Do You Have an Aggressive Puppy
When you first get that bundle of love the last think on your mind is that you have an aggressive puppy. Sometimes owners don’t even see that their puppy has aggressive behavior; they’re just a playful puppy, right? However, a responsible dog owner needs to take these behaviors seriously, and take adequate steps to get their aggressive puppy under control.
What makes your puppy aggressive?
Dominance Aggression can be displayed when a dog is feeling out of control in their social environment. If they want to have a different social position, they may challenge you or others. To do this your dog may growl when you try to direct them to do something they don’t want to do. They may also change their demeanor at the drop of a hat.
Fear-Motivated Aggression will show through when a dog feels threatened or scared. Often a dog with this type of aggression may misinterpret harmless motions like reaching out to pet them. Your dog might see that movement as a threat that you’re going to hit him.
Territorial Aggression can be displayed when your dog wants to protect his territory. This also comes into play with their food and they exhibit “guarding”.
Protective Aggression is when the dog is very protective of his “pack,” essentially you. This happens when the dog sees himself as the alpha or the leader, and not you. Though aggression can be tough to deal with there are some ways to work through it. The most important thing is not to panic when your dog shows those signs. Instead, take a breath and remember these important tips:
* Do not think that by confining your dog you will break them of their aggressive tendencies. Being confined can lead to boredom, and dogs that have been shut away and are bored are often the ones that snap. They have so much energy that they haven’t been able to get out of their system. Instead, make sure that you give your special pet plenty of exercise. Play with them, walk them, get them moving, and that can greatly reduce puppy aggression.
* Don’t ever hit your puppy as a response to their aggression. Answering aggression with aggression does nothing but reinforce the negative behavior and teach the dog that it’s okay to react physically. Instead, you need to use a strong voice and gently nudge the dog or pull on the back of the neck to correct their aggressive behavior. You are not trying to inflict pain on the dog, but instead, you’re just trying to snap him out of his current state of mind.
* Probably the most important thing about preventing aggression in your dog is to start training them adequately from an early age. Instill positive core behaviors in your puppy with proper training.
There are great resources out there to give you even more tips and tools to help you train your dog to keep from succumbing to aggressive tendencies. With a little bit of research and effort your sweet puppy will stay your sweet puppy.
If you want to know more about dog training, please visit: Dog Training Book for more information.
Safe Puppy Training
Puppy training can and should begin the day you bring your puppy home, but only if it’s approached in a safe manner for your puppy and his sensitivities. Housetraining your puppy can be a rewarding and non-stressful experience when you shape behavior from a series of positive experiences, instead of attempting to correct unwanted behaviors before your puppy has a chance to learn what you DO want.
Trying to teach your dog what NOT to do is not conducive to healthy, reliable learning. Your puppy must have the opportunity to learn the behaviors that you DO want which will be incompatible with behaviors that you don’t want.
Never say, “No” or yell the word “Nooo!” if your dog doesn’t understand something while training, and/or fails to perform on cue. Simply try the exercise again and if that doesn’t work, go back to a previous step. Many times you will need to settle for rewarding just a partial behavior and work up in steps from there until the whole behavior is performed.
Here’s an example. You catch your dog chewing your $90 shoes. By running over and screaming, “No!” you’ve done one of two things:
1. You’ve either rewarded him for chewing by giving him attention; this is especially true if you give chase while he’s running with your shoes; or
2. You’ve scared the bejeebers out of him and he learns that it’s not safe to relieve stress and/or sore teeth and gums when you are present. Therefore he must do it when you’re gone in order to keep himself safe and not upset you. The dog has no malice in these actions, he’s just following instinct.
This applies to crate training as well, (if the crate is introduced and used appropriately), in that it can prevent accidents from happening during the housetraining process while repeatedly giving your puppy the opportunity to be successful at eliminating outdoors. His repeated success builds his confidence and instills in his mind that the outdoors is the only place to even consider eliminating.
This kind of housetraining is not based on fear, which inhibits the learning proccess but on repeated successes. This makes the desired behavior more reliable and the puppy more confident and able to learn.
Training your puppy using positive reinforcement and other healthy behavior shaping techniques insures that his puppy training will not negatively affect his personality. This type of healthy interaction with your puppy during his first year will enable you to build a cooperative bond and to have a well mannered but confident companion by the time he reaches maturity.
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Marilyn Burnham was the owner operator of 4 successful dog grooming stores in British Columbia, Canada for more than a decade. To spend more time with her children Marilyn made the decision to sell her business in the mid 90’s. Get a copy of her book: ‘Dog Owners Boot Camp’ The How To Guide, Dog Training Secrets Professional Dog Trainers Don’t Want You To Know!
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