Dog Aggression Introduction
Dog aggression is a serious behavior problem that many dog owners face. However, the problem could is easily avoided through proper Dog Aggression Training.
Over one million cases of reported dog bites are recorded each year and studies show that there’s another million cases that go unreported. Most dog bites are not serious but unfortunatly some are. Most dog bite victims are children.
Factors contributing to Dog Aggression
There are many factors that contribute to a dog’s aggression level including genes, heredity, and environment. Some breeds like Akitas and American Bulldogs often display aggressive behaviors while some breeds are less aggressive like golden retrievers.
The most important factor that contributes to aggression in dogs is not the breed but the training given to that dog. Dogs that are well trained will not be dangerously aggressive.
It’s important to try and understand your dog’s behavior if you wish to train them effectively. Dogs instinctively live in packs. They have a certain status within one of these packs. To them the people that live around them are a part of this pack. They may treat their immediate owners as leaders of the pack and they may treat weaker members like children as lower members of the pack. This is part of the reason why children are bitten more often than adults by dogs.
If a dog growls in defense of their food bowls and they receive no discipline then they are going to be more likely to develop unwanted aggressive behavior. It’s a good idea to try and nip any sort of aggressive behavior in the bud. You do not want your dog to think that it’s ok to be aggressive.
Kinds of Dog Aggression
There are many different types of dog aggression. Sometimes a dog may be aggressive because of their fear and other times they may be aggressive because they wish to protect their territory. Dogs are often more aggressive towards dogs of their own sex (perhaps seeing them as sexual competition.) Some dogs may even be aggressive due to illness whether physical or mental.
How to Prevent Aggression in dogs
It’s very important to start socializing your dogs early in life to help prevent aggression.
There used to be a conventional wisdom that you should not start training your dog until they are one year old. Like most conventional wisdom this turns out to be completely wrong.
You should be making sure your dog is well socialized right from the beginning. It’s much easier to instill good habits in a puppy than it is to change bad habits in an adult dog.
The socialization of dogs during their first 3 months of life is probably the biggest factor in preventing dog aggression.
If your dog is an adult and is displaying aggressive behaviors then you need to learn dog aggression dog training techniques.
Dogs Learn All The Time
Dog’s are always learning. That’s why you need to be consistent with them. You can’t let them get away with barking one place and not in another. This will only confuse them. You need to train them to be still and calm when waiting for food. This is a good thing to train them because dogs naturally get very excited around food. If you can train them to be calm in this time then they are much more likely to not be aggressive and dangerous.
Reference:
- Dog Training A to Z
