Today’s domesticated dogs have a lot of wild traits 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 taken care of a lot of the aggression in dogs; however, the ability to attack and inflict harm is just as relevant now as it was back then. It’s a dog’s nature to be aggressive, and nothing human beings have been able to do has completely eliminated this tendency. Therefore, it’s up to us as loving dog owners to learn to help our aggressive dogs handle 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 begin developing some aggression, you can take steps to analyze what’s going on and defuse it without much problem. With dogs, there are quite a few types of aggression. Two of the most commonly found types are dog aggression shown to strangers and that shown to members of your family. What difference does it make who the dog’s aggression is being aimed at? Why would we need to waste time defining two varieties of aggression? In 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 easy to see. You know your dog well, so you’ll be able to tell when he gets excessively upset by watching him pace around the room, bark, whine, and be startled by the smallest of sounds. Or, also, if he becomes very quiet, remaining in one place and never taking his eyes off the person he doesn’t know, be it the postal carrier, a friend, or someone meandering down the street. Some dogs just don’t take quickly to people they don’t know. Instead they like to be in the company of people they are familiar with and who they feel safe with. Usually this occurs because they haven’t been spent time in a lot of social situations so that they can become adapted 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 unknown situations?
You can help your dog become a more social being by helping him get accustomed to being around both strange animals and people. You may have never considered it prior to this, but this is an important priority for you to consider when training your dog. Starting at a very young age, immediately after he’s had all of his innoculations, he must be exposed to a large variety of different people, environments, animals, and experiences. By doing this, you’re training your dog from the start that meeting new people and trying new experiences is both safe and a lot of fun. You want to be sure hand slowly introduce him to all types of people: the infant next door, a bicyclist wearing a helmet, 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 an adult and then trying to relieve his fears by cuddling him and telling him it’s okay just isn’t going to validate it.
How can you go about socializing your puppy so that he will not grow up with a wariness of strangers? To start with, you can take him to a puppy preschool. What this means is going to puppy classes, such as those offered 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 mind, but there’s an even bigger plus to attending these classes. Not only will your puppy develop positive thoughts about going to the vet’s office, but he’ll also enjoy play sessions during the classes in which he’ll be allowed to be off-leash and frolic with the other puppies.
Talk about acquiring great social skills right from the beginning! He’ll be able to assimilate how to get along with a cross section of strange dogs while being introduced to a lot of people he he hasn’t met before. Since a trainer will always be present, the environment will remain safe, secure, and in control. Don’t imagine that puppy preschool is the lifelong solution to aggressive traits, however. Socialization is a continuous 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 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 gently add to the stimulus he’s exposed to.
There are two basic reasons that dogs demonstrate aggression towards people in the family. One is that he’s taking care of something that he considers to be his. This may be a toy, his bed, his food dish, or another item he has come to feel he owns. It doesn’t sound like a huge problem, does it, because you understand you aren’t opting to take away his things, but there are additional underlying problems that you need to know about. The reason that he’s reacting 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 demonstrating a trait that is often seen amongst dogs and which is called resource guarding. This situation 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 attempt to take a toy away from him. Dogs are much like people in that they all feel possessive once in awhile, 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 newspapers, worn out socks, and other trash items. Other times you can understand his possessiveness more fully when it’s over food or toys.
Why would a dog that has seemed playful 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 beginnings of dog behavior. Originally, dogs were part of a pack which is a very controlled 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 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.
To your dog, your family unit is similar to a dog pack. He has his own ideas about the hierarchy of power within the family and ranked each member. He also sees his own place in the rankings. Due to these innate behaviors, being with your dog can get interesting. If he sees himself as superior to other members of the family, he’s going to become very self-important. He’s going to act like a smart alack 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 believes that no one in the family is ranked higher him, he feels he has a right to his aggression, and he’ll never believe that anyone will try to take whatever he wants to have.
So how should you react when your dog starts demonstrating aggressive behaviors that show he thinks he’s the most authoritative member of the pack? The answer is that you need to firmly work on his obedience training, and do it often. These sessions will help him to acknowledge that you, in fact, are the authority figure of the pack. Give him two 15-minute lessons a day, and he’ll soon understand that you’re the boss and that he has to do what you expect him to do. During these sessions, when he behaves appropriately you should lavish on the praise and rewards to reinforce the behavior you’re looking for. If he doesn’t behave as he should, 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 coping with, so take a bit of time to educate yourself about dog psychology and ways to communicate with your dog. When you start havingsessions with your pooch, keep them short and focused. As you probably 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 admitting that you are the boss. If your dog lets you to cuddle him, you know you’ve been relegated to the stature of the superior animal 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 at ease 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 hand and you don’t feel qualified 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 common bad experiences dog have had with grooming are bathing and nail-clipping. Many dogs go crazy when faced with being restrained and bathed. Pet owners have trouble coping when their perfect pet suddenly gets all agitated and upset in the middle of a bath. They often think they need more restraints which only adds to the problem. More restraint will mean more panic, and the dog will once again conclude that having a bath is not a good experience to be avoided if at all possible. He may even think he must 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 deep and sever the blood vessel that runs inside the claw. When this happens, it creates 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 is scared 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 easier to begin when your dog is a tiny puppy, it can be done. If you’re beginning 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 not given this type of attention as puppies have a lot harder time adapting to being touched. With your older dog’s dislike of clippers, start by holding one of his paws and touching gently with the clippers. Show him that clippers don’t necessarily mean pain. Since he’s likely to have already had some bad grooming experiences, you need to teach him to stay calm because there’s nothing that’s going to hurt him.
For the adult dog that dislikes 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 during cold weather. He won’t learn to like a bath by being sprayed with icy-cold water. While you’re conducting the water bath, give him lots of praise, patting, and even occasional treats to show him that you’re impressed with his behavior. A main factor in these practice sessions is to permit your dog his freedom if he becomes uncomfortable and stressed out. Keep the whole process fun and enjoyable for your dog. Don’t force him too far or too quickly, and if he gets agitated, stop what you’re doing as soon as possible.
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 handle 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 might 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 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 stop a dog from 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: dog behavior digging.
