The Constructional Aggression Treatment
CAT for Dogs

Dogs growl, bark and lunge because it results in an outcome they want:  Driving scary dogs or people away. 

Sounds simple, but in the dog training community this is a controversial view of how aggression works. Most experts teach that aggression is “classical” stimulus-response behavior.  In other words, they say that it’s instinct or genes rather than experience that makes a dog turn out bad.

The research of Kellie Snider, MS and Jesús Rosales-Ruiz, PhD demonstrated that there’s more to aggression than stimulus-response.  Their research supports the view that no matter how aggressive behavior starts out, once the dog behaves aggressively an outcome is likely to result.  The outcome aggression usually produces is that other people and animals move away—fast! The more often the aggressive behavior produces distance between the dog and the scary others, the more likely it is that the dog will behave aggressively. 

Snider and Rosales-Ruiz decided to study the question of whether aggression could be treated by setting up a procedure in which the desired outcome—distance from aversive stimuli—is provided only when the dog performs acceptable behaviors and no longer when he performs aggressive behaviors.

The results have been remarkable.  Since conducting the original research the researchers, working with numerous field testers, pet owners and trainers around the world, have fine tuned and refined the procedure, following the progress of the dogs through the discussion group set up for the support of CAT users.  CAT has been used successfully in at least 9 countries with over 100 dogs. 

Is CAT foolproof?  In any treatment procedure there are issues of stimulus control and generalization, of continuing reinforcement and maintenance. In CAT these aspects of training are built in. Where other practices hope there isn’t a relapse, we plan for generalization. 

The bottom line is that we provide dogs with what they really want—distance from things they don’t like.  The difference is that we provide it only when they perform desirable behaviors, not when they are aggressive.