How Effective Dog Training Deals With Aggression

Crate training should be used to properly house train your dog. You may also want to familiarize your dog with the crate for those times when he will be travelling with you on a airplane for instance. The idea is to confine the dog to the crate for a short period of time, lets say 1 hour. Upon release from the crate you should take the dog outside to allow him to do his business. If the dog does his business then a reward in the form of a healthy dog treat or lavishing them with affection is in order. Once again, we see here good behavior associated with reward. Quick pointers here, always be at home when using the crate, do not lock the dog in the crate overnight, make sure the dog is comfortable in the crate. Never allow the crate to be seen as a form of punishment for your dog. Dogs react instinctively and as such, should not be shouted at or beaten for doing what comes naturally. Always bear this in mind when your dog has done something which we humans just do not understand. There is usually some good dog reason for doing whatever he has

You can also watch YouTube to see what people have done to aggressive dogs to make them calm and submissive. Change your approach to get the results you need.

You want your dog to understand that you are the person to look to when they question what is right or wrong. This is done by being firm, yet kind with the dog. You don't want your dog to listen to you out of fear, but out of respect. Setting boundaries is very important in gaining respect. Sit down

A dog that has negative or very little socialization may not know what to do in a positive social situation and may become aggressive towards the people in the situation. A dog that has lots of positive socialization tends to have more people skills and is likely to be more friendly to new people and other animals (The Star). Attitude is another cause of animal aggression. When people give positive attitudes towards animals, the animals tend to give a positive attitude or behavior back. When someone has a negative attitude towards an animal or to something they are protective of, like a mom’s puppies, they tend to protect themselves or others by being aggressive (The Star).

Dogs simply need to spend time with other dogs as well as, become accustomed to different people. Pit Bulls tend to be sensitive and get their feelings hurt easily, so in essence with the proper care they tend to be very friendly, even with strangers so they don’t make the best guard dog (BadRap). They also have tendencies to excel with bomb detection, and as therapeutic aids because they are highly intelligent along with having tendencies to live playful lives (BadRap). Severe shyness, fearfulness, and directed human aggression is not desirable in any dog (BadRap). Human aggression is something that I firmly believe leads to the dog having an extreme aggressive behavior. Although, people have named these dogs as the face of an aggressive dog “problem”, they are using them for banned actions. Dogfighting has become illegal in all fifty states; Pit Bulls were put into this type of situation by their owners and the media capitalized on it through stereotypical images and myths that dragged the image of the breed down (BadRap). A well-known case of dogfighting would go back to Michael Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels.

There are aggressive dogs in any breed of dog and all breeds of dogs are capable of becoming dangerous in the wrong hands. The factors that cause dangerous dogs include:

If they witness any concerning behaviors such as growling, biting, food aggression, or aggressive behaviors toward other dogs they will make supervisors aware. At that point, we will assess the dog individually in as many different situations as possible (interaction with men and women, how do they act in the cage versus outside, allowing them to be near another dog in a controlled environment, can we touch tail, paws, mouth, etc.) to see if they react to any of the stimuli. We do not have anyone with a degree in Animal Behavior on our staff, so we are not able to do what is considered a full “Behavior Evaluation,” but between all the staff there are many years of experience working with animals of all types and we use this experience and best judgement to determine if the dog has aggressive tendencies to the best of our abilities. One downside to our evaluations is it is very hard to replicate some experiences a dog may be placed into in the “real world” that cannot be replicated in the shelter setting, so there is always the possibility that even though we evaluated the dog still could show aggression due to a certain unknown

Firstly, it is important for owners to socialize their pets with other pets and humans at a youthful age. For example, Ariana Huemer, Author of Scapegoats and Underdogs shares a veterinarian formerly employed by HSUS, Leslie Sinclair’s, knowledge “A lot of pit bulls involved in attacks have never had the chance to be around people.” (Huemer). Thus, social isolation has devastating effects upon an animals behavior. Secondly, how the owner himself socializes with others will rub off on the dog.

As I stated before, Pit bulls and Rottweilers are not more prone to aggression than other dog breeds. In order to prove this, a comparative journal, written by experienced doctors of veterinary medicine, studied the difference in aggression levels of a “nonaggressive” dog

Rather, it is the dog owners who should take full responsibility for their dog’s actions and by having breed-specific legislation take effect in the law, it causes awareness that prosecution is possible and causes owners to take regulations and follow rules in order to reduce detriment in their society and should be followed at all costs. Strongly enforced dog control laws such as leash laws, generic guidelines for dealing with dangerous dogs and increased public education efforts to promote responsible dog ownership are all positive ways to protect communities from aggressive

Instead, they train dogs for aggression using abusive methods that produce high-strung animals with poor impulse control, a low bite threshold, and no ability to calm down once excited. The dogs are then sold on the cheap at prices under

Proper praise ‘Good Boy’ and proper scolding ‘NO!” will make sure your dog grows up to be well behaved.

The dog would be fearful that they would get yelled at, grabbed, shaken, or even smacked. Times since then have definitely changed and now, we use toys, treats, etc. Before, we “motivated our dogs to avoid being bad.” ( Pippa:How To Motivate Your Dog) We now use motivators that the dogs want, rather than what they are afraid of. Respect (although sounds like it would be a good motivator) is really only a show of fear from dog to owner. The dog is afraid that they will get yelled at for correction or there will be some kind of disapproval. Respect from the dog is a powerful tool, it’s just not a very useful/sufficient tool.

There are ways to help with this aggression. Beverly Hebert, Dog Trainer in Houston, Texas, states that “The major reason why dogs become aggressive, says Dr. Ian Dunbar, founder of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT), is that during their puppyhood, dogs are often deprived of adequate socialization with other good-natured dogs. Thus, many pups grow up with poor social skills, unable to “read” other dogs and exchange subtle communication signals with them” (Hebert). Puppies need to learn to socialize with other good dogs so that when they get older, they will know that other dogs aren't necessarily a threat. They will be able to read the other dog's body language and determine whether they should act defensively or not. Puppies who lack socialization tend to think every dog is a threat because they can't read the other dog. “If a puppy has not been socialized by the time he is 14 weeks old, he may never be trustworthy around people or other dogs” (Clemons). Puppies when they are young need to know that human socialization is something that is not a bad thing. If a dog doesn't get the proper socialization skills the dog will either be shy or aggressive towards humans. Some dog aggression can easily be prevented if dogs are given an adequate amount of socialization when they are

It is often said that a dog is a man’s best friend. In the last 14,000 years, dogs have accompanied man by helping him hunt, guard, and protect. In our modern world, dogs help us combat in war, search-and-rescue, guide the blind, deaf, discapacitated, rehabilitate patients in therapy, aid law enforcement, and are part of our family as beloved pets (Coren). Although canine superstars such as Lassie, Old Yeller, and Rin Tin Tin portray the perfect dog we all want in our lives, these ideals are far from the truth. Many first-time dog owners expect dogs to know behaviors such as how to walk on a leash, not bite, not destroy the house, and in addition to many others. In reality, dogs must be trained on what their handler wants them to do. It is