Who's Walking Who? Training for dogs with aggression

What does it mean to properly socialize your dog? I did a simple Google search and this was the first thing that came up: Dogs that are comfortable meeting and being around a variety of people of all ages, other dogs, and even other types of pets – especially cats – are considered well socialized. Another answer was simply this: Socializing your dog is the process of exposure and habituation to the environment around it. I agree with both of those answers and probably most of you do as well, I think maybe it is the way to accomplish it that might be the issue. A lot of folks think the way to socialize a dog is to take them to a dog park and let them run loose, meet doggie friends, play chase, etc. In a perfect world, that is great, however, if you have ever been to a dog park, you know that is not always the reality. I use dog parks in my training, but not in the way you may think. I go to dog parks and stay outside the fence to desensitize client dogs to dogs running towards them,...

I was recently visiting with a lady that told me she had combined households with her husband and together they had 10 dogs! I said wow, they all got along? She then proceeded to share a terrible and completely avoidable situation with me. A large adult male dog killed a medium sized female dog while she was at the grocery store. Of course I asked 5,000 questions. The things that stood out to me were as follows: 1 – She said those 2 dogs specifically had been in a few “scuffles”, and had gotten progressively worse over time. 2 – There were 5 – 7 dogs left unsupervised in a large, fenced in, back yard. 3 – She had been told by someone that a male dog would never kill a female dog. In my experience, when 2 dogs fight, unless the human delivers an immediate, firm consequence, the fights will continue and will get worse each time. There were lots of signs missed, leading up to that final fight. I do not believe in letting the dogs “work it out”. I do not believe in letting the dogs de...

Who avoids trimming their dog’s nails because it is so frustrating? I used to as well, so I can totally relate. My 15 pound Lhasa Apso, is TERRIBLE! He does not like his feet touched, he gets very aggressive and tries to bite me, I get frustrated, then I take him to the groomer, lol. When I adopted my German Shepherd, I decided to approach the situation differently. This is the same dog that used to need sedation to visit the vet, so you can only imagine how much he loved getting his nails trimmed. I went slow and steady with him. I really worked on his DOWN command, then I worked on desensitizing him to having his paws touched, then I would turn on the Dremel and just hold it next to him, not touching his nails, just letting him get used to the noise and when he would try to get up and move away, I enforced that DOWN. It is not mean to push your dogs limits at times, that is how they move past things. If I had never pushed him past some of his fears, he would still be stuck in a board...

How many times have you gone into the vet’s office and seen dogs that are pulling, lunging, even barking or growling at other dogs? Owner’s struggle to pay the bill, they are trying to get the debit card out while the dog is trying to get at another dog. The owner is apologizing and getting frustrated, but the behavior continues until they are out of the office. Why not “practice” vet visits? I adopted a dog that had to be sedated to have any type of an exam done. I had him for a few days, originally as his foster, noticed some alarming behavior so scheduled a vet visit thru the rescue. I was told he didn’t like the vet, that was an understatement, since he had tried to eat the vet at his last appointment! When we arrived for the appointment and walked in the door, they put 2 muzzles on this dog and still couldn’t get close enough to him to feel comfortable to examine him, so then it was sedation time. I was asked to walk him outside while a technician did a sneak attack behind him wit...

Aggressive dog training can be quite a task. However, once you’ve mastered the basics, there is no doubt that you and your dog can live in a healthy and mutually loving relationship. Of course, you can always hire an expert, or do some research on your own, but for those who aren’t quite ready to commit to extensive dog training, it can be beneficial to try many of the tips and tricks of professional dog trainers. Here are just a few: First, you need to listen to your expert’s advice, but of course, there are many different basic guidelines to follow as well when attempting to train an aggressive dog, especially when concerning issues of obedience. Among other things, you will want to avoid the use of negative conditioning and aversives, make sure that you’re providing plenty of positive reinforcement and exercise to your dog, and always conduct dog training sessions outdoors in a safe area. That way, you can work on the issues without distraction from other dogs or other people. Also...

  Aggressive dog training can be quite a task. However, once you've mastered the basics, there is no doubt that you and your dog can live in a healthy and mutually loving relationship. Of course, you can always hire an expert, or do some research on your own, but for those who aren't quite ready to commit to extensive dog training, it can be beneficial to try many of the tips and tricks of professional dog trainers. Here are just a few: First, you need to listen to your expert's advice, but of course, there are many different basic guidelines to follow as well when attempting to train an aggressive dog, especially when concerning issues of obedience. Among other things, you will want to avoid the use of negative conditioning and aversives, make sure that you're providing plenty of positive reinforcement and exercise to your dog, and always conduct dog training sessions outdoors in a safe area. That way, you can work on the issues without distraction from other dogs or ...