Today’s pet 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 search for food and shelter, and to mate. A lot of selective breeding has taken place over the centuries which has stopped a lot of the aggression in dogs; however, the ability to attack and inflict harm is just as real now as it was in previous ages. It’s a dog’s nature to be aggressive, and nothing people have been able to do has completely eliminated this tendency. Therefore, it’s up to us as caring dog owners to learn to help our aggressive dogs handle a trait that is a natural part of them.
As humans we take a lot of control over the aggression in our dogs. Even if your dog does begin developing some aggression, you can take measures to analyze what’s happening and defuse it without much problem. With dogs, there are several types of aggression. Two of the most usual types are dog 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 use our time defining two types of aggression? In 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 simple to detect. You know your dog well, so you’ll know when he gets extremely upset by watching him pace incessantly, bark, whine, and jump at the smallest of sounds. Or, alternately, if he becomes very quiet, remaining in one place without taking his eyes off the person he doesn’t know, be it the postal carrier, a friend, or someone jogging down the street. Some dogs just don’t take quickly to people they don’t know. They’d rather be with people they are used to and who they feel comfortable with. Usually this happens because they haven’t been been introduced to a lot of social situations so that they can become adapted to the concept of strangers. If you keep your dog confined 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 friendlier by helping him get used to being near both strange animals and people. You may have never realized it prior to this, but this is an important facet for you to think about 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 large variety of different people, places, animals, and experiences. By doing this, you’re training your dog early on that meeting new people and trying new experiences is both safe and fun. You want to make it a point to slowly introduce him to a variety of people: the baby next door, a motorcyclist wearing safety equipment, senior citizens, both men and women, a person carrying a cane, teens, and a lot of others. He will learn to be comfortable around strangers, and they won’t present a threat to his world any longer. Waiting until he’s grown up and then trying to assuage his fears by petting 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 won’t grow up with a fear of strangers? To start with, you can take him to a puppy preschool. This will include going to puppy classes, such as those held at veterinary clinics. A group of around ten dog owners and their puppies will get together with at least one qualified trainer who will start training the puppies the necessary 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 going to the vet’s office, but he’ll also have play sessions during the classes during which can be off-leash and frolic with the other puppies.
Talk about learning great social skills right from the start! He’ll be able to learn how to get along with a lot of strange dogs while being introduced to a number of people he he hasn’t met before. Since a trainer will always be there, the environment will be safe, secure, and in control. Don’t imagine that puppy preschool is the lifelong answer to aggressive behavior, however. Socialization is a continuous process that you will have to work on throughout your dog’s life. No matter what his age, he will always benefit from visiting to new places and being around new people. The key is never to give him more than he can handle. Start slowly, with or without puppy preschool, and gradually increase the stimulus he’s exposed to.
There are two general reasons that dogs demonstrate aggression towards people in the family. One is that he’s protecting something that he considers to be his. This may be a bone, his bed, his food dish, or another item he has come to feel he owns. It doesn’t sound like a large problem, does it, because you understand you aren’t looking to take away his belongings, but there are extra underlying problems that you need to consider. The reason that he’s acting so possessively about his things is because he’s uneasy with the way you and other family members are treating or handling him.
At this point, your dog is showing a trait that is often seen amongst dogs and which is called resource guarding. This trait may include being overly-protective of his things, baring his teeth 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 at times, even if what they’re being possessive of doesn’t seem too vital to anyone else. You may see your dog acting possessively about a chunk of garbage, wadded up papers, worn out socks, and other trash items. Other times you will be able to understand his possessiveness more fully 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 find an answer for this question, we once again need to look at the start of dog behavior. Originally, dogs were members of a pack which is a very controlled community. Within this group, each animal has its own rank to fit into the power structure as compared to every other animal in the pack. Each dog knows exactly where he and each other dog fits into the line of authority, 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 similar to a dog pack. He has established the hierarchy of power within the family and ranked each member. He also sees his own place in the rankings. Due to these intrinsic behaviors, cohabiting 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 begin treating everyone with more aggression. When he has decided that he is the superior animal 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 in command. As long as he believes that no one in the family is more authoritative than 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 opts to have.
So what do you do when your dog starts showing aggressive behaviors that show he is taking the role of the dominant member of the pack? The answer is that you have to consistently work on his obedience training, and do it frequently. 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 has to do what you expect him to do. During these sessions, when he does as you want you should lavish on the praise and goodies to reinforce the behavior you’re after. If he doesn’t behave as you’d like him to, put him in “time out” by shutting him outside or in another room.
It always helps to be informed aboutany situation you’re coping with, so take a bit of time to learn about dog psychology and ways to communicate with your dog. When you start initiatingsessions with your pooch, keep them short and to the point. As you undoubtedly already know, most dogs aren’t going to give you a chance to be lovey-dovey with them. In their world, allowing you to cuddle them and hug them means that they are acknowledging that you are the boss. If your dog allows you to cuddle him, you know you’ve been relegated to the stature of the superior dog in the pack. If a dog wasn’t given a lot of physical contact as a puppy, he isn’t going to feel at ease with it now that he’s grown. If someone 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 employing a dog trainer to take care of it for you.
A second reason that dogs become aggressive when being handled is that they’ve had at least one bad experience while being groomed. Two of the most prevalent bad experiences dog have in grooming are bathing and nail-clipping. Many dogs freak out when faced with being held and bathed. Pet owners have trouble coping when their perfect pet suddenly becomes all agitated and upset in the middle of a bath. They often want to add more restraints which only adds to the problem. More restraint will mean more frenzy, and the dog will once again decide that having a bath is a bad experience to be avoided if at all possible. He may even decide he has to defend 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 deeply and hit the blood vessel that runs within the claw. When this takes place, it means 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 becomes frightened during grooming sessions, you could be wondering if he can be retrained in order to make the sessions more comfortable for everyone involved. Although it’s much less difficult to begin when your dog is a tiny puppy, it isn’t impossible. If you’re working with a puppy, make sure you afford him a lot of touching and rubbing all over his body so that he’ll grow up and enjoy being handled. Older dogs that were never given this type of cuddling as puppies have a much more difficult time adapting to being touched. With your older dog’s nervousness with clippers, start by holding one of his paws and touching the clippers to it. Demonstrate for him that clippers don’t usually mean pain. Since he’s undoubtedly already had some negative grooming experiences, you have to teach him to stay calm because nothing is going to hurt him.
For the mature dog that dislikes bathing, you must practice the bathing procedure with him making it an enjoyable experience for him. Put him in the warm bathtub if that’s possible. 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 giving him the water bath, give him lots of praise, hugs, and even occasional treats to show him that you’re happy with his behavior. A main factor in these practice sessions is to give your dog his freedom if he begins to feel uncomfortable and stressed out. Keep the entire process fun and enjoyable for your dog. Don’t force him too far or too rapidly, and if he gets scared, stop what you’re doing as soon as possible.
There’s a reason that dogs show aggression. They’re warning you that you have 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 stand being groomed, it’s time to get the services of a professional. Your vet will be willing to clip his nails. Make sure you let the vet know that your pooch can be an aggressive dog during clipping times so that your vet will take measures against the possibility of aggressive behavior. Dog grooming services are available where for a price you can have trained 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 stop a dog from barking or dog 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: dog behavior digging.
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