Stop Dog Aggression
23 May 2009
Dogs are naturally aggressive and we all know that dogs are able to seriously injure people and other animals. This does not mean that dog owners are completely helpless in their ability to stop aggressive dog behavior. An aggressive dog must be given obedience training immediately, before someone is injured.
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The most common forms of aggressive dog behavior are aggression towards strangers, and aggression to family members. These two types of aggressive dog behavior happen for a variety of reasons so should be treated differently.
Aggression to Strangers
The main reason dogs dislike strange animals and people is because they haven’t had an opportunity to become familiar with them. Socialization is the method used to familiarize dogs with new surroundings, and strange people and animals. Socialization is a vital part of obedience training for your dog. So how will socialization stop aggressive dogs from attacking people who make deliveries to your house?. A dog that has been socialized will begin to understand that these new adventures can be amusing instead of being scary.
Your dog should learn this important lesson as a puppy. If your dog is often with various kinds of people (for example children, teenagers, men wearing uniforms, old people, people wearing helmets or carrying umbrellas) in peaceful and enjoyable surroundings, the less aggressive your dog is likely to be with strangers.
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If you are trying to find a good spot for socializing your puppy, group training sessions, frequently held by large pet stores or at a veterinary office, are a good option. Your dog will learn how to behave with unfamiliar dogs. He will also learn that there is no reason for him to be afraid of the strangers at these sessions. He should not feel overwhelmed at these sessions - allow his tolerance to build gradually by starting off slowly.
Aggression to Family Members
Aggressive dog behavior towards human family members is most commonly for these reasons:
- Your pooch is guarding his belongings from a perceived danger (to him, that’s you!). Resource guarding is quite normal behavior for dogs.
- Dogs being pack animals show dominant behavior according to where they see themselves ranked in the pecking order of the household. To your dog, your family structure is no different from that of a dog pack. If your dog sees himself in a higher position than you or your family members, he’ll become aggressive.
Such resource guarding is typical of dominant behavior, as an underdog would not show aggression to a more highly ranked member of the pack.
The best way to stop aggressive dog behavior is to give your dog consistent dog obedience training, which will ensure that your dog understands that you are the “top dog”. This fact may be emphasized with rewards such as praise and treats when he obey a command, and by enforcing “time out” when he misbehaves.
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