Start By Habitualizing Them To The Presence Of The Triggering Factor
Based upon the results, next proceed to slowly making them habituated with the presence of the above-stated factor. If it is another dog, be sure to always maintain a safe distance between them and offer feed in separate bowls at the same time. Or in case its a human, make them stand or sit a few feet away from the pup in question, where the canine can see them clearly.
This helps the dog associate their presence as a non-threatening action, thereby gradually exhibiting less violent phases during meal times. However, if there is a sudden increase in their irritability, the factor should be immediately removed from the space.
Common Stressors For Dogs
Stress in dogs can happen anytime and be anywhere. Remember that its the sum total of a dogs stress that pushes him over his bite threshold, so the more of his stressors you can identify and get rid of, the more youll ease tensions between your canine family members.
When I sit down with a client for an interdog aggression consult we create a list of all the stressors we can think of for the dogs in question.
After identifying stressors, we discuss possible strategies, assigning one or more strategies to each of the listed stressors. These strategies are:
Change the dogs opinion of the stressor through the use of counter-conditioning and desensitization.
Teach the dog a new behavioral response using operant conditioning.
Manage the dogs environment to minimize exposure to the stressor.
Get rid of the stressor.
Live with it . Next, I help the client make a management plan that will go into place immediately, to help defuse the tension until she is able to start work on behavior modification. Then we create action plans for two or three of the stressors on the list, starting with the one the client is most concerned about in this case, the dog-on-dog aggression.
Here is a sample list of stressors weve put together:
| Get rid of the stressor | |
| Use of physical and harsh verbal punishments | Get rid of the stressor |
| Owners stress | Manage dogs environment to minimize exposure to the stressor get rid of the stressor |
How Does Aggressive Behavior Manifest Itself
Aggressive behavior can either be mild, moderate or severe.
In mild aggression, the dog runs away with the item in possession. Moderate would be when a dog growls at an approaching person or dog. Severe manifests in lunging and biting. And we dont want our puppy to bite someone, thats for sure.
The most obvious reason for aggression is the natural instinct for survival. Dogs are originally wild animals, and in the jungle, they had to compete for scarce resources. As a result, they protected their food, territories, and mates from other animals.
Another reason dogs are aggressive is that past experiences have shown them that if a person or animal goes near their object, it will be taken away, hence the need to protect them.
Recommended Reading: Is Rachael Ray Dog Food Grain Free
How To Deal With Aggression
What can pet parents do to deal with aggression in dogs? There are many techniques for reducing aggression. However, the best solution is avoidance. Refrain from putting your dog in a situation that may aggravate them. For example, do not take away valuable toys or food from the dog. It is also important to not physically or verbally confront the dog, as this might aggravate it further, and it might end up attacking you.
Reasons Why Dogs Get Aggressive And How To Stop It
Prevent your dog from biting you aggressively
The Spruce / Katie Kerpel
Whether it is directed towards you or another family member, a stranger, or another animal, an aggressive dog can not only be very frightening, but may also lead to injury or legal action. But although it may seem like your dog is biting you aggressively or showing other aggressive behaviors out of the blue, most dogs only exhibit aggressive behavior for one of five basic reasons: Your dog is ill, frightened, possessive, showing dominance, or frustrated.
Understanding the reasons why your dog is biting, growling, or showing other aggressive actions is the first step in resolving this potentially dangerous behavior. Too many owners assume that an aggressive dog is out of control and must be rehomed or euthanized. However, once you take steps to resolve the situations causing your dog to act out, you’ll often find that the aggression disappears or is greatly reduced.
Here’s what you need to know if your dog is getting aggressive with you, family members, pets, or strangers.
Also Check: Best Dry Puppy Food For Small Breeds
Should I Intervene When My Dogs Fight
A great question. If its a serious fight , youll want to intervene if you can do so safely.
Make sure that you are firm when intervening, but resist the temptation to be angry or chastise either dog. This can just make the problem worse and build up resentment between the dogs.
If the fight continues or goes on despite your intervention, youll want to put each dog in separate rooms until either, or both, calm down.
If separation isnt possible, youll need to muzzle both of them to prevent either of them from getting hurt.
Can You Break A Dog Of Food Aggression
Theres no one answer to whether or not you can break a dog of food aggression. It depends on the individual dog, and whats causing the aggression in the first place. If your dog is displaying signs of food aggression, such as growling or snapping when you approach their food bowl, its important to consult with a veterinarian or certified trainer to determine the best course of action. In some cases, medication may be necessary to help manage your dogs aggression. With patience and positive reinforcement training, however, many dogs can learn to overcome their aggressive behaviors around food.
You May Like: Where To Buy Halo Dog Food
Operant Strategies To Combat Dog Fights
The second option is to teach your dogs a new operant behavior in response to each other, using the Constructional Aggression Treatment procedure developed by Dr. Jesus Rosales-Ruiz and Kellie Snider at the University of North Texas.
In daily life, dogs learn to offer aggressive distance-increasing signals in order to make other dogs go away. Every time this works, the go away behavior is reinforced. The CAT procedure teaches the dog that calm behavior can make the other dog go away, and as a result, the aggressive dog can ultimately become friendly and happy about the other dogs presence.
A variation on the operant approach is the Behavioral Adjustment Training procedure created by Oregon trainer Grisha Stewart, MA, CPDT-KA, CPT. BAT is similar to CAT, but uses a variety of environmental reinforcers rather than the location and movement of the other dog exclusively.
As in CAT, the BAT procedure reinforces behaviors other than aggression in the presence of the other dog. In this case, however, your repertoire of reinforcers is larger, including the use of food reinforcers and having the subject dog move away instead of the other dog.
Treat Quickly And Well
Giving multiple dogs treats at once can be risky. If you drop a treat between them, they might both go for it at the same time. I had this problem when Cow and Matilda first met. They didnt yet understand the concept of taking turns.
Since Cow was more often the guarder, I taught her to wait for her treat until trying to snatch Matildas. I would treat Matilda first, then quickly, quickly deliver a treat to Cows mouth using my other hand. She picked up on this fast.
If you ever drop a treat between your dogs, quickly say, good dog! or any noise or word to prevent them from lunging for it at the same time. Swiftly offer another treat to whoever didnt get the first.
These lessons in taking turns should be done carefully, by an adult, and only in mild cases. Testing your dogs could push them too far. It could make the behavior worse. Please be ever-so-careful any time youre dealing with dog aggression, and go to a trainer or behaviorist if youre not sure you can keep your dogs safe.
You May Like: Tast Of The Wild Dog Food
What To Do After A Dog Fight
There first things to do once two dogs have fought is to separate the canines, calm them both down, and ensure that neither of them has hurt. Youll have to check pretty thoroughly here, and dont just rely on your dog telling you that theyre hurt. Adrenaline can be a powerful thing, and your pooch may be convinced that theyre fine and ready for round two when in reality theyre one stretch from bleeding profusely.
Once youre confident that both dogs are calm and back to their old selves, you can think about reintroducing them though if you know what started the fight in the first place remove that trigger from their neutral zone. Keep them both on their respective leashes at first, and maybe consider a muzzle if strictly necessary. Try not to resort this, however, as it could be considered a punishment that will result in further frustration and maybe another bout of temper and fighting.
Keep an eye on the dogs, and check that theyre not displaying any further aggression. Dont panic and race over to separate them the moment they approach theres every chance that theyre going to have a good sniff of each others bottom, which is the canine equivalent of a handshake. If thats the case, your dogs have said, sorry about that Im glad were friends again. I totally would have won if we werent separated though so that you know.
Best Ways To Handle Aggression In Dogs
Aggression in dogs is a complex issue. There is no “easy fix” or overnight solution that will turn your pooch into a well-behaved canine, especially if their aggression is in the severe stages. However, with the right approach and a lot of patience, you can learn how to stop dog aggression in its tracks.
As is usually the case with all behavioral issues, prevention is the key. If you nip the problem in the bud, youll save yourself the trouble of correcting a major issue down the road. In most cases, being diligent with puppy training is what does the trick. Most aggressive dogs tend to display early signs, which, when noticed on time, can be solved.
These are some tried and true tips that can help prevent the development of aggression in dogs:
- Discourage dominant behaviors
- Watch out for signs of resource guarding
- Pay attention to socialization – both with other pets and strangers
- Use positive reinforcement training
If you adopted an adult dog with behavioral issues or missed the symptoms of aggression in your pets puppyhood, there are still ways to stop aggression even when it becomes a serious problem.
Depending on the specifics of your problem, here are some effective solutions that will transform a grumpy pooch into a calm pup.
Don’t Miss: What To Add To Dog Food For Weight Gain
How To Stop Dogs From Fighting
Dogs fight for a variety of reasons, including play fighting, guarding, anxiety, and behavioral problems. While it may seem like your dogs are fighting just to fight, they can be fighting over just about anything. Dogs have sharp teeth and claws, which means they can injure themselves and anyone who tries to break up the fights. As a pet parent, you need to understand why dogs fight, determine ways you can prevent dog fights, and learn how to stop dogs from fighting once it happens.
Dogs may be fighting for several reasons, including:
Other Possible Reasons For Food Aggression In Dogs
Theres also a case to be made for dogs who arent raised in a shelter and who have access to all of the resources they need. Sometimes a perfectly healthy dog who has suffered no trauma can still end up with food aggression.
For example, there are some purebred dogs that are genetically predisposed to aggressive tendencies.
Some breeds were artificially selected over several generations for guarding instincts.
Breeds like German shepherds, rottweilers, Dobermans, and chowchows were selected for guarding traits.
Though typically their guarding is relegated to property or livestock, poor breeding or an unlucky combination of genetic traits can cause these guarding instincts to spread to other areas of their routine.
When it comes to genetics and breeding, mother nature has a way of being uncontrollable.
You may never know why your dog becomes food aggressive.
Also Check: Corn Gluten Meal In Dog Food
Stress Trigger Management For Aggressive Dogs
What does it mean to manage your dogs environment to minimize exposure to his stressors? Simply put, it means making changes to your dogs environment in order to keep your dogs away from the stimuli that stress them.
If the dogs are stressed by each other, of course, the first task is to keep them separated, through the assiduous use of doors, fences, baby gates, crates, and tethers. Smart positioning can help locate each dogs crates or tethering area out of the other dogs sightline. Take them outdoors to potty separately, and separate them well before feeding time, to reduce tensions that arise when everyone is jostling to be fed first.
Next, try to minimize your dogs exposure to other stressful stimuli. For example: Say one of your dogs goes over threshold when she sees the mailman approaching your house through the living room window, and her barking display of aggression seems to agitate your other dog. Installing shutters on the window might work , but closing the door to the front room would be even better. Or you could move your mailbox to toward the sidewalk, instead of next to the front door the farther from the house, the better. Or get a post office box and do away with the mail carrier altogether. Be creative!
Some Aggression Can Be Normal
Even then, we should not expect our dogs to like all other dogs. Some dogs just do not get along. Other dogs may get along when they are young and start showing dog-to-dog aggression once they have matured. Just like us, dogs grow up and change based on their experiences, training, relationships with others, and their natural temperaments. Even dogs that live together and seem to get along very well may sometimes exhibit aggression with each other.
Also Check: Who Makes Farmhouse Naturals Dog Food
How To Stop Food Aggression In Dogs
Always remember that dealing with any bad canine behavior will require loads of practice, patience and regular effort. This is because while some pooches are smart enough to catch on to things quickly, others may exhibit immense stubbornness when tried to rectify. Similarly, going slow is also the key, as making haste will only put more and more emotional pressure on the already volatile woofer.
Now coming on to the steps:
Both My Dogs Are The Same Age And After A Third Older Dog Died They Began To Fight Why
Conflicts may occur between dogs when the relationship is ambiguous or when they have similar motivations and past experiences of success. After the decline, illness or death of an older dog, fighting may begin in the remaining dogs even when one is clearly the most confident and assertive. This is because the older dog may have helped to maintain a stable relationship among all dogs and now they are trying to establish relationship patterns. In any case, the fighting can be severe and injurious. It is also possible that thechange to the household and relationship dynamics may lead to increased anxiety in the household. Although you should generally attempt to allow dogs to resolve their differences on their own if they are just threatening without fighting, you will need to intervene if there is the potential for injury. Under no circumstances should the dogs be allowed to “fight it out.” You could be injured due to redirected aggressive attacks, or when you attempt to break up the fight .
Don’t Miss: Best Brand For Puppy Food
Know Your Dog’s Body Language
Your dogs body language is the first sign that theyre happy or stressed. As weve discussed, when dogs are stressed, they can start fighting other dogs. Additionally, you should know the warning signs to look for in other dogs your dog is playing with to ensure your pup doesnt get hurt trying to play.
What To Do If My Older Dog Is Attacking A New Puppy
Bringing a new puppy home is exciting â but not for everyone in the family. Learn about what to do if your older dog is attacking your new puppy.
Getting a new puppy is life-changing for all the members of your family and not just the human ones. If you already have a resident dog and are adding a new puppy into the mix, you should prepare for plenty of new routines, training, and beyond.
While it would certainly be ideal for your younger dog to get along with your older dog, the reality is that sometimes, thereâs some aggression connected to this transition to having another dog in the home.
If your older dog is attacking your new puppy, there are plenty of things that you can do to potentially alleviate the stress of the situation and ultimately smooth the transition.
Continue reading to learn more about why your older dog might not take to a younger dog, how you can help your two pups get along, and how long you should wait for these two animals to get used to each other. Finally, read about what you should do if youâve tried everything, but nothing seems to be a success.
While so many great things come along with getting a new puppy, you have to keep in mind that your older dog will likely have mixed feelings for several reasons. You must respect this to help both of your pups get acclimated with each other.
Recommended Reading: Is Royal Canin Dog Food Worth The Money