Learning the lingo

Dog society is a complex world. Even when the dominant pack leader is stable, the hierarchy of subordinates is continually being challenged and shifting.

Much of this social movement happens without overt aggression through posturing and subtle body language, such as how you sit, who you groom or are groomed by, and the occasional curled lip and snarl, or cower into submission.

Our pets have learned to be bilingual to communicate with us and gain a place often a favoured one in our pack.

Some of their language' crosses over into human without translation a dog's growl is understandable to us, as is an angry exclamation such as "Gerr off!" to them, especially when delivered in a deep, angry voice.

It is a little like us talking about a sandwich,' parking' or the weekend' to a French person. The accent is wrong but it is clearly understandable.

Other messages are more foreign, both actual words that we expect our dogs to respond to and actions, such as patting our knee, for them to come, expecting them to sit at the kerb.

There is a whole dictionary of subtle body language that we and our dogs use to communicate. If the dog communicates in the wrong language to another dog, it can have a similar effect to giving your boss a cheery greeting when he or she has reprimanded you.

We make life more difficult for dogs by keeping them in solitary confinement from other canines when they are at their most impressionable and should be refining their dog language skills.

Young puppies are at risk from serious disease if they mix indiscriminately with other dogs before their vaccinations are effective.

The most disadvantaged pups have no canine companions or visitors between going to their new home and completing their course of vaccinations.

At that age, five weeks without communicating in their own language will give them a disadvantage. Guide Dogs for the Blind, who breed large numbers of puppies, take the risk of disease and have their puppies out meeting other dogs throughout their vaccinations.

They would rather lose an occasional puppy than have behavioural problems.

Dogs who are not fluent in dog language are more likely to give off the wrong signals and may become the victim, or even the perpetrator, of apparently gratuitous violence.

Aggression can also come from dogs that are fluent in dog language but are playing aggressive to cover up their fear.

Nervous dogs that have learned that if they bark, growl and snarl, the other party backs off, become reinforced in this behaviour. They act aggressively before they are challenged, in order to feel safe.

Some of these dogs make a lot of noise and seem quite ferocious, while others give little warning and try to attack early to get rid of the threat before it becomes reality.

Once again, humans have made matters worse. A large dog, no matter how docile and friendly, can be intimidating to an insecure animal. A small dog may not look like a dog at all. The breed I have most often treated for attacks by other dogs is the Yorkshire terrier.

They are small and scuttle along, their long hair hiding their short legs, in a way that seems to stimulate predatory aggression.

They seem not to be a dog but prey to be chased, caught, shaken and killed. Most of them do survive, but both dog and owner can be severely traumatised.

There are dogs that will fight because there is a bitch nearby and those who are dominant and meet another dominant dog neither will back down.

Given all these disparate reasons for aggression, it is not surprising that any breed of dog can attack another dog.

Studies of dog bites in humans show that all dog breeds are guilty, in numbers approximately equal to their popularity.

Human skin is soft and easily damaged, so do not use your hands in to separate fighting dogs. It does not work you will get bitten, too.