Great Ways to Deal with Aggressive Dogs
Saturday, July 25th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
Today’s domesticated dogs have a lot of wild instincts that go far back in their bloodlines. After all, their ancestors had to be aggressive to survive, to search 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 cause harm is just as prevalent now as it was in previous ages. It’s a dog’s nature to be aggressive, and nothing human beings have been able to do has completely eradicated this behavior. Therefore, it’s up to us as caring dog owners to learn to help our aggressive dogs deal with a trait that is natural to them.
As humans we have a lot of control over the aggression in our dogs. Even if your dog does begin developing some aggression, you can take steps to understand what’s going on and get control of it without much conflict. With dogs, there are a number of types of aggression. Two of the most common types are dog aggression shown to strangers and that shown to those living in your household. Who cares who the dog’s aggression is directed towards? Why would we need to use our 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 tackled differently.
Obviously, aggression around strangers is simple to see. You know your dog well, so you’ll be able to tell when he gets extremely nervous by watching him pace around the room, bark, whine, and jump at the smallest of sounds. Or, on the other hand, if he becomes very silent, staying in one place and never taking his eyes off the stranger, be it the postal carrier, 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 with people they are used to and who they feel safe with. Most times this takes place because they haven’t been spent time in a lot of social situations so that they can get used to the concept of strangers. If you keep your dog isolated at home all of the time, how is he ever going to become used to the idea of strangers and different situations?
You can help your dog become more socialized by helping him get accustomed to being near both strange animals and people. You may have never realized it prior to this, but this is a major priority for you to include when training your dog. Beginning at a very young age, immediately after he’s had all of his vaccinations, he needs to be exposed to a wide variety of different people, surroundings, animals, and experiences. By doing this, you’re showing 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 a variety 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 lot of others. He will learn to be comfortable around strangers, and they won’t represent a threat to his world any longer. Waiting until he’s fully grown and then trying to assuage his fears by petting him and telling him it’s all right just isn’t going to validate it.
How can you accomplish 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 taking place at veterinary clinics. A group of around ten dog owners and their puppies will gather with at least one qualified trainer who will start showing the puppies the important obedience commands, such as sit and stay. You’ll like the fact that your puppy is learning to obey, but there’s an even more important plus to attending these classes. Not only will your puppy develop happy thoughts about a trip to the vet’s office, but he’ll also enjoy play sessions during the classes in which can be off-leash and play with the other puppies.
Talk about acquiring great social skills right from the start! He’ll be able to learn how to get along with a variety of strange dogs while being introduced to a number of people he is unfamiliar with. Since a trainer will always be present, the environment will remain safe, secure, and in control. Don’t think that puppy preschool is the lifelong solution to aggressive traits, however. Socialization is an on-going process that you will need to work on as long as you have your dog. No matter what age he gets to be, he will always benefit from being taken to new places and being around new people. The key is never to overwhelm him. Start slowly, with or without puppy preschool, and gradually add to the stimulus he’s exposed to.
There are two general reasons that dogs demonstrate aggression towards those living in your household. One is that he’s taking care of something that he perceives to be his. This may be a plaything, his bed, his food dish, or anything else he has come to feel is his. It doesn’t appear to be a major problem, does it, because you understand you aren’t trying to take away his things, but there are extra underlying problems that you need to know about. The reason that he’s behaving 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 demonstrating a trait that is not unusual 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 around him while he’s eating, and giving you cold, hard glares if you attempt to take a toy away from him. Dogs are a lot like people in that they all feel possessive at times, even if what they’re being possessive of doesn’t seem too important to anyone else. You may see your dog acting possessively about a chunk of garbage, wadded up tissues, worn out socks, and other trash items. Other times you are able to 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 agitated 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 to fit into the power structure as compared to every other animal in the unit. Each dog knows 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.
As far as your dog is concerned, your family unit is the equivalent of a dog pack. He has made his own decisions about the hierarchy of power within the family and ranked each member. He also understands his own place in the rankings. Due to these innate behaviors, being 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-assured. He’s going to act like the king and begin treating everyone with more aggression. When he has decided that he is the supreme being in the pack, he’s going to act based on that perception. He knows that none of the others in the pack have a right to aggression or to try to boss him as the one highest in rank. As long as he feels that no one in the family is more authoritative than him, he feels he has a right to his aggression, and he’ll never believe that anyone will aggressively pursue whatever he wants to have.
So what do you do when your dog starts demonstrating aggressive traits that show he thinks he’s the most authoritative dog of the pack? The answer is that you need to repetitively work on his obedience training, and do it often. These sessions will help him to accept that you, in fact, are the authority figure of the pack. Give him two 15-minute lessons 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 does as you want you should pour on the praise and treats to reinforce the behavior you want. If he doesn’t behave as expected, put him in “time out” by shutting him outside or in another room.
It always helps to be in the know aboutany subject you’re involved with, so take a little time to get some of the basics about dog psychology and ways to communicate with your dog. When you start havingsessions with your pooch, keep them short and focused. As you most likely already know, most dogs aren’t going to give you a chance to be huggy-kissy with them. In their perception, allowing you to cuddle them and put your arms around them means that they are agreeing that you are the boss. If your dog lets you to cuddle him, you know you’ve won the stature of the superior being in the pack. If a dog wasn’t wasn’t allowed to become used to a lot of physical contact at an early age, he isn’t going to be comfortable with it now that he’s grown. If anyone tries to hug him, he’s going to become agitated and show dog aggression. If your dog’s aggressive behavior is out of order and you don’t feel you have the ability to do the training yourself, you need to think about 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 bad grooming session. Two of the most usual bad experiences dog have during grooming are bathing and nail-clipping. Many dogs panic when faced with being held and bathed. Pet owners have trouble coping when their perfect pet suddenly starts to be all agitated and upset in the middle of a bath. They often think they need more restraints which only makes the problem worse. More restraint will mean more excitement, and the dog will once again reach the conclusion that having a bath is not a good experience to be avoided if at all possible. He may even think he needs to protect himself by baring his teeth and growling at his owner. Nail clipping can be even more upsetting to a dog. When clipping his nails, it’s easy to clip too far and cut the blood vessel that runs through the claw. When this happens, it causes a lot of pain for the dog and makes him even more afraid of those nail clippers.
If your dog is one of these pooches that panic during grooming sessions, you may be wondering if he can be retrained in order to make the sessions less uncomfortable for everyone involved. Although it’s much easier to begin when your dog is a tiny puppy, it can be done. If you’re starting with a puppy, make sure you afford him a lot of touching and rubbing all over his body so that he’ll become an adult who will enjoy being handled. Older dogs that were never given this type of cuddling as puppies have a tougher time accepting being touched. With your older dog’s dislike of clippers, start by holding one of his paws and touching gently with the clippers. Demonstrate for him that clippers don’t necessarily mean pain. Since he’s probably already had some negative grooming experiences, you need to teach him to stay calm because nothing is going to hurt him.
For the adult dog that doesn’t like bathing, you must practice the bathing process with him making it a pleasurable experience for him. Place him in the warm bathtub if you can. If you must take him outdoors, don’t do it during cold weather. He won’t learn to like a bath by being sprayed with icy-cold water. While you’re administering the water bath, give him lots of praise, hugs, and even occasional treats to let him know that you’re happy with his behavior. A key factor in these practice sessions is to permit your dog his freedom if he begins to feel uncomfortable and stressed out. Keep the complete process fun and enjoyable for your dog. Don’t shove him too far or too rapidly, and if he gets nervous, stop what you’re doing as soon as possible.
There’s a reason that dogs exhibit aggression. They’re warning you that you need to stop what you’re doing or face the consequences. If you try practicing the grooming methods outlined above and your dog still can’t handle 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 might be an aggressive dog during clipping times so that your vet will take measures against 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 up front about your dog’s dislike of grooming.
If you’d like more information on unwanted behaviors that your dog is exhibiting, such as dog training barking or stop dog from eating grass, you’ll probably be interested in taking a look at Secrets to Dog Training. It’s a complete, A-Z manual for the responsible dog owner, and deals with recognizing, preventing, and dealing with just about every problem dog behavior under the sun. You can check out Secrets to Dog Training by clicking here: how to stop a dog from digging.
