The wind gently ran its sunny-summer tendrils through my horse’s black mane, kicking us tufts of loose hay as it passed – swirling them into the ever-consuming blue of the African sky.
I rested my hand on his glistening shoulder and felt his warm pulse in my hand. He rested his muzzle on my shoulder, blowing warm flurries of air into the nape of my neck. We sighed.
This is my heaven.
But animals aren’t a source of solace for all.
This week saw a boy riding his bike being viciously attacked by a stray dog, it also saw poachers hunting with the aid of hunting dogs in the nature reservation in eMalahleni.
But I have always believed that all animals are essentially good, and not capable of evil.
Dogs rarely, if ever, attack a person or animal for no reason.
Us humans often misinterpret a dog attacking “out of the blue” and “without warning”‘ because we simply missed the signs.
Let’s be clear about one thing. A dog who is prepared to bite someone (or an animal) has his reasons.
Whether they be training or circumstantial.
Can we, as humans, justify those reasons using the social values of people?
Probably not. But of course, dogs do not live their lives according to human social values.
Dogs can become aggressive and bark, growl, lunge at, and even attack other pets and people for all kinds of reasons — dominance, fear, defense of territory, pain, frustration, overly enthusiastic play, and more.
Aggression is among the most common behavior issues seen in dogs.
It typically includes the kinds of behaviors we associate with threat or attack, such as barking, growling, and biting.
In most cases aggression is perfectly appropriate, as when dogs bark to warn other dogs of their territorial limits or growl in response to threatening sounds.
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 that’s 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 dog’s brain, leading to seemingly unreasonable aggression.
Brain diseases or tumors and cognitive changes in older dogs are a few brain conditions that may provoke the onset of aggression.
A fearful dog can become aggressive.
Most dogs only exhibit aggressive behavior if they sense they’re in danger, are unable to escape, and need to defend themselves.
This can occur if a dog is backed into a corner with no way out or if it thinks the hand you raised over its head means you’re going to hit.
If your dog is a rescue dog that exhibits aggressive or fearful behavior more than is normal, it may have been abused, neglected, experienced a traumatic event, or not properly socialized as a puppy.
Possession aggression, or resource guarding, occurs when a dog is possessive of food, a toy, a bed, your yard, or some other object of value.
A dog that exhibits possession aggression may growl if someone approaches its food bowl or gets close when it’s chewing a favorite toy.
A dog may also bite a stranger who steps into your home, which is the dog’s territory.
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 it while it’s chewing a rubber toy, but it may turn and snap at you when you do the same thing while it’s chewing a pig’s ear.
It all depends on the value that the dog attributes to each object or resource.
Aggression that’s caused by frustration is often referred to as redirected aggression or barrier frustration.
It occurs when a dog is frustrated at not being able to get to something and takes its frustration out in another way.
This type of aggression is often seen in dogs that spend a lot of time tied up, restrained on a leash, or behind a chain-link fence.
Whatever the cause, animals do not simply wake up one morning and decide to be complicit in a tragedy.
All tragedies, without exception, involving animals were caused by human beings in some way.
