DOG AGGRESSION

If your dog has aggression issues, you definitely need professional help. Don't be fooled by amateur and hobbyist dog trainers into believing group obedience classes will help. They almost always make it worse. Giving an aggressive or dominant dog food to train it is extremely dangerous.

Food-Bribery make many dogs aggressive and dominant.

Before you hire a dog trainer, show them this picture and ask if they can make a dog like this "Lay Down" and "Heel" during the first lesson. Aggressive dogs and big dogs terrify most Food-Bribery trainers.

Food-Bribery are the first to tell you to euthanize your aggressive dog, especially breeds like Rottweiler, Pit Bull, Chow Chow, Shar Pei, German Shepherd, Great Dane, Doberman Pinscher, Akita and Jack Russell Terrier.

Bribing with food makes many dogs even more dangerous to children.

Canine aggression and dominance almost always escalate. Please, for your own safety and the safety of others, call us now at (916) 927-7725 and we would be glad to discuss your situation and provide you a consultation at no cost.

Classes are dangerous and often make aggression worse.

Because aggression is complex, and because the potential consequences are so serious, we recommend that you get professional in-home dog training to control any aggressive behavior.

Hire the best dog trainer in your area if children are at risk.

Dog aggression is any behavior meant to intimidate or harm a person or another animal. Growling, baring teeth, snarling, snapping and biting are all aggressive behaviors. Although aggressive behaviors are normal for dogs, they’re generally unacceptable to humans. From a dog's perspective, there’s always a reason for aggressive behavior.

Dog training classes do virtually nothing for behavior problems at the home.

Dominance Aggression:
Dominance aggression is motivated by a challenge to a dog's social status or to his control of a social interaction. Dogs are social animals and view their human families as their social group or "pack." Based on the outcomes of social challenges among group members, a dominance hierarchy or "pecking order" is established.

If your dog perceives his own ranking in the hierarchy to be higher than yours, it’s likely that he’ll challenge you in certain situations. Because people don’t always understand canine communication, you may inadvertently challenge your dog's social position. A dominantly aggressive dog may growl if he is disturbed when resting or sleeping, or if he is asked to give up a favorite spot, such as the couch or the bed. Physical restraint, even when done in a friendly manner, like hugging, may also cause your dog to respond aggressively. Reaching for your dog's collar, or reaching out over his head to pet him, could also be interpreted by him as a challenge for dominance. Dominantly aggressive dogs are often described as "Jekyll and Hydes" because they can be very friendly when not challenged. Dominance aggression may be directed at people or at other animals. The most common reason for dogs in the same family to fight with each other is instability in the dominance hierarchy.

What is the likelihood of your dog getting trained in the aisle of a pet shop or at the park with ten other dogs lunging and snapping at him or her?

Fear-Motivated Aggression:
Fear-motivated aggression is a defensive reaction and occurs when a dog believes he is in danger of being harmed. Remember that it’s your dog's perception of the situation, not your actual intent, which determines your dog’s response. For example, you may raise your arm to throw a ball, but your dog, perceiving this to be a threat, may bite you because he believes he is protecting himself from being hit. A dog may also be fearfully aggressive when approached by other dogs.

All it takes is one dog attack in a group class to make your dog dog-aggressive for life.

Protective, Territorial And Possessive Aggression:
Protective, territorial and possessive aggression are all very similar, and involve the defense of valuable resources. Territorial aggression is usually associated with defense of property. However, your dog's sense of territory may extend well past the boundaries of "his" yard. For example, if you walk your dog regularly around the neighborhood and allow him to urine-mark, to him, his territory may be the entire block! Protective aggression usually refers to aggression directed toward people or animals that a dog perceives as threats to his family, or pack. Dogs become possessively aggressive when defending their food, toys or other valued objects, such as Kleenex stolen from the trash!

If you love your dog enough, almost always we can help you to keep him. Call us before you decide to destroy your dog.

Redirected Aggression:
This type of aggression is relatively common, but is a behavior that pet owners may not always understand. If a dog is aroused into an aggressive response by a person or animal that he is prevented from attacking, he may redirect this aggression onto someone else. A common example occurs when two family dogs become excited, bark and growl in response to another dog passing through the front yard. The two dogs, confined behind a fence, may turn and attack each other because they can’t attack the intruder. Predation is usually considered to be a unique kind of aggressive behavior, because it’s motivated by the intent to obtain food, and not primarily by the intent to harm or intimidate.

Dogs differ in their likelihood to show aggressive behavior in any particular situation. Some dogs tend to respond aggressively with very little stimulation. Others may be subjected to all kinds of threatening stimuli and events, and never attempt to bite. The difference in this threshold at which a dog displays aggressive behavior is influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. If this threshold is low, a dog will be more likely to bite. Raising the threshold makes a dog less likely to respond aggressively. This threshold can be raised using behavior modification techniques. How easily the threshold can be changed is influenced by the dog's gender, age, breed, general temperament, and by whether the appropriate behavior modification techniques are chosen and correctly implemented. Working with aggressive dogs can be potentially dangerous, and should be done only by, or under the guidance of, an experienced animal behavior professional who understands animal learning theory and behavior.

• First check with your veterinarian to rule out medical causes for the aggressive behavior.
• Seek professional help. An aggression problem will not go away by itself. Working with aggression problems requires in-home help from an animal behavior specialist. Call us at (916) 927-7725
• Take precautions. Your first priority is to keep everyone safe. Supervise, confine and/or restrict your dog’s activities until you can obtain professional help. You’re liable for your dog’s behavior. If you must take your dog out in public, consider a cage-type muzzle as a temporary precaution, and keep in mind that some dogs can get a muzzle off.
• Avoid exposing your dog to situations where he is more likely to show aggression. You may need to keep him confined to a safe room and limit his people-contact.
• If your dog is possessive of food, treats or a certain place, don’t allow him access to those items. In an emergency, bribe him with something better than what he has. For example, if he steals your shoe, trade him the shoe for a piece of chicken.
• Spay or neuter your dog. Intact dogs are more likely to display dominance, territorial and protective aggressive behavior.

• Enroll in a dog training class.
• Punishment won’t help and, in fact, will make the problem worse. If the aggression is motivated by fear, punishment will make your dog more fearful, and therefore more aggressive. Attempting to punish or dominate a dominantly aggressive dog is likely to cause him to escalate his behavior in order to retain his dominant position. This is likely to result in a bite or a severe attack. Punishing territorial, possessive or protective aggression is likely to elicit additional defensive aggression.
• Don’t encourage aggressive behavior. Playing tug-of-war or wrestling games encourages your dog to attempt to "best" you or "win" over you, which can result in the beginning of a dominance aggression problem. When dogs are encouraged to "go get 'em" or to bark and dash about in response to outside noises or at the approach of a person, territorial and protective aggressive behavior may be the result.

Dogs don't become aggressive overnight. In many cases, there is "handwriting on the wall", weeks, months, or even years prior to a dog's first serious bite. Unfortunately, many dog owners do not realize that warning signs such as growling, snapping or "nipping", often escalate into biting behavior over time. Dog training classes often make dogs aggressive who have never had problems before. The best trainers come to your home and won't endanger you, your dog, or other people and their dogs in group classes.

Adapted from Dumb Friends League literature.

Call us if other dog trainers tell you that your dog can't be trained.

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San Francisco Bay Area
707-738-0997
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