Wednesday Wag: There’s a scientific reason why dogs can be aggressive

There has always been a nature vs. nurture debate when it comes to aggression in dogs. Now a new study proves that hormones do play a part.

We all love our dogs. They’re friendly, loyal, and adorable. But we also know that dogs can get aggressive. Things can set them off. Now there’s a scientific reason why.

Yes, aggression can be a problem. According to National Geographic, there are 4.5 million dog bites in America every year, and aggression is the leading cause of dogs being surrendered to the shelters. And different things can set dogs off. Dogs can be food aggressive, aggressive towards other dogs, aggressive towards people, and more. So understanding why dogs are aggressive, and how we can prevent that aggression can be extremely helpful both for people and for the dogs themselves.

University of Arizona psychologist and anthropologist Evan MacLean and his colleagues conducted a study, now published in Frontiers in Psychology, to see if hormones played a part in dog aggression.

MacLean used dogs that showed aggression towards other dogs and matched them with non-aggressive dogs of the same age, sex and breed. They took blood samples to compare their hormones.

MacLean then had the owners walk the dogs by different stuffed dogs to see their responses and to draw blood.

It turns out, the hormones vasopressin and oxytocin do influence dogs’ social behaviors, including aggression. More vasopressin made for more aggressive dogs. Meanwhile, MacLean and the others found that calmer dogs, like service dogs, have more oxytocin in their blood.

While environmental factors and early life experiences can lead to aggression, we also now know that hormones do play a part. However, MacLean did note that it’s unclear whether vasopressin causes aggression in dogs or is released in dogs when they get aggressive.

Either way, it’s a good starting point to see what makes dogs aggressive and how we can prevent it.

Next: Wednesday Wag: Your dog loves you, and there's science to back it up

“Before we can work to alter aggression, we need to understand its basic biology,” MacLean said. “No one had even looked at these other hormones before.”