of aggressive behavior.

• Medical Reasons Causing Aggression: Female dogs that are either pregnant or have just recently given birth and are taking care of their puppies are often much more aggressive than usual. If your dog is not feeling good physically it could cause him to be easily irritated and more aggressive than usual.It is a good idea to check with your vet if you think your dog may have some condition that is affecting his behavior and causing his aggression. There are those problem dogs that just are aggressive-period, and don’t need much of a reason to get all aggro. Just like some people we all have met, that’s just the way  they are.

If you understand how to recognize and diagnose the reasons for your dog’s aggression problem, you can figure out the right method for correcting his aggressive behavior problem, and making him a better behaved pet who is much less likely to create any problems because of his aggression.

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