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smell it and get a feel for the mesh while not directly having it on their face practice putting it on without buckling holding it on their muzzle stroking and talking to them in a reassuring voice use it a couple times buckled letting your dog out to the bathroom supervised with it on for a short period of time remove it when they come back in and reward your dog may be uncomfortable at first shaking their heads or rubbing their face on the ground but it is best to ignore this behavior as stated before give your dog something to do to burn energy before you start your training exercise or your dog will be more difficult to handle and less likely to listen to your commands once you have passed your partner and their dog and enforced the sit and watch me not the other dog you continue on around the loop until you encounter your partner again going through the same motions repeat if you encounter a stranger and their dog repeat these motions making sure you are at a safe distance once your dog settles down release tension in the leash returning to a slack choke collar and directing the dog by using appropriate pressure on the end of the leash attached to the nylon one of the biggest mistakes an owner can make is constant pressure pulling on the lead this can rile your dog up more making them want to get at the other dog that much more and become desensitized to cues that are given by lead pressure remain on a slack lead unless your dog is pulling to get to another and even then you should regain their focus by a sharp sideways tug moving them to face you and rewarding the correction should always come from the side imagine pulling straight back in this situation one of your friends gets in a fistfight and is engrossed in it acknowledging little else holding them back only makes them want to move forward to strike the other person again and pulling a dog back only makes it want to move forward more you can severely damage your dogs trachea by pulling like this your dog should get the picture after a few sessions and you should be able to walk them though you ll more than likely always use your halti or choker and nylon combo when walking publicly on the off chance your dog does get stirred up without much fuss i have taught tank english bulldog to behave using this method and i can walk him without fear of him going after our other dogs or someone else and their dog for fear based aggression my first step is to figure out why the dog behaves like this poor socialization as a pup attacks by other dogs in the past and general shyness is often the root of fear based aggression this type of behavior requires a lot of work and a sensitive handler for socialization i never advise going to a dog park while your dog may not misbehave other people aren t as vigilant and fights and hard roughhousing happen a lot it isn t uncommon to encounter owners who just don t give a damn either they let their dogs terrorize others and blame you for any resulting actions for the shy dog i would suggest getting a group of others together who have submissive calm dogs they must be relaxed or your dog will feed off of their negative energy and snap when approached find a neutral gathering spot that isn t anyone s claimed territory this can also bring out aggression sit and socialize with your friends and if you have a small dog resist the urge to pick them up when they are frightened as this teaches them that they can avoid others by going to you for more extreme cases you may want to muzzle your dog be sure to tune in to your dogs body language signs like averting their eyes or focusing intently on others a hunched back a lowered head a stiffly wagging tucked or held at a medium or maximum height tail and hackles raising are just some of the signs you may want to look for do not coddle your dog if he seems fearful continue to be confident and calm and socialize with your friends but do be prepared to dish out a correction if aggression occurs call your dogs name sharply reprimand with a loud no and a pointed finger and then return to what you were doing this can take several weeks of devoted training for possessive and territorial aggression like outright aggression you must be clear cut and aggressive note not abusive or overly forceful in your training give an inch and ten miles will be taken in territorial aggression you may want to take the nature of the case into consideration if your dog is just looking out for his family by barking and generally patrolling his yard i would not be too concerned it is a good thing especially in these times to have a dog that isn t necessarily vicious but can play the part and scare off would be intruders if your dog is aggressive to visitors in their home that is another story for overly territorial dogs that pose a threat to guests i would advise starting your training at the door have a guest work with you ringing the doorbell at intervals the reactive dog will jump up barking perhaps with hackles raised or staring intently at the door work on getting your dog to back up stand in front of the dog using your knee to push against their mid chest while snapping and pointing behind them saying back make eye contact and enforce it don t let the dog push you around continue encouraging them to move backwards slowly repeating the command don t go overboard three or four times should suffice depending on how far you are backing them up place them in the sit position give the watch me command and reward it helps if your dog knows lay and stay you can place their bed in the room nearest the door and make them lay down and stay on their pillow if your dog is known to bite by all means place a muzzle on him before you let your guest in make sure your guest knows to ignore the dog completely as caesar says no touch no talk no eye contact allow the dog to sniff guests but don t encourage prolonged fixation for jumpers inform your guest that if the dog jumps they are to turn their back on the dog which will bring them back down on all fours and continue ignoring the dog and if possible going a different direction to get to where they were going encourage your dog to ignore guests once they have calmed down you can remove the muzzle and let the dog roam again the guest is to ignore the dog completely while the dog gets used to their presence any sign of aggression towards the guest and your dog should be sharply reprimanded using their name and stepping in between the dog and the guest and giving them the back command once they have backed up place the muzzle back on and keep in place until the dog has calmed down again after a while you may give your guest a treat to give the dog held on a flat palm and given the sit command by them have them slowly lower their hand to chest level in a non threatening and calm manner and give the dog a treat practice as often as possible for possessive aggression there are different fixations these can be possessiveness over certain people areas of the house toys and food for possessiveness over people the main enforcer of training should be the person who the dog finds his duty to protect which will be referred to here as the mo main offender many people think it is cute until they have a full grown dog lashing out at passers by and biting other family members this is a direct result of not being given boundaries and rules the mo should discourage the dog from sitting on or around them constantly give the back command if the dog is too close never coddle a dog that shows aggressive behavior when someone approaches reprimand with their name called sharply a no and take them outside for a time out the mo should also discourage overly excited behavior when being greeted by the dog by ignoring them until they are calm and reward with just a pat or two they are never to get excited and allow the dog to jump all over them if the dog jumps they are to do an about face which brings the dog back to all fours walk away and continue ignoring the whole family should be involved in setting down basic rules and training such as not allowing the dog on furniture or beds this means never sleeping with you or climbing on furniture teaching basic obedience sit stay lay come recall watch me off discouraging excited behavior and all should treat the dog as a dog rather than another human it can be difficult but if you want a well behaved dog you must put an end to this behavior correct swiftly any time they get out of hand the dog may approach family members by invite only you set the rules for when and where it is appropriate for them to show affection in some cases muzzling may be necessary during the first few sessions for milder cases of food aggression i recommend the following course of action 1 feed on a strictly set schedule it must be the same time day in and day out 2 do not make a big deal out of feeding time do not encourage the dog to get excited during the anticipation of getting a meal 3 feed in small increments a half handful at a time is suitable have a partner hold the dog on a training lead 10 ft with the dog at their heels in the sit position set the food down as far as possible from the dog make sure the dog is in a continual sit until you place the dish down and back away allow the dog to go eat still on the long lead once he has finished have your partner call him back to them and make him sit again go pick up the bowl and place more kibbles in repeating the same actions as before feed a kibble or two by hand with a flat palm held out while the dog is calmly sitting repeat this during every meal time know that this should help curb the behavior but will not prevent your dog from lashing out should you bend down to touch the dog or his bowl while he is eating i never recommend letting small children or animals near while eating 4 if your dog is aggressive towards other animals during feeding time the solution is easy do not allow other animals in the vicinity feed separately and make sure your dog is out of eyesight of others as this can make them nervous and more prone to wolfing down their food or showing aggression if your dog does not show aggression towards humans you can remove the food as punishment if the dog begins showing signs of aggression and replacing it when the dog is calm for possession over treats and toys i advise teaching your dog the trade command the release command the watch me command the out command and the leave it command all of which will be explained in the next post use the command trade while holding a more desirable object and giving it to the dog you can also use the leave it command and get your dog to walk away from the object and then giving them the out command when they leave the object getting the dog to exit the room and picking up the object you may want to remove the object from their reach as punishment you can start of with allowing your dog to handle the object with a muzzle on and placing your jean and shoe clad leg between the dog and the object getting the dog to back away using the back command and picking the object up make the dog sit and lay discouraging the dog from focusing on the object by a sharp but not aggressive push sideways and enforcing the commands reward by replacing the object but remove if the dog begins showing possession over it these are general recommendations i have worked with quite a few cases and not all dogs will respond to the same techniques find out what makes your dog tick and if possible consult a professional for advice and further training before any training i always advise draining excess energy that can manifest into aggression watch your dog closely and brush up on your body language the biggest complication in training is an owners inability to read body language and it is the foremost tool you can use in these situations practice caution and safety in all your sessions or it can cost dearly always be vigilant and alert in the next post i will detail some commands that every owner should know whether or not they are working with an aggression case stay tuned posted by legendsliveon at 2 19 am no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels dog aggression faqs training friday july 29 2011 training versus instinct pt 1 water while at dog beach near my new place of residence i get this question a lot my dog hates the water s he won t swim and highly dislikes baths can you teach him her to like it my answer to this question is not quite straightforward as a bratty young teen i taught my dog to love water by lugging him in the pool with me or dropping him in a pond in hindsight it may not have been the most humane method and i m sure that at first he didn t appreciate being chucked into a muddy puddle but he has come to love it any standing body of water he can fit a toe in is now plopped down in with much gusto we buy him a pool every summer so he can lounge about while we do yard work however he still doesn t appreciate baths which are usually given outside and also with the hose due to his size i cannot verify if this was a behavior that i conditioned into him or if his love of water is ingrained as i never saw much of his parents i do think given that you work with your dog from an early age and with a non traumatizing approach ie slowly going into standing water such as a pool holding your pup gently and encouraging it to swim towards you as you swim away backwards giving lots of praise and making it a positive experience in general you can teach your dog to accept water as an adult dog it is highly unlikely that you will get your dog to enjoy the concept of swimming especially by dragging it in i ve seen this approach many times and it only helps to fuel their fear if your dog is extremely toy motivated you may be able to get your dog to retrieve the toy if tossed in the water i would not recommend tossing it out too far or if you re in plain clothes because your dog may not want to go in and you ll be stuck fishing for the toy you can try gently coaxing your dog in with treats and lots of gentle praise but it is still may not work some individuals take to swimming others don t during bath time it is possible to calm your dog dog by using a tub filled only minimally with water think of right above your dogs feet as a good fill line and make sure the water is comfortably warm maybe a bit above room temperature if your dog seems to be comfortable other than the occasional escape attempt or some shivering you can help make their experience better by giving them some treats talking to them or just praising them in general when your dog is terrified there is not much you can do other than to remain calm as they feed off your energy and talk to them reassuringly and gently while you wash them perhaps giving them a little massage while lathering them up a panicked or scared dog is highly unlikely to respond to treats but you can try a pre and post bath time ...