Dealing with dog aggression
Posted on June 28, 2008
Filed Under Dog Problems | 2 Comments
First things first let’s find out what sort of dog aggression we are addressing here:
- Territorial dog aggression
- Fear aggression
- Maternal/protective dog aggression
- Dominance aggression
So, put simply, are they acting aggresively because they feel it is their duty to protect their ( and your) territory? A dog does not have to be dominant to protect against incursions into their territory - in fact, in a pack mentality, that can often be the duty of a dog low on the pecking order of importance!
The only dogs that attack people outright are those that are trained to do so. Any normal dog will give someone they consider a threat a chance to back off by showing aggressive behaviour and body language such as:
.
- Rushing forwards then stopping
- Manic barking
- Ears flat
- Fangs exposed
- Hackles raised
- Excess salivation
- and more depending on the dog’s confidence
Further a ‘nip’ in dog terms is a warning - in human terms it’s a bite! “That dog should be put down!”
The fact is that most people can’t read/understand what the dog is trying to tell them. So they ignore those signals and continue to escalate the perceived threat ( as the dog sees it). For example they continue to move towards the dog, make constant eye contact and make odd noises or are silent. All these are seen by the dog as aggressive gestures which escalates the situation.
If you came into my back yard, unnannounced and uninvited, and I shouted at you aggressively that if you didn’t get the heck out double quick I’d whack you with this here shovel would you stick around?
But a dog snaps at some twit who doesn’t understand the message being given ( how hard can it be to understand?) and next thing you know the whole world’s talking about the possibility of putting your dog down.
So, now we’re clear that it isn’t always the dog’s problem, let’s address the best way to train this sort of aggression ( let’s say upsetting the Postman). What we need to do is to explain to our dog that not every visitor is a danger to our little home. So we chat to the postman with the dog present, shake his hand and, at the same time, train the postman to introduce himself to our dog, preferably whistling or similar as he walks up the drive.
He then greets the dog - avoids too much eye contact and our dog will do the same. Doesn’t mean they’re going to be best pals but a ‘ceasefire’ of sorts will have been established. The main thing is to praise the dog for raising the alarm but then getting him to ’stand down’ as you are on the scene and have decided there is no threat 
PetCalm, Dog Aggression Formula and Problem Pet Solution are all recommended herbal products that can calm overly fearful, stressed and anxious dogs that become aggressive as a result of those states of mind.
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Dog tricks in the dog blogosphere
Posted on June 27, 2008
Filed Under Dog Blogs | Leave a Comment
A quick sniff around the web to find what people are saying about their dogs and doggy training…..
Easy Dog TricksTeach Your Dog To Retrieve Teaching your dog to run and retrieve is a very basic and easy training command for him to understand. It is one of the easiest of tasks to train your dog to do, such as pick up a newspaper or a piece of mail, …
If you’re trying to come up with a list of tricks you can teach your dog, the number is endless. Most breeds can learn to do simple tricks. Here’s a list to keep you busy: • Sit and shake hands • Give a kiss • Play dead • Roll over …
Smoking The Competition Of Dog-Tricks!
Well as of recently I thought it’d be cool to teach my female dog Samus a new trick, something to make my life a little easier, and to give me an excuse to not be bored. Samus is a smart dog, and she catches on awfully quick. …
Chico doing some of his awesome tricks at our old apt (shot 11/04)…..Please rate and comment my videos!!!! Ranked 3.11 / 5 | 306 views | No comments. Click here to watch the item Submitted By: brentin777 Tags: smartest dog tricks …
Very basic, you got to this link, then type in commands and the dog performs them. Commands I tried(&worked): sit, roll over, down, jump, stand, sing, dance, shake, fetch, play dead and ‘kiss’, but do it last, lol. Cheers, theFATMAN.
