Stop Dog Aggression

When we first brought our doberman pup home - of course she was rambunctious just like any other young dog. But, she was also displaying several forms of dog aggression such as resource guarding, dog to dog aggression and bearing her teeth at me and the rest of the family when trying to correct her. And one of the most disturbing displays of dog aggression was when ou friends brought their six year old daughter Emily over. Dutchess for some reason perceived her as a threat.

Now don't get me wrong, she didn't just attack the kid as soon as she walked through the door. Dutchess didn't display any aggressive behavior toward Emily until she (Emily) stood up abruptly from playing with her toys on the floor and started walking toward her mother- who was sitting with the rest of us at the kitchen table. At that point Dutchess went into "intruder alert mode" and just advanced toward Emily barking aggressively. Luckily I was near enough to grab the dog before she got too close to Emily - Averting a potential disaster.

After that, I knew I had to do something to "address" this aggressive dog behavior before someone got hurt. After some thorough research - including the library, bookstore, internet and even local trainers - I finally settled on a dog training book that I discovered online.

It explained that in the wild, dogs are pack animals. And - within their packs there is a social hierarchy where each individual dog is ranked. From the alpha dog (the leader) all the way down to the submissive "peasant dog". Within the packs, the dogs constantly "test" for social dominance through acts of aggressive behavior.

It also explained that your pet dog will compete for dominance with you and your family members. After all, your family is its "pack". If left unchecked the aggressive dog behavior will just continue.Basically you have to become the alpha dog and show the dog that "you" are the boss. Best achieved through daily training sessions as explained in the book.

The gist of the book: By understanding the psychology of specific dog behaviors we can apply specific techniques to correct these bad behaviors.

So I applied the specific techniques to stop dog aggression during two 15 minute sessions per day. After about 3 weeks I started to notice a big improvement in Dutchess's aggressive behavior. She started to become less and less aggressive and more obedient in all situations. Check Out The Secrets to Dog Training for more info on how to stop dog aggression.