Stop Aggressive Dog Behavior Towards People

Sadly, every year thousands of dogs are sent to their deaths at animal shelters because of their aggressive behavior towards people. Although dogs are instinctively aggressive creatures, the overly aggressive or vicious behavior some dogs exhibit can be prevented if you take a proactive approach.

In nature, aggression comes in handy and is in fact necessary. Descending from wolves, dogs needed to defend themselves against other animals, had to hunt and protect resources and of course find a mate. Lets face it-dogs are well adapted to do some serious physical harm- take a look at your dog's teeth! Some of a dog's aggressive nature has been minimized through selective breeding but you can't change the fact that dogs are hunters and had to be aggressive to survive.
The easiest way way to stop aggressive behavior in dogs is to not let it form in the first place. Count yourself lucky if you are reading this while your furry friend is still a puppy because really all you have to do is what I call diverse socialization. Let your puppy see and play with a wide variety of people: babies and toddlers, old people, young boys and girls, men with beards, other animals and even the mailman.(Don't laugh-according to the US Postal Service every year 2,851 mail carriers get bitten by dogs)

Your dog depends on you to broaden his social horizons. If you give him many positive socialization experiences with a wide variety of people and animals he will feel more relaxed when he encounters a stranger or unfamiliar situation. He has learned that new people and situations are fun and interesting, not scary. He has to learn this through experience and the earlier you start him on this "socialization training" the better. It is not enough to put your adult dog in a room full of strange people and tell him to "Relax, settle down Rufus, it's alright". He has to learn this himself. If you don't have time to do this yourself there are "puppy preschools" that encourage socialization with other dogs and their owners. The environment is safe and controlled and your dog will get exposure to wide variety of different, friendly faces and other dogs. This way he will learn that he doesn't need to fear new faces.

It is best to continue with a dog's socialization as an ongoing lifetime effort. If he looks like he is being overwhelmed just back off the training a little bit until he can build up his tolerance.

Aggression Towards Your Family Members
In some situations an adult dog will show aggression to someone in your own family. This type of aggression is usually a behavior that dogs exhibit when they are trying to guard a resource from what they perceive as a threat. He may be guarding his food, or his territory from a perceived threat-you or another family member. Some dogs will growl if you approach them while they are eating or may give you a "staredown" if you try to take anything away from them such as a toy. This behavior is commonplace and it relates to the social behavior of dogs. Dogs are pack animals and live in a structured, hierarchal society. Each individual in their society has a certain status or rank. The highest ranking dog, the alpha, is the leader of the pack and gets his choice of food and mates. Each dog knows his rank, or dominance in relation to every other dog. So he would know which dog he can easily push away, which ones he can muscle in on, and which ones he must back away from in a confrontation.

Your dog also lives in a pack-your family. Your dog already has everyone ranked in the family in his social schema. The problem that can occur here is that if he thinks that he has a higher rank than you or another family member he may act aggressively. This aggressive or dominant type behavior is the "right" of a higher ranking animal. Only a higher status or dominant dog would act aggressively this way. In other words, if your dog understood that he was not the alpha dog in this situation he would never aggressively try to prevent you from taking his food or toy. A lower staus or ranking dog would simply go along with what the higher ranking dog (you or your family) does without a fight.

The best way to stop this is with some obedience training which will make him understand that you and your family are the leader of the pack and not him. Don't take this to mean you have to beat your dog if he disobeys-this can lead to fear biting and other problems. It's better if you spend a couple of short sessions a day-say 10-15 minutes and reward him with praise and food treats for following your commands and putting him in isolation when he disobeys. Your dog wants to be an accepted part of the pack.

Some dogs, especially dogs that have been abused and abandoned in shelters may be especially aggressive and fearful. He may be too much to handle for you. If you have the heart there are professional dog trainers that can help train very aggressive dogs.
If you want to stop your dog's aggressive or unwanted behavior towards you or a family member visit us here: http://www.easiestdogtraining.com
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