Understanding Your Dog Aggression Problem and How to Stop Them
A lot of people blame the breed of the dog as the cause of their aggression. These causes people to no longer enjoy the breed they love. Where the fact is that people cannot distinguished the difference at all between assertiveness and breeding rights with aggression
There is a public outcry against vicious and aggressive dogs. In some countries, and in some states, the Pit Bull, Rottweiler, Argentine Dogo, American Staffordshire Terrier and others have been banned or have been required to wear muzzles whenever they are in public.
Why? Do you mean all these dogs are bad dogs. Where in actually reality there are no such things as bad dogs, what we have are bad owners and bad breeders which causes the public to go against these dogs.
If you just open up your eyes to observe, you will start seeing American Pit Bull Terrier and other so called “Viscious Dogs” that has gone through dog training in search and rescue resulted in this pit bull working very hard at its job, and is very successful even around children.
But because of their reputation, people tend not to see their gentle side traits.
One of the common misunderstanding of dog aggression is when you as the owner is not able to establish the dog position in the family. As dog is pack animal, it will try to find its standing in the hierachy.
Since children are at eye level with the dog, it makes perfect sense the dog will first challenge them on its first level and proceed up until it find its standing.
It is the responsibility of you the owner and as the leader to establish and make your dog understand that their position is at the lower end of this pecking order. Family first, dog last.
Establishing this fact that is clearly understood by your dog will definitely solve a lot of your dog’s aggression issues.
Another common mistakes that many owners make, that actually train their dog to have the aggression behavior problem is when they encourage aggressive behavior.
Playing tug-of-war or wrestling games encourages the dog to attempt to “best”, or “win out” over the owner, which can result in the beginning of a dominance aggression problem.
This again goes back to being establishing the position of the dog in the family, by encouraging such activity, you would destroy the establishment of his rank in the family.
When dogs are encouraged to “go get ‘em” or to bark and dash about in response to outside noises or the approach of a person, territorial and protective aggressive behavior may be the result.
So aggression behavior can be changed with proper dog training and right establishment of the dog’s ranking in the pack.
So it is my encouragment for all of us to start seeing things from the other side of the coin, some of these called “Viscious Breed” are really not and they are some of the most wonderous companion to be around with.
Even, if you get them with aggression problem, you can still re-train them and they can be transform to obedience and most wonderful dogs you can ever have.
Leo Enoch
http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/understanding-your-dog-aggression-problem-and-how-to-stop-them-111170.html
December 6th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Uncertain if my dog has a food aggression problem?
I have a 6 month old Siberian Husky. For as long as we’ve had him he has always exhibited this same behavior around the food bowl:
We make the dog sit while we are preparing his food and stop all activity if he moves until he sits again. We place the bowl on the ground and make him wait for our command for him to begin eating from the bowl. While he is eating we will pet him gently and he will inevitably let out a low growl that will sometimes escalate to a bark. If he does this we will move him away from the bowl and make him sit and wait for permission to approach the bowl again. He will normally continue this same behavior despite this correction. We have moved his feeding to different locations, fed him while leashed to more quickly correct him, pretended to eat from the bowl at intervals during the feeding, and fed him from our laps making him stop from time to time and wait for the reintroduction of the food.
I understand that Huskies are "low" talkers and I wonder if the noises he makes while eating are just a part of his feeding frenzy and not an actual indication of food aggression or guarding food. He is not possessive of bones or toys and is generally pretty sweet. We have cats and there have been times they have approached him while eating and he pays them no attention.
This is becoming a source of real frustration mainly due to the fact that I am unsure if my dog even has a real behavior problem. Should I be concerned with this behavior or is he simply making noises while "pigging out"?
To respond to one of the comments: we touch him primarily for the reasons you’ve stated. I’d rather he be used to being touched in case someone accidentally encounters his while eating or we need to approach him.
Wanted to add that we’ve hand fed and placed treats in his bowl throughout the eating process.
December 6th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
If he only makes the noises when humans approach OR touch him, then food aggression is a HIGH possibility.
Why do you even bother to touch him during meal times? Yes a child may accidentally do so, or you may want to put food in his bowl… but i fail to see why you need to pet him while he’s eating. I was always told that you should not approach a dog while it’s eating, sleeping, etc.
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Owned by Mutt
December 6th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
I’m not sure you have a food aggression problem but you might just be confusing him with all the things you’re doing while he’s trying to eat. Think how p.o’d you would be if the same thing happened to you. lol. I too have a talker and he can sound very threatening if you don’t know him, however, he’s not a food motivated dog so I don’t have that kind of issue. Have you tried teaching him the command "leave it"? Regardless of what it is; a toy, a treat or his food. You might want to teach him this command and let the poor guy eat in peace. I’m really not sure you have a behavior problem with this dog. Try some basic training techniques and try taking his food away. If he becomes aggressive when you do this then it might be a problem. However, I would make sure he knows simple commands like leave it, back, down/stay and so forth. Good luck with your talker!
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P.s. As I’m typing this; my talker is asleep dreaming loudly. Yeah, he talks in his sleep too. lol.
December 6th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
If you can take the food from him at any time and he does not try to bite you, he might just be saying he wants to eat in peace. Food aggression is usually guarding the food and attacking or lashing out when you try to take the bowl or go near the bowl/dog. However, some behaviors can escalate into food aggression if not corrected. If you are worried, ask your vet and/or consult a trainer experience in dealing with Huskies. My dogs will try to body block you, but they will surrender food with no attempt at aggression.
Things we have done are: Putting an empty bowl down and have the food in a separate receptacle in your hand and slowly put small handfuls in his bowl. Also, while they were eating, we would add some cheese cubes, cut up hot dogs, or whatever. He should associate your hand near the bowl as a good thing. Hand near bowl = yummy food in bowl. We also let them eat from out hands, not the bowl, and pet them the whole while. If growling, snarling, barking or snapping occurred, we stopped giving the food until the dog calmed down. Calm behavior = food. Hope this helps.
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December 6th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
He’s only 6 months old, so even if it is food aggression (which I doubt) he is young enough to get it sorted out. You are right to not encourage this behavior at this young age – he’s still learning his place in your home.
If you can move in while he’s eating and ‘take over’ his dish, I doubt he has a food aggression issue with you. With my dogs, I occasionally crawl over on my hands and knees and pretend to eat out of their dishes, literally bumping them out of the way with my body. I do this to make sure they will never hurt each other over a misunderstanding or children that may come into the house.
If you are still concerned, or if the behavior escalates consult a professional animal behaviorist.
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