Train That Dog!

Even the most darling looking pets can have unfortunate aggressive dog behaviors. To be able to take on these undesirable behaviors, though, requires you to discover what is triggering the problems to begin with. Dogs have lots of different kinds of aggression and just as many triggers for each of those types.

Your dog can seem as though he or she has a split personality, where there are times that he or she is a perfect angel and other times when the trigger is present, a little monster seems to take over the scene.

What are these potential triggers? Look over the list that follows to see if any of these forms of dog aggression remind you of your pet:

• Territorial aggression – An aggressive dog with this problem will seek to threaten or harm anyone who walks by, approaches, or enters his or her turf. Dogs who have this kind of problem will generally bark, snarl, or snap at guests entering the house, the newspaper delivery kid, or someone strolling by outside.

• Dominant aggression – An aggressive dog has this issue when he or she bullies the other members of the family or other animals in the house in order to show them that they are lower in the pecking order.

• Fear aggression – In this case, the aggressive dog is very reactive to disturbances from the norm, frequently feeling nervous or insecure and is quite ready to growl, bite, or bark. This dog may bite when he or she feels cornered.

• Possessive aggression – Aggressive dog behaviors of this sort appear only when you try to touch or take away something the dog feels belongs to him or her such as food or a toy, at which time the dog will become threatening or vicious in order to try to get the item back.

• Punishment aggression – An aggressive dog with this problem wasn’t usually born this way, but instead became vicious as a result of being mistreated through abuse, too much dominance, or negative reinforcement.

• Pain aggression free back to school – In this case the aggressive dog does not have a behavior issue, but is instinctually reacting to pain he or she is suffering. The dog will bite or snarl involuntarily due to illness or injury.

• Predatory aggression – Aggressive dog propensity of this style is based on a hunting instinct where the dog is inclined to track and seek out prey. This prey can consist of just about anything that moves and is usually another animal, a person, a vehicle, or something blowing down the street.

• Maternal aggression

– In this case, the new mother is overly protective of her litter of pups and can behave like an aggressive dog if she feels that those puppies are threatened. Be warned that a mother dog may interpret just about anything as being threatening to her young and may act on this presumption.

Though there are other issues that can cause a dog to become aggressive, these are the main ones to watch for. By learning what your dog’s triggers are and gearing your behavior modification training to deal with those issues, you’ll find that you can transform your pooch into the ideal pet.

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