Dog Obedience Training – Aggressive Dogs.
Dog Obedience Training – Aggressive Dogs.
I do not believe that dogs are born aggressive. There may be exceptions, perhaps where a dog has a tumour or is in constant pain, but generally, an aggressive dog is simply the result of its environment and the owner’s ineffective dog obedience training and lack of management in the pup’s formative years.
What I mean by that is, if the dog is not to become aggressive to both humans and other dogs. It needs to be properly socialised and trained effectively to manage its self control.
These are some of the poor management and training situations I have actually witnessed in my 30 years of dog training. I am amazed at some people’s stupidity when it comes to dog ownership :-
•Dogs that are left in a yard that has a wooden paling fence and kids with sticks rattling along the outside of that fence. The dog used to go frantic and as a result developed a total dislike for small kids.
•Handlers who think it fun to encourage their pup to run up and down a wire fence having a barking slanging match with a dog on the other side of the fence. In this case the dogs on the other side of the fence were Dobermans and the pup developed a hate for any dog that looked remotely like a Doberman.
•Handlers who encourage their dogs to show aggression to people who wander past their property. Fortunately there was a strong fence between me and the Rottweiler that the owner sent to “gethim”.
•Handlers who think it is amusing to teach a puppy to be aggressive whilst eating a bone. I have seen someone deliberately teasing a pup with a bone until that the pup bit him.
•Handlers who totally fail to see the Alpha Dog syndrome developing and get bitten when trying to remove the dog from the lounge. If you have any dog showing any alpha syndromes you have to act to knock them on the head immediately.
•Handlers who train their dogs to chase squirrels, or possums, or rats but cannot stop them also chasing Pomeranians, Maltese poodles or other small furry creatures. Handlers who do not bother to teach self control or reinforce the recall and make themselves more rewarding than chasing squirrels.
•People who think it is right to discipline their dogs by either shaking the heck out the scruff or by physically throwing the dog on its back and holding the animal down by the throat.
Forcing a dog into submission is to my mind nothing short of animal cruelty. You will get far further and have a far happier relationship with your dog if you treat the dog with respect.
Dogs are intelligent animals and can learn anything we are prepared to teach them. We can teach aggression as criminals who breed for dog fighting know. Or we can train to use the dog’s intelligence to teach it anything we want to try.
If you take your pup to puppy school and dog obedience training courses from the age of 8 weeks, it is highly unlikely you will end up with any aggression problems. However, you need to keep your wits around you and ensure that you and your instructors pick up on any signs that your pup may be developing aggressive tendencies.
About the Author
Nev Allen is a dog trainer with 30 years of experience and he is now sharing this experience to help you make your puppy a good, happy and well trained obedient dog.
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