Are dogs more aggressive in the wilderness?

[Greg]

I feel that a dog is as good as its owner.

[Tzila Z Duenzl]

It is my experience that dogs 'act-out' their owners frame of mind, ie: if the owner is nervous (or aggressive) where they are, the dog will be defensive. If the owner is comfortable/relaxed, the dog will be as well.

Mostly what I have observed is pet owners in general don't have an 'alpha' relationship with their animal, therefore...no control. Dogs - especially - benefit greatly from having boundaries imposed and maintained by their human...especially in the wild...the instincts kick in immediately with all the scents the dogs encounter. I have contended for awhile that when people enter wild areas that allow dogs, they should be given information &/or training about proper behavior there with their animal, for their pleasure and safety, and everyone else's.

I am (and have been for 25+ years) a professional animal 'sitter', with experience with all kinds of dogs (and all other animals)...and their humans, and these are my observations.

[kimber]

I did not think of this until I started hiking with my own dog.
When I am hiking in I have never see an aggressive dog that was coming out, but on my way out, I do recall 2 different trips where the dogs were very aggressive on their way in and owners were not under control. One was a pit-bull and that all most got ugly. The other was a small mutt. No worry

I have a 1 1/2 year old working sheep dog, and she is aggressive while working sheep.
In town she good she heals fine and is mellow, but she hates skate boards and People how drag there feet.

In the wilderness?
It depends when you see us. If you run in to us in the first 3 miles on the way in, you will see a hiker that is working hard to keep control of his dog. That dog is out in the open and is desperately looking for something to do. She does not understand just going for a walk. (She is a working dog)

After about 5 miles you would not think she has an aggressive bone in her body. At night she has her tent/kennel. (Without that no one gets any sleep). She knows that kennel time is quit time. As far as the rest of the trip she is fine, even the next day.

People who hike with their dogs, need to know there dogs and know the limits of their dogs. It is HOT and DRY and dogs need a lot of water.

Golden retrievers and overweight labs don’t do so well in the heat.

[PJ]

A dog becomes aggressive for certain reasons, where those reasons occur is not dependent on a wilderness or city setting. I.E. if a dominant dog passes another dog on a narrow path it will try to get submission from the other dog, if the other dog won't submit there can be a minor altercation. If there's plenty of space, usually there is no problem.

We have a lot of dogs off-leash on the coast in Northern SLO Co. & problems usually seem to be dominance issues between the 2 dogs. If you are out in the wilderness & your dog is an alpha dog it's a good idea to be friendly with anyone you encounter, it breaks the tension & seems to reduce any issues between dogs.

A lot of times dogs meet, one may growl, the other may submit, end of story. Usually this is normal dog communication, to some people it seems aggressive but hey dogs can't speak.

PJ

[Boon]

My experiences hiking with one or both of my two German shepherds has been quite the opposite. While they do seem to become a little more attentive due to unfamiliar surroundings, critter scents that they don't smell very often, and potential squirrel or deer chase opportunities, they're quite friendly toward other hikers as well as their dogs. Most dogs tend to act aggressively primarily when defending their turf, be it home or car. Out on the trail it's "open range" so to speak, with no canine claims laid to it so no reason to fight, although I suppose that a dog that has camped in the same place for a couple of days may start defending the area. The only real exception I can think of would be a dog that is defending its owner from a perceived threat, which to acute dog senses can be something as innocent as slight nervousness in a stranger. What really gets my dogs going are coyotes - for some reason they won't tolerate them around AT ALL and chase them off with serious determination.

[wayne1]

This is a great question. I think if you take a city dog into the woods the dog will sometimes become stressed; just like a human. They then may tend to act more aggressive due to fear or confusion.

[Carl Mounteer]

"It would be nice if all users of the public lands are [sic] interested in sharing with others. This idea that no one else but 'my' group should use the land are [sic] not helpful to anyone."

If this is meant to suggest or imply that my post is advocating the exclusion of anyone from public lands, then this is a misunderstanding. My inquiry was confined to learning whether or not others had observed or experienced the same canine wilderness behavior that I have.

[bigsurkate]

My dogs live here, and are not more aggressive. OTOH, in town, while in the Jeep, they are very aggressive toward other dogs, and I have really tried to break them of this behavior, and continue to do so. They are only aggressive up here, in the forest, if someone is aggressive to me, or brings in dogs they do not know. So, if my wilderness dogs are more aggressive in town, it IS possible that town dogs get more aggressive in the wilderness. It might be that being in an environment that they are not used to brings out aggression. I am no dog "whisperer" but it is an interesting question.
bigsurkate

[Ken Ekelund]

I don't think it is the dogs that are more aggressive, I believe the problems is that people don't pay the same amount of attention to what their dogs are doing on the trails and thus there are problems.

I am a dog owner and it gets harder every year to find places where dogs are allowed. Some dog owners don't seem to respect the rules and brings dogs where they are not allowed. I would also add that there are many places where dogs are prohibited and there is not good reason to keep them out.

It would be nice if all users of the public lands are interested in sharing with others. This idea that no one else but "my" group should use the land are not helpful to anyone.

Ken

[Carl Mounteer]

Has anyone noticed that dogs in the forest or wilderness become much, much more aggressive and hostile than when they are in an urban setting?