Really interesting question.

I've had direct experience with 3 dog aggressive dogs. One, that I had known from a pup was completely bomb-proof around people and even when he was most wound up by another dog, if a human hand got in the way he would immediately stop.

The other two were rescues with no known background. In their cases they didn't so readily differentiate between people and dogs; if something agititated them, they would bite a human.

So is it nature, nurture or a combination of both which decides how a dog will react? Is it bite inhibition taught from a young age which prevents a dog-aggressive dog from biting a human?

Or possibly an understanding (whether taught or inherent) that humans are not a threat?

Is it the same as human men differentiating between other men, women and children? Most men would retaliate against a perceived threat from another man, but would take evasive action if the incident involved a child. Is that reaction all taught behaviour or inherent?

I think I'd ask this mother mafia how they decide whether a human is trustworthy around their children...have they ever left their children with a man who has had a fight with another man - if so, how do they know that man wouldn't be violent to their children?

Of course we don't always get it right with people and so we might not always get it right with dogs. But one big difference between humans and dogs is that dogs don't practice the deceipt/duplicitiy so often found in humans (or is that another point for debate - do dogs ever practice deceipt)?

Yes, you are understanding me correctly. I would have experience to back it up.

A dog that is aggressive to dogs through lack of socialisation or bad experience can still be perfectly okay with dogs that it lives with or knows. If it is fear-based.

Like I say the motivation behind the aggression would be my explanation.

Dogs that are aggressive towards dogs can be aggressive towards people. If it were fearful of dogs and people. Even then, the dog could be fine with the people he lives with and trusts.

If the dog is being aggressive to guard something it is equally likely to do the same with a person---unless it has learnt otherwise.

If the dog is angry because the pup is too OTT---why would it not get angry when treated like that by a child?

Thoughts?

rune