DS: Using the right term, protective, territorial, aggressive?

It kind of depends in what context these terms are used and whom is using them. These terms can mean different things to different people in different situations. These are usually "catch all" terms and often used with ignorance. So as not to appear ignorant, I'm using a text written by Karen Overall titled Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals. Now she does not define some of these terms so for those I'll give my definition such as it is.

3. Aggressive I'll do this one first since it's all encompassing. "An appropriate or inappropriate threat or challenge that is ultimately resolved by combat or deference." (pg88). So aggression covers many reasons. Some are good and some are bad. So aggression is not necessarily a negative term. A dog that is barking and growling because of a knock at the door may be considered appropriate by most people. Now if the dog bites that person then the rules might change to inappropriate. Another definition form another source "is that the dog intends to do harm".

1. Protective is going to be my terminology because it is not really defined in my source It is basically lumped in the territorial aggression section. This is an appropriate form of aggression because the dog is defending itself or a person from a perceived threat. This is from the dog's point of view and not the owner's. So a dog growling at the parent for disciplining a child appears appropriate to the dog but inappropriate to the human.

2. Territorial (pg 109) can be appropriate or in appropriate. Naturally dogs do defend territories. They can be defending specific areas or things. The area defended can floating, transient, seasonal, or permanent. The hallmark of territorial aggression is that the dog is not aggressive when removed from the territory. So a dog that is growling/ barking and digging at a car window at passersby would be considered to have territorial aggression if he was friendly and happy towards passersby when released from the car.

4. Possessive (pg 114) is usually considered inappropriate when it involves a human but maybe appropriate when involving another animal. The dog does not relinquish objects or toys to the owner. When the owner tries to take the toy or object from the dog, it growls/snaps at the owner. In severe cases the dog will present or drop the object as if for play and then bite the owner when the owner tries to take or retrieve the article. I would probably put food aggression in this category by Dr. Overall has separated it out.

So I have either muddied the waters or have cleared them up. I've found that these terms are quite interchangeable depending on the person and the situation. Have fun with this.

1 - To me a protective dog is one that is friendly to anyone that comes to our house, but can differentiate when a stranger is trying to attack one of our family or just wants to give a hand shake

2 - I agree with your definition of territorial and has nothing to do with being protective

3 - Guarding food, toys etc. is aggression, a dog does not possess or own anything

If a dog growls at strangers that want to pet it is not aggression, it is not socialized enough. That it got to a bite, is not the dogs fault, it is the owner who ignored the sign of the dog not being ready (not socialized enough or the right way) and missed to pull the dog back.

Protective is when a dog would lay his life down to protect you. If a stranger was trying to harm you, a dog would NOT allow this. Because he considers himself your "protector".

Territorial is when a dog considers something his territory. This could be a piece of land, a bed, a home, a house, or a person... My dog used to be "terriotorial" over me, he would not allow other dogs to come near me and he would growl at them. Not because he was protecting me, but because he saw me as "his play thing"... We had to put a stop to that. Took him to training classes.

Aggressive is when a dog is showing aggression, growling, snarling, and just being all around vicious.

Possessive is kind of like territorial. But it can be over a toy, dog bowl, food, or a person, etc... It's when a dog considers something his possession, and will not allow anything to have or be near it.

I have a dog who is very possessive over his teddy bear, I let him keep it.