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Aggressive Dog Training

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Effective Ways to Deal with Aggressive Dogs

Today’s domesticated dogs have a lot of wild instincts that go far back in their bloodlines. After all, their ancestors needed to be aggressive to survive, to hunt for food and shelter, and to mate. A lot of selective breeding has occurred over the centuries which has tamed a lot of the aggression in dogs; however, the ability to attack and inflict harm is just as real now as it was back then. It’s a dog’s nature to be aggressive, and nothing humans have been able to do has been able to completely eradicate this trait. Therefore, it’s up to us as loving dog owners to learn to help our aggressive dogs control a trait that comes naturally to them.

As humans we have a lot of control over the aggression in our pets. Even if your dog does start showing some aggression, you can take steps to understand what’s going on and take care of it without much problem. With dogs, there are several types of aggression. Two of the most common types are aggression shown to strangers and that shown to members of your family. Why does it matter who the dog’s aggression is being aimed at? Why would we want to spend time defining two types of aggression? Actually, it’s because although both of these types are aggression, they happen for different reasons and need to be treated differently.

Obviously, aggression around strangers is easy to detect. You know your dog well, so you’ll be able to tell when he gets extremely nervous by watching him pace incessantly, bark, whine, and jump at the smallest of sounds. Or, on the other hand, if he becomes very quiet, sitting in one place and never taking his eyes off the stranger, be it the postman, a friend, or someone walking down the street. Some dogs just don’t adjust quickly to people they don’t know. They prefer to be around people they are used to and who they feel comfortable with. Generally this occurs because they haven’t been taken into a lot of social situations so that they can get used to the idea of strangers. If you keep your dog isolated at home all of the time, how is he ever going to get used to the idea of strangers and unfamiliar situations?

You can help your dog become more socialized by helping him get used to being around both strange animals and people. You may have never thought about it before, but this is an important facet for you to consider when training your dog. Starting at a very young age, right after he’s had all of his shots, he needs to be exposed to a wide variety of different people, places, animals, and experiences. By doing this, you’re teaching your dog right from the beginning that meeting new people and sharing new experiences is both safe and fun. You want to make sure you slowly introduce him to all types of people: the baby next door, a motorcyclist wearing a helmet, senior citizens, both men and women, a person carrying an umbrella, teens, and a variety of others. He will learn to be at ease around strangers, and they won’t present a threat to his world any longer. Waiting until he’s an adult and then trying to ease his fears by patting him and telling him it’s okay just isn’t going to cut it.

How can you go about socializing your puppy so that he doesn’t grow up with a fear of strangers? For starters, you can take him to a puppy preschool. What this means is going to puppy classes, such as those held at veterinary clinics. A group of about ten dog owners and their puppies will get together with at least one qualified trainer who will start teaching the puppies the basic obedience commands, such as sit and stay. You’ll like the fact that your puppy is learning obedience, but there’s an even bigger benefit to attending these classes. Not only will your puppy develop happy thoughts about visiting the vet’s office, but he’ll also experience play sessions during the classes in which he’ll be allowed to be off-leash and play with the other puppies.

Talk about learning great social skills right from the beginning! He’ll be able to learn how to get along with a variety of strange dogs while being exposed to a lot of people he doesn’t know. Since a trainer will always be present, the environment will remain safe, secure, and in control. Don’t get the idea that puppy preschool is the lifelong answer to aggressive behavior, however. Socialization is an on-going process that you will need to work on throughout your dog’s life. No matter what his age, he will always benefit from being taken to new places and being exposed to new people. The key is never to overwhelm him. Start slowly, with or without puppy preschool, and gradually increase the stimulus he’s exposed to.

There are two basic reasons that dogs demonstrate aggression towards family members. One is that he’s defending something that he perceives to be his. This may be a toy, his bed, his food dish, or anything else he has come to feel belongs to him. It doesn’t sound like a major problem, does it, because you know you aren’t looking to take away his possessions, but there are more underlying problems that you need to be aware of. The reason that he’s reacting so possessively about his things is because he’s uncomfortable with the way you and other family members are treating or handling him.

At this point, your dog is exhibiting a trait that is common amongst dogs and which is known as resource guarding. This condition may include being overly-protective of his things, snarling at you if you come near him while he’s eating, and giving you cold, hard stares if you try to take a toy away from him. Dogs are a lot like people in that they all feel possessive sometimes, even if what they’re being possessive of doesn’t seem too valuable to anyone else. You may find your dog acting possessively about a piece of garbage, wadded up papers, worn out socks, and other trash items. Other times you can understand his possessiveness better when it’s over food or toys.

Why would a dog that has seemed happy and at ease suddenly get all tense over the ownership of a possession? In order to answer this question, we once again need to look at the origins of dog behavior. Originally, dogs were part of a pack which is a very structured community. Within this community, each animal has its own rank within the power structure as compared to every other animal in the pack. Each dog understands exactly where he and each other dog fits into the hierarchy of power, and, therefore, knows whether he should back off or become the aggressor in any given situation.

In your dog’s mind, your family unit is just like a dog pack. He has made his own decisions about the hierarchy of power within the family and ranked each member. He also perceives his own place in the rankings. Due to these innate behaviors, living with your dog can get interesting. If he sees himself as more powerful than other members of the family, he’s going to become very self-important. He’s going to act cocky and start treating everyone with more aggression. When he has decided that he is the superior animal in the pack, he’s going to act on that perception. He knows that none of the others in the pack have a right to aggression or to try to dominate him as the one highest in rank. As long as he feels that no one in the family is superior to him, he feels he has a right to his aggression, and he’ll never dream that anyone will challenge his right to have whatever he chooses to have.

So what do you do when your dog starts exhibiting aggressive traits that show he thinks he’s the dominant member of the pack? The answer is that you need to consistently work on his obedience training, and do it often. These sessions will help him to understand that you, in fact, are the dominant member of the pack. Give him two 15-minute sessions a day, and he’ll soon learn that you’re the boss and that he needs to do what you expect him to do. During these sessions, when he obeys you should lavish on the praise and treats to reinforce the behavior you’re looking for. If he doesn’t behave as expected, put him in “time out” by putting him outside or in another room.

It always helps to be informed about any subject you’re dealing with, so take a little time to learn about dog psychology and ways to communicate with your dog. When you start having sessions with your pooch, keep them short and focused. As you probably already know, most dogs aren’t going to allow you to be huggy-kissy with them. In their world, allowing you to cuddle them and put your arms around them means that they are acknowledging that you are the boss. If your dog allows you to cuddle him, you know you’ve won the stature of the superior animal in the pack. If a dog wasn’t given a lot of physical contact at an early age, he isn’t going to be comfortable with it as an adult. If anyone tries to hug him, he’s going to become agitated and aggressive. If your dog’s aggressive behavior is out-of-hand and you don’t feel qualified to do the training yourself, you need to consider hiring a dog trainer to do the job for you.

A second reason that dogs become aggressive when being handled is that they’ve had at least one grooming session gone wrong. Two of the most common bad experiences dog have in grooming are bathing and nail-clipping. Many dogs panic when faced with being restrained and bathed. Pet owners have problems coping when their perfect pet suddenly becomes all excited and upset in the middle of a bath. They often resort to more restraints which only exacerbates the problem. More restraint will mean more panic, and the dog will once again conclude that having a bath is an unpleasant experience to be avoided if at all possible. He may even decide he needs to defend himself by baring his teeth and growling at his owner. Nail clipping can be even more frightening to a dog. When clipping his nails, it’s easy to clip too deeply and cut the blood vessel that runs inside the claw. When this happens, it causes a lot of pain for the dog and makes him even more leery of those nail clippers.

If your dog is one of these pets that panic during grooming sessions, you might be wondering if he can be retrained in order to make the sessions more comfortable for everyone involved. Although it’s much easier to start when your dog is a young puppy, it can be done. If you’re starting with a puppy, make sure you give him a lot of touching and rubbing all over his body so that he’ll grow to enjoy being handled. Older dogs that were never given this type of attention as puppies have a lot harder time accepting being touched. With your older dog’s aversion to clippers, start by taking hold of one of his paws and touching the clippers to it. Show him that clippers don’t always mean pain. Since he’s probably already had some bad grooming experiences, you need to teach him to stay calm because nothing is going to hurt him.

For the older dog that has an aversion to bathing, you need to practice the bathing procedure with him making it a pleasurable experience for him. Put him in the warm bathtub if you can. If you have to take him outdoors, don’t do it when the water is going to be too cold. He won’t learn to enjoy a bath by being sprayed with icy-cold water. While you’re giving him the water bath, give him lots of praise, patting, and even occasional treats to show him that you’re pleased with his behavior. A key factor in these practice sessions is to allow your dog his freedom if he starts to feel uncomfortable and stressed out. Keep the whole process fun and enjoyable for your dog. Don’t push him too far or too fast, and if he gets nervous, stop what you’re doing immediately.

There’s a reason that dogs show aggression. They’re giving you a warning that you need to stop what you’re doing or face the consequences. If you try practicing the grooming techniques outlined above and your dog still can’t stand being groomed, it’s time to call in a professional. Your vet will be happy to clip his nails. Make sure you let the vet know that your pooch becomes an aggressive dog during clipping times so that your vet will safeguard himself for the possibility of aggressive behavior. Dog grooming services abound where for a price you can have qualified professional groomers wash, brush, and clip your dog for you. Once again, let them know in advance about your dog’s aversion to grooming.

For Further Reading:

For more information on handling aggressive and dominant behaviors, as well as detailed information on a wide variety of other common dog behavior problems, check out Dog Training Secrets. It’s a complete owner’s guide to owning, rearing, and training your dog, and it deals with all aspects of dog ownership. To get an insiders look on preventing and dealing with problem behaviors like aggression and dominance in your dog, Dog Training Secrets is worth a look. You can visit the Dog Training Secrets site by clicking here.