Today’s domesticated dogs have a lot of wild instincts that go far back in their bloodlines. After all, their ancestors were required 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 real now as it was with your dog’s ancestors. It’s a dog’s nature to be aggressive, and nothing humans have been able to do has completely eliminated this trait. Therefore, it’s up to us as loving dog owners to learn to help our aggressive dogs handle a trait that is natural to them.
As humans we have a lot of control over the aggression in our pets. Even if your dog does start exhibiting some aggression, you can take steps to comprehend what’s taking place and defuse it without much conflict. 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 those living in your household. What difference does it make who the dog’s aggression is being aimed at? Why would we want to spend time defining two types of aggression? In actually, it’s because although both of these types are aggression, they occur for different reasons and need to be tackled differently.
Obviously, aggression in the vicinity of strangers is easy to detect. You know your dog well, so you’ll know when he gets excessively upset by watching him pace constantly, bark, whine, and be startled by the smallest of sounds. Or, on the other hand, if he becomes very quiet, staying in one place and never taking his eyes off the the strange person, be it the postman, a friend, or someone jogging 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 used to and who they feel safe with. Usually this takes place 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 confined at home all of the time, how is he ever going to get used to the idea of strangers and different situations?
You can help your dog become a more social being by helping him get accustomed to being near both strange animals and people. You may have never considered it before, but this is an important need for you to think about when training your dog. Starting at a very young age, shortly after he’s had all of his vaccinations, he needs to be exposed to a wide 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 enjoyable. You want to be sure hand slowly introduce him to all types of people: the infant next door, a bicyclist wearing safety equipment, senior citizens, both men and women, a person carrying a skateboard, teens, and a variety of others. He will learn to be at ease around strangers, and they won’t represent 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 take care of it.
How can you accomplish socializing your puppy so that he will not grow up with a wariness of strangers? As a start, 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 about ten dog owners and their puppies will gather with at least one qualified trainer who will start training 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 plus to going to these classes. Not only will your puppy develop positive thoughts about visiting the vet’s office, but he’ll also experience play sessions during the classes in which can be off-leash and cavort with the other puppies.
Talk about developing 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 is unfamiliar with. Since a trainer will always be around, the environment will remain safe, secure, and in control. Don’t get the idea that puppy preschool is the lifelong solution to aggressive activities, however. Socialization is an on-going process that you will have to work on as long as you have your dog. No matter what age he gets to be, he will always benefit from being introduced to new places and being around new people. The key is never to overwhelm him. Start slowly, with or without puppy preschool, and gently raise 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 considers 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 large problem, does it, because you realize you aren’t looking to take away his possessions, but there are additional underlying problems that you need to be aware of. 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 showing a trait that is often seen amongst dogs and which is regarded as 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 attempt to take a toy away from him. Dogs are a great deal like people in that they all feel possessive at times, even if what they’re being possessive of doesn’t seem too valuable to anyone else. You may see your dog acting possessively about a hunk 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 playful 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 beginnings of dog behavior. Originally, dogs were part of a pack which is a very hierarchical community. Within this group, each animal has its own rank as part of the power structure as compared to every other animal in the group. Each dog comprehends exactly where he and each other dog fits into the line of authority, and, therefore, knows whether he should keep away from or become the aggressor in any given situation.
In your dog’s mind, your family unit is the equivalent of a dog pack. He has established 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, cohabiting 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-assured. He’s going to act cocky and start 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 perceives 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 thinks that no one in the family is superior to him, he feels he has a right to his aggression, and he’ll never believe that anyone will challenge his right to have whatever he opts to have.
So how should you react when your dog starts showing aggressive traits that show he is taking the role of the most authoritative member of the pack? The answer is that you must firmly work on his obedience training, and do it twice a day. These sessions will help him to accept that you, in fact, are the dominant member of the pack. Give him two 15-minute lessons a day, and he’ll soon comprehend 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 lavish on the praise and treats to reinforce the behavior you’re after. If he doesn’t behave as he should, put him in “time out” by putting him outside or in another room.
It always helps to be in the know 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 havingsessions with your pooch, keep them short and to the point. As you most likely already know, most dogs aren’t going to allow you to be cuddly with them. In their perception, allowing you to cuddle them and put your arms around them means that they are acknowledging that you are the boss. If your dog lets you to cuddle him, you know you’ve achieved 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 easy with it now that he’s grown. If a person tries to hug him, he’s going to become tense and show dog aggression. If your dog’s aggressive behavior is out of hand and you don’t feel you have the ability to do the training yourself, you need to contemplate employing a dog trainer to do the job for you.
Another reason that dogs become aggressive when being handled is that they’ve had at least one grooming session gone wrong. Two of the most usual bad experiences dog have in grooming are bathing and nail-clipping. Many dogs freak out when faced with being restrained and bathed. Pet owners have problems coping when their perfect pet suddenly starts to be all excited and upset in the midst of a bath. They often think they need more restraints which only exacerbates the problem. More restraint will mean more frenzy, and the dog will once again reach the conclusion that having a bath is a bad experience to be avoided if at all possible. He may even believe he must protect 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 far and cut the blood vessel that runs within the claw. When this occurs, it causes a lot of pain for the dog and makes him even more fearful 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 less difficult to start when your dog is a little puppy, it can be done. If you’re working with a puppy, make sure you give 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 attention as puppies have a tougher time adjusting to being touched. With your older dog’s aversion to clippers, start by holding one of his paws and touching it with the clippers. Teach him that clippers don’t usually mean pain. Since he’s likely to have already had some negative grooming experiences, you must teach him to remain calm because there’s nothing that’s going to hurt him.
For the older dog that doesn’t like bathing, you need to practice the bathing procedure with him making it a happy experience for him. Put him in the warm bathtub if that’s possible. If you need to take him outdoors, don’t do it during cold weather. He won’t learn to tolerate 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 help him understand that you’re happy with his behavior. A main factor in these practice sessions is to allow 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 push him too far or too quickly, and if he gets scared, stop what you’re doing immediately.
There’s a reason that dogs demonstrate aggression. They’re giving you a warning that you must 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 get the services of a professional. Your vet will be happy 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 qualified professional groomers wash, brush, and clip your dog for you. Once again, let them know up front about your dog’s aversion to 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: dog behavior digging.