A Dog's Aggression Diffused

A Dog's Aggression Diffused

Heidi, a red and white Border Collie, faced a dilemma. Her owners loved her, but were distraught over her aggressive outbursts. She had been attacking dogs she met on her walks and had even bit some horses at the local stable. Heidi had broken the skin on both her owners when they were attempting to intervene during one of these outbursts. As a last resort they brought Heidi to me, hoping that I could provide a clue into her sudden outbursts. I did.

I observed Heidi one spring afternoon at the local stable. Her owner had her on a leash, and was allowing her to sniff around. As Heidi came up to sniff a horse that was looking out over his stall door, she suddenly lunged for his nose. His owner, prepared for Heidi's attacks, quickly jerked her away from the frightened horse.

One of the first things I noticed about Heidi was that she tended to walk with most of her weight on her front legs and very little on her hind legs. She had been checked for orthopedic problems such as hip dysplasia and had clean X-rays. No physical problems had ever been noticed. It seems like she had gotten into the habit of moving this way and there was no structural reason why she couldn't move in a more balanced manner.

"What does that have to do with her aggression?" you might be thinking. By carrying so much of her weight on her front legs, Heidi had difficulty in shifting her weight back and turning around. In other words, once she got into a situation, such as sniffing the horse, she felt she had no choice but to continue to go forward. The only problem was that the other animal was there in front of her. So Heidi had to get aggressive to get the other animal to move away. My job would be to teach Heidi to shift her weight back and turn left or right, so she could leave a situation.

In her current state, Heidi was not organized to flee. The fight or flight reflex is a strong one, but for Heidi, flight was unavailable to her. She felt she had no choice but to fight.

I worked with Heidi, helping her feel how she could bring her weight back. Then I showed her how she could turn right and left. She experienced being able to rock back on her haunches and turning around. She had fun doing it, too.

I received a note from Heidi's people some time later. They were thrilled. After her SENSE Method session, Heidi had never become aggressive again. Upon meeting other animals and interacting with her four-legged siblings, Heidi would sniff and leave the situation of her own volition. She had learned how to discard her reactionary habit and instead have choices.

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