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Posts Tagged ‘aggressive dog behavior’

Are you just plain fed up?  Does feeding your dog turn into a nightmare of aggressive dog behavior if anyone in the household comes near him while he’s eating?  If your pooch is displaying food aggression in dogs, this serious dog behavior problem needs to be stopped before your dog attacks you or someone in your family.

Dog Food Aggression Is Instinctive Behavior For Canines

Dogs in the wild protect their food, their mates, and their territory.  Aggressive behavior in dogs is necessary for their survival.  The most aggressive dog is the pack leader, or alpha male, and he enforces his position by being the dominant dog in the pack. 

However, your dog shouldn’t be the pack leader in your home.  If he is, you’re in for trouble, because he thinks he’s the alpha male, and like he would in the wild, he’ll enforce his position by using aggressive dog behavior.  This is a dominance issue that won’t go away on its own.  You must take steps to deal with his aggressive behavior before it reaches a dangerous level.

Causes of Food Aggression In Dogs

Many people think that a puppy who is aggressively guarding his food is cute.  Don’t do it!  This is a serious training mistake many dog owners make.  Instead of encouraging this kind of canine possession aggression, you need to nip this problem in the bud.

Your dog’s understanding of exactly who leads the pack is confused.In your dog’s way of thinking, if you don’t take the role of the alpha male (even if your female), there’s a leadership vacuum.  If you don’t step into the role, he will.  And he won’t be nice about enforcing his position in your household.

He thinks he can take whatever he want from anyone else in the pack because he thinks he’s the pack leader.  The reality is that the family dog should be at the bottom of the heap, not the top.  Anyone in the household should be able to take anything away from him, even his food.  Of course, you’re not really going to do this, but he needs to know where he stands in your household pack. 

Dog Food Aggression Training

With a puppy, you’ll make it clear that having people or other animals around when he’s eating is OK.  Do this right from the beginning, and you’ll probably never have a problem with this type of aggressive dog behavior.  Anyone in the family should be able to safely stand right next to him at any time while he’s eating.  If this isn’t the case, you need to take control of his food.

It’s always a good idea to feed your dog after you and your family have finished eating.  Your dog will instinctively understand that the alpha dog always eats first.This teachers your dog exactly where he ranks in the family is in relation to everyone else.

Require that your dog sit and stay quietly while you’re fixing his food.  If he whines and jumps around and demands food, don’t give in.  He needs to earn his food by behaving in a non-aggressive manner. 

Don’t ever give your dog food if he’s growling at you.  This only rewards his bad dog behavior.

If food aggression in dogs is already a serious problem in your household, a dog behavior course may be your next step.  Look for a course that includes a consultation with an experienced dog trainer, and that has a forum where you can get advice from other dog owners.

Now that you know what to do, don’t delay in taking steps to control dog food aggression.

Tell me, does this describe your dog?  He’s very attached to you, but is leery of strangers,  He may go as far as growling and snapping at unfamiliar people or dogs who get too close.  Friends say he’s a “one-person dog,” but actually he’s a shy or fearful dog.

It’s important to work on training shy dog before his behavior escalates to fear aggression in dogs.  This type of aggressive dog behavior is characterized at first by growling at people he doesn’t know, and can quickly progress to snapping and biting.

Why Is My Dog Shy?

Sometimes a dog is shy or fearful of strangers due to a bad experience somewhere along the line.  Some cases are due to genetics.  But most cases of shyness in dogs are caused by one thing; neglecting to socialize a puppy in his first few months of life.  It’s also very important not to stop socializing your dog too soon, as many dogs go through a shy period around six months of age.

Are You Teaching Your Dog To Be Shy?

Speaking softly and reassuringly to your fearful dog in an attempt to calm him down is a mistake.First, you’re teaching him that hiding, growling, and even snapping at someone will be rewarded with your attention and praise. 

Second, listen to how your voice sounds when reassuring your pooch.Instead, it sounds like a dog’s whimper to your canine.Your dog understands the sound of your voice, even though he doesn’t understand your words.Your dog will become even more nervous about the stranger because he thinks your voice is a whimper.

Training Your Shy Dog

Socializing your dog when he’s a puppy is the best way to prevent your canine from becoming a shy dog.  He needs to be exposed to a wide variety of people, places, and dogs so that he can learn through experience that there’s nothing to be scared of.

If your canine friend is already a shy adult, it’s still possible to socialize your dog.  It takes longer, and you’ll need lots of patience, but  it can be done. 

The important thing to remember with training shy dog is not to rush him.  If you try to force him into socializing with unfamiliar people or dogs, all you’ll do is reinforce his belief that these things are scary.  Plus he may feel that he has no choice but to defend himself, which leads to aggressive dog behavior.

Don’t allow a stranger to approach your dog and try to pet him.Don’t be in a hurry; let your dog make the first move.  If he doesn’t want to, that’s fine.  If he’s hiding, don’t try to coax him out, as he’ll think you’re praising him for hiding out.

Ignore your dog when he acts shy or scared around strange people or dogs.  Keep him on his leash, and don’t let him get close enough to start displaying fear aggression in dogs.  Let him hang back and check out the situation from a distance.  When he’s ready, he’ll get closer on his own to the stranger.  This is when you praise him lavishly.

A Good Dog Training Course Can Work Wonders With A Shy Dog

You can see how easy it is to give your dog the wrong idea.  The fact is that dogs just don’t think like people do.  Understanding how your dog thinks is crucial to training shy dog properly. 

Investing in a good dog training course is essential.  You’ll want to find out what other dog owners who have used the course think of it.You’ll want to look for testimonials from dog owners who have used the course. 

You’ll also want to look for a course than includes a free consultation with an experienced dog trainer.  This benefit alone may pay for the cost of the course. 

Believe me, once your start to apply this advice, your problem with your fearful dog will be solved.

Visit No More Bad Dogs for resources to help your fearful dog.

Tell me, does this describe your dog?  Whenever somebody comes to your door, your dog puts on a big show of barking and acting brave, but all the time he’s backing up.He regards an unfamiliar person with mistrust and suspicion, and quickly runs off to a safe distance if the stranger gets too close.  These are signs of fear aggression in dogs.

If you don’t deal with this problem now, it will only get worse as your dog gets older.  In this article, we’ll take a look at what causes this type of aggressive behavior in dogs, and what to do about it.

Causes of Fear Aggression In Dogs

One of the main causes of this kind of canine aggression is a lack of socialization when your dog was younger.  If your dog doesn’t have lots of opportunities to interact with unfamiliar people and other dogs when he’s between the ages of three and twelve weeks, he’ll have a hard time trusting people and dogs he doesn’t know.  

Unfortunately, another reason for this fearful behavior is that your dog was abused at some point in his life.A dog that has suffered from abuse will need lots of love and time to overcome his mistrust and fearfulness.

Herding breeds are among the dog breeds that are prone to developing fearfulness.  This aggressive dog behavior tends to run in certain breed lines, too.  

Hormonal imbalances may be a factor.  A dog with borderline hypothyroidism (low thyroid hormones) may be anxious and fearful.  Thyroid treatment is helpful in these cases.

Will This Type of Fearful Canine Aggression Go Away On Its Own?

Unfortunately, no.  A fearful dog may learn that he can intimidate people by barking at them.  Once he figures out that this works very well, his behavior will get worse, especially around people who are scared of dogs anyway.  

A dog may be so successful in hiding his fearfulness with a veneer of aggression that it’s hard to tell that the fear is what’s driving his bad dog behaviors.

How Can I Train A Dog With Fear Aggression?

A reward-based technique is usually the best way to deal with aggressive behavior in dogs that’s caused by fear.  If your dog doesn’t like people, you need to figure out how to teach him that this stranger really does like dogs, and if you dog gets close to him, he’ll give your pup a treat.  

You need a volunteer for this, someone who’s very patient with dogs.  Have your friend sit in a chair and scatter dry food around it.Your dog can stay at a distance or get closer if he wants.Eventually, your dog will approach close enough to get the food.  

The next time, have your friend hold the kibble in his hand.  Be patient and let the dog come to him to get the treat.  Don’t pay any attention to the dog if he’s acting fearful.Don’t reward his bad dog behavior with your attention by either reassuring him or punishing him when he’s displaying fear-based aggression. When he gets close enough to get the food, that’s when you want to praise him.

You can see that dealing with fear aggression in dogs can be a long and difficult process.  A good dog training course can be a very helpful guide when working with a fearful dog.Choose a course that includes a free consultation with a dog trainer with years of experience.

Let’s face it, as a new dog owner, you probably haven’t thought too much about puppy socialization.  However, this is a very important part of dog training.  Many cases of canine aggression could have been prevented if the dog’s owner had only known how to socialize a puppy. 

Why Is It So Important To Socialize Your Dog?

When you expose your dog to lots of different people, different animals, and different places, he learns for himself that new sights, sounds, and people are fun, not scary. 

You’ll want to start socializing your dog while he’s still a youngster.  You may not know that the best age to socialize a puppy is when he’s between the ages of three and twelve weeks.  A young dog who has good experiences with new people, other dogs, and even cats will be much friendlier and less fearful of people.  This helps to prevent aggressive dog behavior towards strangers when he gets older.

Remember that it’s never to late to socialize your dog.  It may take a little longer with an older dog, but you can still use canine socialization in order to help your pooch overcome a fear of strangers and be a happier, more trustworthy friend.

What’s The Best Way To Socialize A Puppy?

Actually it’s not that difficult to socialize your dog, if you’re willing to make a little effort.

Many dog trainers suggest a puppy preschool.  This is a series of group-training classes for puppies and their owners.  Usually there are about 10 puppies and their people, along with a couple of dog trainers.  During these classes, the puppies start to learn basic dog obedience commands like sit, stay, and others.

Your pup will learn more than just basic obedience lessons at puppy preschool.  The play sessions are where your puppy learns essential social skills.While the play sessions are going on, the puppies will be taken off their leashes and allowed to play with each other.  Why is this important?

First, your puppy is learning how to interact with other dogs. 

Second, since there are other dog owners and a couple of dog trainers present, this means lots of unfamiliar people, too.  This is a great way for your puppy to learn not to be afraid of new people.

Third, it’s a controlled environment.  The dog trainers make sure things don’t get too wild.

Don’t Stop Puppy Socialization Too Soon

Many dog owners make the mistake of thinking that since their dog has been to puppy preschool, their puppy is now socialized.  This mistaken idea can lead to problems later on. 

It’s important to continue to expose your young dog to new faces, new animals, and new places.  Sometimes puppies who seemed to be well socialized at a younger age “forget” those early lessons.  By the time your dog is between eight months and two years old, he may become fearful of people and start showing canine aggression towards strangers.

Here’s some food for thought:  even though your puppy has learned basic skills during his first few months, it’s important to keep reinforcing puppy socialization lessons throughout your dog’s life.

Are you just plain fed up with the aggressive dog behavior your pooch is displaying?  Join the crowd.  Aggressive behavior in dogs is the most serious dog behavior problem that you’ll face as a dog owner.  

However, canine aggression is preventable if you understand why your dog develops aggressive behavior.  Read on to learn more about this common problem.

Your Dog’s Aggressive Nature Is Instinctive

Aggression is a valuable behavior in the wild.  A dog needs to be aggressive in order to hunt for its food.  It also needs to be able to defend its kill from other animals.  An aggressive dog also defends its territory and its mate.

In the centuries since dogs were domesticated, people have selectively bred most aggressive tendencies out of dogs, but a few do remain. And since dog do have sharp teeth capable of doing people serious harm, it’s necessary to recognize aggressive behavior in dogs and deal with it effectively.

It’s often news to many dog owners that there is more than one kind of aggression in dogs.  The two most common are aggression towards strangers and aggression towards family members.It’s necessary to deal with these two types of aggression in canines in a different manner because they are caused by different things.

Aggression Towards Strangers

This type of dog behavior is very easy to recognize.  You dog may react in one of two ways:

He’ll act nervous and will be jumpy, startling at the smallest sound.You’ll notice agitated behavior, including acting fidgety, pacing around, and barking or whining.

Or, on the other extreme, he’ll be very quiet, sitting in one place without moving, while staring hard at whatever it is he’s suspicious of — whether it’s a visitor or your unsuspecting mail carrier.

The main reason a dog is aggressive around strangers is because he’s not used to them.It’s necessary for your dog to learn that strangers aren’t alway something bad.

Aggression Towards Family Members

Your dog may show canine aggression towards members of your family for two reasons.  

The first reason is that he’s defending something he thinks belongs to him from something or someone he considers a threat.This behavior is called “resource guarding”.  

In the wild, only the dominant individual acts aggressively to guard resources.  So obviously, your dog thinks he’s the pack leader, not you, when he displays this kind of aggressive dog behavior.

The second reason is that he’s unhappy about how you, or somebody in the family, is treating him.  

Discover How To Handle Aggression In Dogs

You don’t have to be at the mercy of your dog, and you shouldn’t be.  If your dog uses aggressive dog behavior to control you and get his way, this is a very unhealthy situation, as well as being potentially dangerous.  There are many emergency room visits every year because of dog bites.  You don’t want this happening to you or a member of your family, or anyone else your dog interacts with.

It’s possible for you to learn how to handle aggressive behavior in dogs.  You need a dog obedience course which includes a complete owner’s guide to rearing and training your dog to prevent canine aggression.  Be sure to read testimonials from other dog owners who have purchased the course to see how satisfied they are with the material.

Do yourself and your dog a favor and learn more about controlling aggression in dogs.

Let me ask you a simple question.  Do you know how important it is to socialize your dog?  Do you even know what socializing your dog is?You need to understand how this basic principle of dog training can prevent aggression in dogs later in your pup’s life.

What Does Socializing Your Dog Mean?

Actually, it’s pretty simple.  What you’re doing is getting your dog accustomed to strangers, both human and animal.  It also includes taking your dog lots of places so that he’s used to different environments. 

This process can be so much fun that most people don’t take it seriously.  But if your dog hasn’t been socialized properly, he may become timid and fearful.If your puppy scares easily, he’ll be prone to developing dog behavior problems that take a lot of work to get rid of. Aggression toward strangers can lead to biting people, while aggression toward other animals leads to fights with other dogs.

Fear Aggression In Dogs

If your pooch is not exposed to lots of different people when he’s between the ages of three and twelve weeks, he may develop fear aggression in dogs as he gets older.  This is characterized by him displaying suspicion and mistrust around people he doesn’t know. 

A dog that shows a lot of fear around strangers when he’s very young has a good chance of becoming fear aggressive as he gets older.  If your pup backs away from strangers while barking at them, this is a tip-off for you that this condition could be his problem.  In this case, you really need to concentrate on getting your dog used to other people.

Aggression Towards Other Animals

If your dog is not friendly towards other dogs, he probably doesn’t know how to interact with other canines.  This is because he never learned the proper social skills as a puppy. 

Sometimes a dog owner unknowingly causes aggression between strange dogs.  If you tighten the leash and pull your dog closer every time you see a strange canine, you’re communicating your unease to your dog.  If this happens repeatedly, your dog learns to get tense whenever another dog gets close.  He wants the other dog to stay at a distance, so your dog growls and barks at the stranger to accomplish this.

Plus, tightening the leash tells your dog that he can’t run away.  The only option he has left is to fight.  Pulling back on his leash also forces him to lean forward on his front feet.  The other dog may think he’s being threatened, and the result can be a dog fight.

Socializing Your Dog Prevents Aggressive Dog Behavior

You can see that neglecting to socialize your dog at a young age can lead to many dog behavior problems as he gets older.  It’s important to expose your pup to a wide variety of people to be sure he doesn’t develop fear aggression in dogs when he’s around strangers. 

Even more important is to make sure your young puppy has plenty of opportunity to interact with other pups.  This is how he learns to be a dog, and how to behave around other dogs.

You may inadvertently be training your dog to be aggressive towards other dogs by your own behavior. 

Now that you have this information, you can take steps to socialize your dog properly to prevent aggressive dog behavior.