Is Your Dog Too Aggressive?

Keep calm and read on!

Preventing Aggression In Your Dog

The well-know expression ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ is well heeded advice when it comes to raising a behaviourally healthy pet dog. The exercises below are designed to lower the probability of your dog biting in typical scenarios where the dog is likely to do just that. A dog that has a history of acting aggressively is a dog that will require extensive rehabilitation. Rehabilitating a dog that bites or threatens to do so is extremely time intensive and costly to both dog and owner, but particulary to the dog, as most biting dogs are eventually euthanized.

Think of these exercises as investing in your dog’s temperament. With temperament training, the exercises are specifically developed to condition your dog to have a positive response to what dogs usually dislike. Make no mistake, every puppy is a potential biter. Ask any owner of an aggressive dog and they will tell you that ‘he was fine as a puppy’. These exercises are to be practiced daily and are suitable for the developing young puppy and also for the adult dog.

Object exchanges
Teach your dog to not only be relaxed about having his valuables taken away but to actively like it! Exchange any object your dog has in his possession with a tasty treat, then give the object back and repeat the sequence. Plan on rehearsing this exercise several times a day.

Handling/touch
Condition your dog to enjoy all manner of touch and handling. Ease of handling is especially important for dogs that require routine grooming, or live in proximity to children. Begin by hand feeding him a portion of his meals or small treats while you touch his paws, eyes, tail, ears and touch/open his mouth. Practice this mini vet exam daily so that your dog is more relaxed and can be handled easily by your vet/groomer.

Catch and release
Teach your dog that people (even strangers) reaching for his collar is actually a fun game. All too often dogs learn to avoid having their collars grabbed and in an emergency this could prove to be disastrous. Here’s how it works: get a handful of treats/dry dog food, approach your dog, gently reach and take him by the collar and offer him a piece of food. Release him and practice again a few seconds later. Have all family members and friends practice this exercise too. 10+ grabs daily is ideal.

Food bowl exercises
Prevent your dog from becoming possessive about his food bowl by proactively addressing this very preventable behaviour. Feed him his meals in a heavy traffic area such as the kitchen where there is plenty of activity. Hang around or sit next to him while he is eating. Randomly at each feeding add tasty additions to his bowl so that he receives extra bonuses when people are near his food bowl. This will condition him to like having people near him when he is eating.