Many dogs are dominant as well as anxious and fearful. Not all dominantly motivated aggressive dogs behave the same and a description of what the dog looks like, how they responded to challenges and where they occur and with whom are important pieces of information to obtain before making a diagnosis. Additionally, a dog may only show aggression in limited contexts, say food guarding only, and in such case is probably not motivated by dominance but food guarding behavior. Within a family a dog may exhibit dominant aggressive behavior to some family members and be subordinate and non-aggressive to others. All aggressive challenges should be taken seriously.
Dogs are capable of hurting and inflicting a great deal of damage with their bites.
Physically confronting a dog who is acting in an aggressive manner can result in the escalation of the aggression and subsequent injury to humans. Dogs who have been controlling their environment and human housemates for some time will not easily relinquish the leader role. Physical challenges could also lead to fearful and defensive aggression. Therefore it is important to be able to accurately determine how the dog will behave. All aggressive and potentially aggressive situations should be identified and avoided.