Aggression is instinctive to dogs. Survival in the wild required the evolution of this trait over many centuries. Many centuries of selective breeding techniques have reduced dog aggression traits. Below are some reasons why your dog could be displaying aggressive behaviour.
Why is my dog aggressive?
Factors such as lack of exposure to other people and dogs as well as dominance are the most common causes of dog aggression.
Stranger aggression:
Caution and wariness are natural behaviours for dogs. If your dog isn't used to being in unfamiliar situations it may become quite on edge around strangers and new environments. You are responsible for making sure your dog is exposed to new experiences in a positive way. Browse our Review of Dog Training Zone for help to train aggressive dogs.
What can I do about it?
From a young age your dog needs to be socialised in order to feel relaxed in unusual situations. In your choice of experiences include other people, places and animals. Experience will teach your dog how much fun other places, people and animals can be. Socialising your dog doesn't need to be worrying. You might want to begin with puppy pre-school. Exposure to new people and other dogs will increase your confidence about where you can take your dog. Your dog will continue to need socialisation, to stay stranger friendly.
Aggression around family members:
When dogs feel they need to protect something that is theirs, they can react aggressively towards their family members. This is called resource guarding. Resource guarding usually appears as snarling, growling or over possessiveness. This sort of aggression is a result of a dominance problem. Pack animals such as dogs need to know who is the head of the pack. Dogs are used to structure and are ranked according to a hierarchy of position and power in relation to everyone in their family or pack. Since your dog does not have a dog family, it will rank itself against its human family and this ranking will tell it how to behave at all times. If your dog is behaving aggressively then it perceives itself to be at the top of the pack. If your dog behaves in a submissive/passive way it perceives its self to be ranked lower than other family members and wouldn't dare growl or snarl if you approached during eating or if you took away a toy. The message to your dog must be clear, that you are the boss and your dog is a lower ranking member of the pack.
What can I do about my dogs aggressive behavior?
Rebuild your authority with your dog by regular and consistent obedience training work. Keep your training sessions short for effective behavior modification and control. Make each training session enjoyable: play a game by giving your dog lots of praise, pats and treats when it has worked well with you.
More information about handling aggressive and dominant behaviors, as well as detailed information on a host of other common dog behavior problems, can be found at Secrets to Dog Training. Browse an in-depth look at Daniels Stevens Secrets to Dog Training at DogHelpdesk.com
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