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 hunt 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 cause harm is just as relevant now as it was back then. It’s a dog’s nature to be aggressive, and nothing humans have been able to do has completely eliminated this behavior. Therefore, it’s up to us as doting dog owners to learn to help our aggressive dogs handle a trait that is natural to them.
As humans we command a lot of control over the aggression in our dogs. Even if your dog does start exhibiting some aggression, you can take measures to comprehend what’s happening and get control of it without much trouble. 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. What difference does it make who the dog’s aggression is being aimed at? 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 occur for different reasons and need to be tackled differently.
Obviously, aggression around strangers is simple to detect. You know your dog well, so you’ll know when he gets excessively agitated by watching him pace incessantly, bark, whine, and be startled by the smallest of sounds. Or, on the other hand, if he becomes very silent, sitting in one place without taking his eyes off the stranger, 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. Instead they like to be in the company of people they are used to and who they feel at ease with. Generally this happens 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 confined at home all of the time, how is he ever going to get used to the idea of strangers and unknown situations?
You can help your dog become more socialized by helping him get accustomed to being around both strange animals and people. You may have never thought about it before, but this is an important need for you to consider when training your dog. Starting at a very young age, right after he’s had all of his vaccinations, he must be exposed to a wide variety of different people, surroundings, animals, and experiences. By doing this, you’re showing your dog from the start that meeting new people and sharing new experiences is both safe and a lot of fun. You want to make it a point to slowly introduce him to many unique people: the baby next door, a motorcyclist wearing safety gear, senior citizens, both men and women, a person carrying a skateboard, teens, and a variety of others. He will learn to be less aggressive around strangers, and they won’t seem to be 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 all right just isn’t going to cut it.
How can you go about socializing your puppy so that he doesn’t grow up with a wariness of strangers? To start with, you can take him to a puppy preschool. This will include 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 showing the puppies the basic 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 going to these classes. Not only will your puppy develop positive thoughts about visiting the vet’s office, but he’ll also enjoy play sessions during the classes when he’ll be allowed to be off-leash and cavort with the other puppies.
Talk about developing great social skills right from the git go! He’ll be able to learn how to get along with a cross section of strange dogs while being introduced to a number of people he doesn’t know. Since a trainer will always be around, the environment will be safe, secure, and in control. Don’t think that puppy preschool is the lifelong solution to aggressive behavior, however. Socialization is a continuous process that you will need to work on throughout your dog’s life. No matter what age he gets to be, he will always benefit from being introduced to new places and being exposed to new people. The key is never to give him more than he can handle. Start slowly, with or without puppy preschool, and slowly add to the stimulus he’s exposed to.
There are two common reasons that dogs demonstrate aggression towards family members. One is that he’s protecting something that he perceives to be his. This may be a bone, his bed, his food dish, or something else he has come to feel is his. It doesn’t appear to be a huge problem, does it, because you know you aren’t opting to take away his possessions, but there are more underlying problems that you need to be aware of. The reason that he’s behaving so possessively about his things is because he’s not comfortable 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, baring his teeth at you if you come around him while he’s eating, and giving you cold, hard stares if you try 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 find your dog acting possessively about a chunk 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 congenial 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 members of a pack which is a very hierarchical community. Within this pack, each animal has its own rank to fit into the power structure as compared to every other animal in the group. Each dog understands exactly where he and each other dog fits into the chain of command, and, therefore, knows whether he should keep away from 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 natural behaviors, cohabiting with your dog can get interesting. If he sees himself as more of an authority figure than 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 top dog in the pack, he’s going to behave based on that perception. He understands 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 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 opts to have.
So what do you do when your dog starts demonstrating aggressive behaviors that show he considers himself the most authoritative member of the pack? The answer is that you have to repetitively work on his obedience training, and do it twice a day. These sessions will help him to acknowledge 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 has to do what you expect him to do. During these sessions, when he obeys you should lavish on the praise and treats to reinforce the behavior you’re after. If he doesn’t behave as expected, put him in “time out” by putting him outside or in another room.
It always helps to be knowledgeable aboutany subject 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 conductingsessions 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 lovey-dovey with them. In their world, allowing you to cuddle them and hug them means that they are agreeing that you are the boss. If your dog allows you to cuddle him, you know you’ve won the stature of the superior being in the pack. If a dog wasn’t subjected to a lot of physical contact at an early age, he isn’t going to feel at ease with it now that he’s grown. If a person tries to hug him, he’s going to become upset and show dog aggression. If your dog’s aggressive behavior is out of order and you don’t feel you’re able to do the training yourself, you need to contemplate finding a dog trainer to accomplish the task for you.
A second reason that dogs become aggressive when being handled is that they’ve had at least one grooming session gone wrong. Two of the most prevalent bad experiences dog have in grooming are bathing and nail-clipping. Many dogs panic when faced with being restrained and bathed. Pet owners have problems 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 adds to the problem. More restraint will mean more panic, 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 decide he must protect himself by baring his teeth and growling at his owner. Nail clipping can be even more traumatic to a dog. When clipping his nails, it’s easy to clip too deeply and cut the blood vessel that runs inside the claw. When this takes place, 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 animals that becomes frightened during grooming sessions, you could be wondering if he can be altered in order to make the sessions easier for everyone involved. Although it’s much less difficult to start when your dog is a young puppy, it can be done. If you’re starting 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 adapting to being touched. With your older dog’s nervousness with clippers, start by holding one of his paws and touching gently with the clippers. Show him that clippers don’t usually mean pain. Since he’s probably already had some negative grooming experiences, you have to teach him to keep calm because there’s nothing that’s going to hurt him.
For the older dog that doesn’t like bathing, you should 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 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 giving him the water bath, give him lots of praise, hugs, and even occasional treats to show him that you’re impressed with his behavior. A major 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 force him too far or too quickly, and if he gets nervous, stop what you’re doing as soon as possible.
There’s a reason that dogs demonstrate aggression. They’re warning you that you have 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 hire a professional. Your vet will be glad 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 abound where for a price you can have licensed professional groomers wash, brush, and clip your dog for you. Once again, let them know up front about your dog’s aversion to grooming.
Tags: Aggression In Dogs, aggressive dogs, Ancestors, Bloodlines, Centuries, Control, Different Reasons, dog aggression, dog owners, Instincts, Lot, Lot Control, Measures, Nature, Pace, People, pet dogs, Pets, Selective Breeding, Social Situations, Sounds, Stranger, Types Of Aggression
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