Did COVID quarantine make my dog aggressive?

With the extended isolation everyone experienced in 2020 due to COVID-19, some owners may be wondering if their dog’s aggression is because he wasn’t socialized during that time. Would he be fine if he’d been around more people and dogs?

Yes and no.

This is really a nature versus nurture question, and the answer is both. Your dog behaves the way he does because of his genetics (the nature) AND his experiences, environment, and the humans in his life (the nurture).

It’s not all nature and it’s not all nurture.

You can raise your dog “right” and still have a nervous dog, and you can do everything “wrong” and still wind up with a temperamentally great dog—even if his manners are a little rough around the edges.

If your dog is displaying aggressive behavior, it probably isn’t ONLY because he wasn’t socialized. That doesn’t mean socialization isn’t important and beneficial! It is.

However.

If your adult dog is having a problem now, “socialization” probably isn’t the answer and might actually make things worse.

Moving a dog from aggression (or fear) to relaxation and safety is a systematic process done at his pace. It’s not taking him to the dog park. It isn’t flashy. It rarely happens overnight and even a two week board and train won’t “fix” it.

Training aggressive dogs does involve a lot of observation and careful planning so the aggression or fear isn’t triggered.

For some dos and do nots, see this blog post on socialization for anxious dogs.