PART FOUR - De-escalation behaviours

Escalation refers to an increase in the intensity of imposing or agonistic behaviours during an interaction. A dog may stare, orient into a frontal stance, raise his head, raise his tail, move nearer, displace another dog, growl, or display an agonistic pucker... increasing the intensity of its behaviour to the point of launching an attack.

De-escalation behaviours instead go in the opposite direction, and involve a decrease in the intensity of imposing and/or agonistic behaviours. In 1971, Michael W. Fox first used the term 'cut-off' signals: signals which diffuse or block an opponent's aggressive behaviour. Other authors have preferred the term 'pacifying signals'. Dogs do not follow fixed behavioural patterns in their interactions, and do not tend to follow rigid, recurring patterns when increasing or decreasing the intensity of their behaviours. In my analysis of over 200 aggressive interactions between dogs, I did not observe a progressive and predictable increase in the intensity of the signals / threat displays preceding attacks. What's more, the outcome of the interactions was also not predictable on the basis of the de-escalation signals used by the victim. In other words, a dog may be attacked by another dog even if he is exhibiting pacifying behaviours. Indeed, attacks often begin in the moment when one of the two dogs tries to move away / leave the interaction. If a dog's intention is to attack, the best moment to do so is when his opponent shows signs of weakness.

Much like submissive behaviours, pacifying behaviours can only 'work' if the other dog in the interaction shows tolerance and also chooses to use de-escalation strategies. For some years now I have been evaluating and monitoring the rehabilitation of dogs who have exhibited aggressiveness towards other dogs and people. I distinctly remember the first time I tried to use pacifying signals to handle an interaction with an aggressive dog: the dog was staring intently at me, and as I slowly turned my head away from him, avoiding eye contact, the dog launched an attack, growling, his owner struggling to keep hold of the leash and stop him. That same day I stopped a German Shepherd who was charging at me by turning into a lateral stance and avoiding eye contact. In the latter case, the dog no longer felt threatened by me and chose a different strategy rather than attacking. In my experience, the best strategy isn't trying to use de-escalation signals, but rather having a good understanding of canine social communication and reading the signals a dog is giving correctly.

In this interaction between two females, the German Shepherd has adopted a frontal stance and is barking, hackles raised, as she approaches the White Swiss Shepherd, who has reacted with an agonistic pucker. This escalation behaviour by the White Swiss Shepherd has blocked the German Shepherd.

As the sable mixed breed approaches, the mixed breed on the right has maintained a frontal stance, standing tall, but is displaying stress-related behaviours including licking her nose, ears turned sideways, piloerection (hackles raised) and de-escalation, averting her gaze to avoid eye contact.

PART ONE Introduction

PART TWO Fear

PART THREE Stress

PART FOUR De-escalation behaviours

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