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Dog AggressionDog Aggression Towards Family Members There are 2 main reasons why a dog is aggressive towards members of his own human family:
. . . So what’s resource guarding & why does it happen? Resource guarding is a pretty common behavior with dogs. The term refers to your dog acting overly-possessive. For example, snarling at you if you approach him when he is eating, or if you reach your hand out to take a toy away from him. It all comes down to dominance issues. Dogs are pack animals and are used to a very structured environment: in a dog pack, each dog is ranked in a hierarchy of position & power (dominance) in relation to every other dog in the pack. Each dog is aware of the rank of every other dog, which means he knows exactly how to act in any given situation - whether to back down, to push the issue, whether to muscle in or not on somebody else’s turf, etc etc. In your dog's mind, your family environment is no different to the dog pack environment. Your dog has ranked each member of the family and has his own understanding of where he ranks in that environment as well. If your dog discovers himself as higher up on the social hierarchy than other family members, he’s going to get fiesty. If he’s really got an amplified sense of his own importance, he will start to behave aggressively. Dominance & Aggression are the exclusive rights of a better-ranked animal. No underdog would ever show dominance or aggression to a higher-ranked pack member. Resource guarding is a classic example of dominant behavior: only a greater-ranked dog would act aggressively in defence of resources. If it was clear to your dog that he is not the leader of the pack (your family), he would never even dream about preventing you from taking his food or toys. A lower-ranking dog(your dog) will always go along with what the higher-ranking dogs (you & your family) say. The best treatment for aggressive and dominant behavior is consistent, frequent obedience work. This will underline your authority over your dog. Just two 10-15 minute sessions a day will make it perfectly clear to your dog that you are the boss, and that it is rewarding to do what you say. You can make this perfectly clear to him by rewarding him with treats for obeying a command, and isolating him for misbehaviour.
Why doesn’t my dog like to be handled? All dogs have different limits when it comes to handling. Some dogs enjoy cuddles, and are perfectly fine with being hugged, kissed, and having arms slung over their shoulders (this is a big "I’m the boss" gesture to a dog, which is why a lot of them will not tolerate it.) Other dogs (usually the ones that weren't used to a lot of physical contact from a very young age) are not comfortable with a lot of full body contact, and will get very agitated and nervy if someone keeps trying to hug them. Another common cause of aggression when handling is a bad grooming experience. Bathing and nail-clipping are 2 common culprits. When clipping a dog's nails it is very easy to "quick" him. This refers to cutting the blood vessel that runs inside the nail and is extremely painful to a dog. This can really cause a long lasting fear of those clippers. Being washed is something that a great manylot of dogs have trouble dealing with. Many owners fell that they must forcibly restrain their dog to complete the bath if he is upset and not dealing with the bath well. This will only add to the dog’s panic, and reinforce his thought that a bath is bad, and should be avoided at all costs, and defend himself from it with a display of teeth and hackles. Can I re-train my dog so he will enjoy being handled & groomed? The short answer is simply: yes, although it is a lot easier if you start from a young age and handle your puppy a lot, and get him used to being rubbed and touched all over. Puppies normally enjoy being handled. It is only the older ones that haven’t had a lot of physical contact growing up that sometimes find physical affection hard to accept. Practice picking up your dog's paws and touching them with the clipper. Practice taking him into the bath (or under the faucet, or outside - whatever works best for you, but warm water is much more pleasant for a dog than a freezing spray of ice cold water), and remember to give lots a praise through the process. For an older dog that might already have had bad grooming/handling experiences, things can be a little more difficult. You have to undo the damage already caused by those bad experiences. You can do so by taking things very very slowly, and keeping your dog calm. The instant he starts to show signs of stress, you must stop immediately, and let him relax and calm down. Try to make the whole thing into a game, and remember to give him lots and lots of praise and tasty treats. Take thing slow! Do not push it too far. If you ever get nervous, stop! Learn More! For more information on aggressive & dominant dog behaviors, check out SitStayFetch - it’s a complete owner’s guide to owning and training your dog, and demonstrates all the best dog training methods and dog training tips for training your dog. You
can visit the SitStayFetch site by clicking on the link below:
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