Today’s domesticated dogs have a lot of wild behaviors 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 happened over the centuries which has tamed a lot of the aggression in dogs; however, the ability to attack and cause harm is just as real now as it was with your dog’s ancestors. It’s a dog’s instinct to be aggressive, and nothing people have been able to do has completely eradicated this tendency. Therefore, it’s up to us as doting dog owners to learn to help our aggressive dogs deal with a trait that is a natural part of them.
As humans we command a lot of control over the aggression in our animals. Even if your dog does begin exhibiting some aggression, you can take measures to understand what’s happening and defuse it without much trouble. With dogs, there are a number of types of aggression. Two of the most usual types are dog aggression shown to strangers and that shown to members of your family. Who cares who the dog’s aggression is being aimed at? Why would we desire to waste time defining two types of aggression? Essentially, 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 presence of strangers is simple to observe. You know your dog well, so you’ll know when he gets extremely nervous by watching him pace constantly, bark, whine, and be startled by the smallest of sounds. Or, on the other hand, if he becomes very tense, staying in one place and never taking his eyes off the the strange person, be it the mailman, a friend, or someone walking down the street. Some dogs just don’t adjust quickly to people they don’t know. They’d rather be around people they are used to and who they feel at ease with. Usually this happens because they haven’t been spent time in a lot of social situations so that they can adjust 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 used to being with both strange animals and people. You may have never thought about it prior to this, but this is an important priority for you to include when training your dog. Beginning at a very young age, shortly after he’s had all of his shots, he must be exposed to a large variety of different people, surroundings, animals, and experiences. By doing this, you’re teaching your dog right from the beginning that meeting new people and trying new experiences is both safe and enjoyable. You want to make sure you slowly introduce him to all types of people: the toddler 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 an adult and then trying to relieve his fears by petting him and telling him it’s fine just isn’t going to cut it.
How can you accomplish socializing your puppy so that he won’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 gather with at least one qualified trainer who will start teaching the puppies the important obedience commands, such as sit and stay. You’ll like the fact that your puppy is learning obedience, but there’s an even more important benefit to attending these classes. Not only will your puppy develop happy thoughts about a trip to the vet’s office, but he’ll also enjoy play sessions during the classes during which can be off-leash and play 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 variety of strange dogs while being introduced 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 imagine that puppy preschool is the lifelong solution to aggressive behavior, however. Socialization is an on-going process that you will have to work on throughout your dog’s life. No matter how old he is, he will always benefit from visiting to new places and being in the vicinity of new people. The key is never to overwhelm him. Start slowly, with or without puppy preschool, and gradually raise the stimulus he’s exposed to.
There are two basic reasons that dogs demonstrate aggression towards those living in your household. One is that he’s protecting 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 seem to be a large problem, does it, because you realize you aren’t trying to take away his things, 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 uncomfortable with the way you and other family members are treating or handling him.
At this point, your dog is demonstrating a trait that is common amongst dogs and which is known as resource guarding. This trait may include being overly-protective of his things, snarling at you if you come close to 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 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 are able to 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 tense over the ownership of a possession? In order to find an answer for this question, we once again need to look at the origins of dog behavior. Originally, dogs were part of a pack which is a very hierarchical community. Within this pack, 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 hierarchy of power, and, therefore, knows whether he should stay out of 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 perceives 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-important. He’s going to act like the king 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 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 in command. 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 try to take whatever he opts to have.
So how should you react when your dog starts demonstrating aggressive behaviors that show he considers himself the highest-ranking dog of the pack? The answer is that you must repetitively work on his obedience training, and do it frequently. These sessions will help him to understand that you, in fact, are the dominant member of the pack. Give him two 15-minute lessons a day, and he’ll soon learn 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 rewards to reinforce the behavior you’re after. 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 knowledgeable aboutany subject you’re involved with, so take a little time to get some of the basics about dog psychology and ways to communicate with your dog. When you start conductingsessions with your pooch, keep them short and focused. As you undoubtedly already know, most dogs aren’t going to give you a chance to be lovey-dovey with them. In their experience, 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 achieved the stature of the superior being in the pack. If a dog wasn’t wasn’t allowed to become used to a lot of physical contact as a puppy, he isn’t going to feel comfortable with it as an adult. If anyone tries to hug him, he’s going to become tense and show dog aggression. If your dog’s aggressive behavior is out of control and you don’t feel qualified to do the training yourself, you need to think about finding a dog trainer to accomplish the task for you.
Another 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 in grooming are bathing and nail-clipping. Many dogs freak out when faced with being held and bathed. Pet owners have problems coping when their perfect pet suddenly gets all excited and upset in the midst of a bath. They often resort to more restraints which only makes the problem worse. More restraint will mean more excitement, and the dog will once again conclude that having a bath is a bad experience to be avoided if at all possible. He may even believe he needs to defend 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 far and sever the blood vessel that runs inside the claw. When this occurs, it means a lot of pain for the dog and makes him even more leery of those nail clippers.
If your dog is one of these pets that is scared during grooming sessions, you might be wondering if he can be altered in order to make the sessions more comfortable for everyone involved. Although it’s much less difficult to begin when your dog is a young puppy, it isn’t impossible. If you’re beginning with a puppy, make sure you afford him a lot of touching and rubbing all over his body so that he’ll grow to enjoy being handled. Older dogs that were never given this type of cuddling as puppies have a much more difficult time adjusting to being touched. With your older dog’s aversion to clippers, start by taking hold of one of his paws and touching the clippers to it. Show him that clippers don’t usually mean pain. Since he’s likely to have already had some less than positive grooming experiences, you must teach him to stay calm because nothing is going to hurt him.
For the adult dog that doesn’t like bathing, you need to practice the bathing procedure with him making it an enjoyable experience for him. Put him in the warm bathtub if that’s an option. If you need to take him outdoors, don’t do it during cold weather. He won’t learn to enjoy a bath by being sprayed with icy-cold water. While you’re administering the water bath, give him lots of praise, patting, and even occasional treats to show him that you’re pleased with his behavior. A key factor in these practice sessions is to give 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 fast, and if he gets agitated, stop what you’re doing right away.
There’s a reason that dogs show 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 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 can be an aggressive dog during clipping times so that your vet will take precautions because of 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 dislike of 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: how to stop a dog from digging.