If you want to understand how to stop dogs aggression, let me start by asking you two rhetorical questions!
First, do YOU start the aggression with your dog simply joining in?
Secondly does your dog listen to you prior to the unwanted dog aggression behavior?
The answer will of course be the following:
At the point your dog starts to become aggressive he is completely null of your commands and presence.
He is making his own decisions and will not listen to you if you try to show him a different way to behave. What he is doing is simply too important to him and is the right thing to do. Dog aggression is nearly always done in order to protect, their pack and their own lives.
Firstly there is of course a whole range of different types of aggression from dominant to fearful and everything in between. Then there is aggression that occurs the whole time and other aggression, which is very erratic, and random depending on a number of differing factors. We could also look at what your dog is aggressive towards; it could be people, animals, other dogs or objects.
The way to stop dog aggression however is very much the same, or at least the cause of the problem is the same. Your dog thinks that it is the pack leader, becomes fearful and attacks to protect, you and himself. Dominant dogs will be more proactive, often attacking when they still have the option of running away, fearful dogs will only attack if they have no place to run. All the other factors pale into insignificance compared to this.
The most important concept to grasp if you want to understand how to stop dogs aggression is that your dog must first look to you as the pack leader in the home. (This is the easiest place to convince him you are the decision maker.) Only then can you convince him that you are the pack leader on the walk. There are some fantastic video sites now that show you exactly how to become the pack leader.
Once you have convinced your dog that you are the pack leader outside then upon reaching the point where he usually is aggressive you will find that he will actually start to take notice of how you are behaving! If you aren’t then your dog will probably continue to ignore what you are doing at this point forever.
Just remember, dogs are pack animals and they follow the pack leader.
One of the best examples of a professional dog trainer putting this all into practice is The Online Dog Trainer. The site has live videos of this method being demonstrated and explains exactly how to stop dog aggression by simply convincing your dog that you are the pack leader. CLICK HERE
My 15-month-old catahoula just came out of the hospital after being there for 3 days. Since she’s been out of the hospital she’s behind very aggressive towards our 6-year-old border collie. She’s been rushing him into the wall pinning him against the couch trying to jump on him just being very aggressive what do we do and how do we stop this behavior?
Hello Kristi.
I would start by separating the dogs until the behavior is better
controlled. Always keep a lead on your Catahoula while in the presence
of your border collie. The catahoula can be sent to time out in a crate after unwanted behavior.
When you reintroduce them tug on lead and say no during bad behavior. Must be consistant in training
every time an aggressive move is made.
You must show you are the alpha dog in control of your catahoula.
Only reward good behavior after that. Be consistant in your training or the
Catahoula will continue bad behavior.
At least this is a start. Catahoulas can be very head strong.
Diane