All dogs no matter the size can be aggressive and as a good owner you don’t want your dog to be aggressive. An aggressive dog could bring so many problems, it might attack a person and other pets. Not only that your dog may also get hurt for its behavior. Training your dog to not be aggressive is the same as teaching it a trick. The earlier you teach your dog the better.
Here are 5 effective ways to stop aggressive behavior of dog:
1. Create rules and boundaries in your home
Dogs can behave like a human child, if you don’t set up rules in the house they may act like a spoiled child and feel like the own everything in the house, including you. They may growl at you if you told them to do something or if they don’t get what they want. You have to be stern, giving in to their demands only make the situation worse. By teaching your dog that you’re in control, they will know that by abiding you they will get what they are cravings for.
2. Obedience training is a must
Being obedience is the best behavior a dog can have. Remember that being obedience is not a short term solution, it will last a life time. With being obedience, it teaches dogs how control their impulse, they won’t think that they can get what they want whenever they want it, obedience also teaches them how to be patient, they will follow your rules to get your approval and by getting approval they will get what they want.
There is also a “come away” training that you can do a “come away” command teaches your dog to come to you whenever you command it. You can use this to distract your dog from anything that they considered a threat, such as a stranger or other dogs. This command takes advantage of your dog’s instinct to return to its owner to avoid getting stressed. Here are a few steps to teach the command:
- Take your dog into a yard, make sure there are no distractions. If there is no fence on the yard, keep your dog on a long leash.
- Let your dog explores the yard for a while and give the “come away” command and call its name.
- If it comes toward you, move away from it while encourages it to come closer.
- once your dog reaches you give it a treat as a reward
- Keep doing this training until your dog response to you calling tis name and saying “come away”.
- You can go further by bringing your dog to things that they fear. For example if your dog is scared of strangers, try bringing it closer to stranger. When the stranger get a bit close to your dog, try the “come away” command. If it comes to you, give it a treat. And have the stranger walks in closer than before.
3. The importance of socialization
Dogs that lack socialization will learn that being aggressive is the best way to defend himself. They think that by driving everyone away from them, they can get what they want. This is the result of being defensive, they don’t trust anyone and being alone calm them down. Being aggressive really works in their favor. By socializing your dogs as much as you can, whether with people or other dogs, it will make them more trusting and comfortable being with other people or dogs.
Usually dog’s instinct tells them to guard their food. You need to train your dog to think that you are the one providing them their food. Try telling your dog to sit, if they obeyed, put food into their bowl. Don’t put everything, because you need to do this several times. Keep telling your dog to sit and put more food into the bowl. This way you’re reinforcing control of your dog and associating yourself with food.
If your dog has a fear of anything, try desensitization. The purpose of desensitization is to train your dog how to behave when they are exposed to things they fear. First expose them to the things they fear, watch how they react. If they can restrain themselves from acting aggressive give them a reward. The training session must be session from 10-15 minutes only or your dog will become more fearful. Try to always end the training in a positive note. This training won’t be easy, it needs time to completely train them. Just be patient.
4. Don’t fight aggression with aggression
Dogs often mimic our behavior, if we are being aggressive toward them then they will act aggressive toward us back. This situation can easily get worse if you keep acting more and more aggressive to your dogs, because they will try to out-aggressive you and it can get very dangerous for everyone. As the owner, you are the one in control, you’re the thinking living being in the house and it is up to you to calm the situation down. Think of the best strategies to reduce your dog’s aggressiveness instead of using physical strength.
5. Other tips to deal with your dogs’ aggressiveness
If this is a new problem for you, you should visit the vet. Some medical conditions like seizure for example can make your dog behave strangely and behavioral training won’t change the dog’s behavior if they are in pain and suffering from a medical condition. So you need to confirm it immediately with the vet whether it is behavioral problem or a medical condition. Don’t risk your or your family safety and a veterinary behaviorist can help with your problems.
Here are some other tips:
- Do not use physical strength, remember: don’t fight fire with fire
- Do not use shock collar or choke chains : These things will make the situation worse. Don’t make your dog feel more uncomfortable or scared than before. You need to make them trust you, trust is the key.
- Reward good behavior. Train your dog how to behave and reward them when they follow your training. by doing this you can shape your dog’s behavior to your liking
- Obedience is your best solution. Obedience is an important aspect of controlling your dog. To make sure that your dog knows that you’re the leader.
So here are all 5 effective ways to stop aggressive behavior of dog. Some dogs are always aggressive, you can’t just get rid of it. If that’s the case then you need obedience at crucial moments. When the aggressiveness triggers you need to be there to train their obedience skills. Dogs need behavior issues need their obedience skills sharp and strong at all times, train them at least three times a day. Also remember that all these trainings take time. Always take it slow, don’t be too hasty and don’t prolong the training session more than necessary or your dog’s behavior might get even worse. All in all keep loving your dog because they need you no matter what.