Board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kelly Ballantyne at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign explains the science-based approach to veterinary behavior. Learn more about dominance, a pervasive misunderstanding in dog behavior: http://vetmed.illinois.edu/pet_column.... Learn more about Veterinary Behavior at Illinois: http://behavior.vetmed.illinois.edu.

By understanding that dominance is not the issue and learning that retaliatory aggression is detrimental, owners take the most important step toward improving the situation. Once those ideas are clear, efforts can be made to improve the human-animal bond rather than harm it. These types of problems are often situation-specific and may require a behaviorist to help manage the issue.