If done right, aggressive dog training can reduce or eliminate your dog’s aggressive behavior and make him a pleasure to be around. If you own an aggressive dog there’s always a chance his behavior could be responsible for an injury to you or others around you.
Signs of an aggressive dog include snarling and snapping, baring teeth, growling, and even biting. Many people see this behavior in their dogs but never give any thought to what the underlying reasons might be. Let’s take a look at some reasons for aggression in dogs.
One form of aggression in dogs is called territorial aggression. As you might have guessed, this form can come from seeing his territory as something he owns. Dogs will aggressively defend what they believe to be theirs, so anyone thought to be intruding will be treated with aggression.
Another form of dog aggression is dominance. While this behavior is mostly towards other animals, they do try to show dominance towards humans as well. Dogs are pack animals, and they sometimes see their family as the pack and try to establish their position as the alpha dog.
Other types of aggression include fear aggression and also aggression for some sort of medical reason. Understanding why your dog is being aggressive is half the battle towards solving the aggression problem.
Training for any dog, and especially an aggressive one, is best done when he is just a puppy. It’s easier to establish good behavior patterns than it is to break bad habits. One aggressive dog training method is to stop the nipping and biting behavior by giving your puppy a time out. This is done by firmly stating “NO” and then isolating the puppy in a room by himself for about one minute. Your pup will eventually get the idea.
Trainers also recommend that playing tug-of-war with an aggressive dog is not the right thing to do. By turning his aggressive behavior into play time, it gives the dog the signal that it’s okay to be aggressive.
If your dog is aggressive when he sees other dogs, some trainers recommend that you give the dog a treat to take his mind off the other dogs. You can even follow up with a bit of praise. If this is done over and over enough times, your dog will begin to associate the sight of other dogs with yummy treats. Eventually, he will lose his aggressive behavior.
Experts also agree that severe punishment, especially physical punishment, is not recommended to correct aggressive dog behavior. This sort of treatment will only serve to make the dog fearful of you and other people, and perhaps trigger fear aggression as well.
Aggressive dog training, like all dog training, takes time and patience. If you make a commitment to training your new dog, you will be rewarded with a pup that is gentle, loving, and a joy to be around.
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