Dogs are instinctively aggressive and we all realize that dogs are capable of seriously injuring humans and other animals. However, there are methods available to dog owners for training aggressive dogs. An aggressive dog must be given obedience training immediately, before he harms you or a member of your family.
For a really great dog training guide, I strongly suggest that you check out: Training Aggressive Dogs.
An aggressive dog will most often show aggression towards strangers or family members. Dog aggression can be caused by many different factors so it should be dealt with in different ways.
Aggression Towards Strangers
Dogs will often dislike unfamiliar people and other animals until they have an opportunity to get used to being around them. The process for getting your dog used to unfamiliar people, animals, and surroundings is called socialization. Socialization is a key component of obedience training for your dog. You may be wondering how socialization can stop an aggressive dog from attacking the postman or pizza delivery guy. A dog that has been socialized will begin to realize that these new encounters can be pleasurable instead of being scary.
It is essential that your dog learns this at a young age. The more your dog is introduced to various types of people (such as, men in uniform, elderly people, young children, teens, people with umbrellas or wearing helmets in peaceful and enjoyable surroundings, the safer your dog will be around strangers.
Just a reminder, if you are looking for a great free site to help you solve your dog’s aggressive behavior, you should check out: Stop Dog Aggression.
If you are trying to find a good venue for socializing your puppy, group training sessions, often held by large pet stores or at a veterinary clinic, are a good idea. Your dog will learn how to act with unfamiliar dogs. These sessions will also make your dog realize that he does not need to be afraid of people he doesn’t know. He should not feel overwhelmed at these sessions – let your dog’s comfort level increase gradually.
Aggression Towards Family Members
The most usual reasons for dogs showing aggression to their human family are:
- Your dog is guarding his food and toys from his owner or family members. This highly possessive behavior (called resource guarding) is quite common in dogs.
- Such resource guarding behavior is a clear display of dominance and relates to your dog’s perceived ranking in the pecking order of your household. To your dog, your family structure is no different from a dog pack. If your dog sees himself in a higher position than you or your family members, he’ll become aggressive.
As a lower ranked dog wouldn’t behave in an aggressive manner towards a dog that was higher in the pecking order, resource guarding is clearly dominant behavior.
The best way to prevent dog aggression is to give your dog consistent dog obedience training, which will make your dog understand that you are the boss or “alpha dog”. This fact may be stressed with rewards such as praise and treats when he obey a command, and by imposing “time out” when he misbehaves.
I hope you have found this article useful. For a review of the top selling dog training product, take a look at: Secrets to Dog Training
