Dealing with an aggressive dog

Dealing With Your Aggressive Dog

Of all the behavioural problems that you will face as a dog owner, the worst is aggression. It's obvious really, you don't want your pet being aggressive to you or your family potentially endangering them. And you don't want your pet to be aggressive to strangers, endangering them and getting your dog into serious trouble. So what can you do about the problem. Here is a overview of dog aggression and how you can deal with it.   Types Of Dog Aggression

Dog aggression can be classified in two ways - low and high level aggression.

Low levels consist of things like growling, non compliance to commands, pushing, jumping up on people or animals to intimidate, having an aggressive stance, staring, and nipping at a person's heels.

Many of these traits are often ignored or even indulged by some owners but they should really be addressed or they could be the precursor to more aggressive behaviour or high level aggression.

High levels consist of  things like snaring and showing teeth (when eating food for example) , jumping up at people and barking in an aggressive manner and full on biting.

Obviously you never want to be in a position like this with your pet so what is the cause of it all ? 

Why Is Your Dog Aggressive ?

There are a number of reasons why your dog will exhibit this behaviour. Firstly it could be hormonal, a spayed or neutered dog is likely to be more placid in most cases but this will not solve all the problems.

Many of the problems are due to the social nature that dogs have. They have a pack mentality and like to live in a pack. This means that they want to protect what the pack has and make their way up in the pecking order.

As most dogs don't have a pack in the traditional way, your family and the other pets you have become your dog's pack.

So, your dog may exhibit aggression when protecting it's territory – this could be it's territory within the home from other pack members or the home from strangers. This is a very natural response and many people train and encourage this kind of response in guard dogs.   

Aggression could also manifest because the dog thinks it is higher in the pecking order than it really is. For instance, if it thinks it is higher up than your son and daughter it might act aggressively to them. If it wants to be the head of the pecking order, it might be aggressive to you.

Another reason why a dog might be aggressive is if it is simply afraid. Fear will cause a dog to either fight or run away, just like it does with humans. The personality of your pet and it's standing in the pack may cause it to fight, making it look aggressive.   

How To Rectify The Problem

So, as you can see, there are many factors that can cause your dog to be aggressive and as such, no one solution. One thing you do want to make sure of is that it understands it's position in your home. You have to enforce your dominance initially, and reassert it whenever you think your pet is testing it.

Also, start a regular training program for your pet. A well trained pet will look to you for cues on how to behave and will also have a better understanding of it's role in the family.

Posted By mick

Updated : 16th May 2020 | Words : 586 | Views : 6721