Not all dogs are always friendly and cheerful. Many a four-legged friend growls and barks remarkably often or, in the worst case, even bites. An aggressive dog can become a serious threat and poses a great challenge to its owner. But what are the reasons for this behavior? We will get to the bottom of this question below. In addition, we will give you tips on how to train an aggressive dog.
You are responsible
As a rule, no dog is born malignant. While it is true that certain dog breeds are more prone to aggressive behavior than others. However, whether this tendency becomes noticeable is entirely your own responsibility.
As an owner, you need to make sure you train your dog properly. You should also take breed-specific characteristics into account. It is best to find out in detail about the breed of your choice before you buy it and consider whether you are up to the task.
Causes of aggressive behavior in dogs
It is usually mistakes in training that lead to dogs developing aggressive behavior sooner or later. If you want to break your four-legged friend’s habit, you must first find out what exactly you did wrong when dealing with your dog.
In this context, it is important to understand that a dog does not usually become aggressive overnight. Instead, aggressiveness develops gradually as your four-legged friend repeatedly experiences negative feelings such as fear and anger as a result of your dealings with him.
There are different forms of aggression
When a dog becomes aggressive in a certain situation, it almost always feels insecure. The cause of this insecurity can be, for example, a lack of education and socialization or a non-species-appropriate attitude of the four-legged friend. In addition to traumatic experiences, other possible reasons can also be bad experiences that the dog has had in the past.
It is often difficult to identify the exact cause of a dog’s aggressive behavior. In this case, it is helpful to first check in which situations the four-legged friend reacts aggressively at all.
The following forms of aggression can be observed in dogs:
- Protective aggression: Your dog wants to defend you or another member of his family against a perceived threat.
- Self-defence: Your dog feels insecure or threatened by a fellow dog and reacts aggressively.
- Competitive Aggression: Your dog is defending a toy or trying to gain status in the pack through aggression.
Avoid sticky situations
As soon as you know in which situations your dog becomes aggressive, it is important to avoid them in the first place. For example, if your dog reacts aggressively to other dogs, you should temporarily make sure that you are undisturbed when you go for a walk.
Never consider your four-legged friend’s behavior as something harmless, which you can tolerate to a certain extent. Large dogs in particular quickly become a serious threat to humans and animals. If the aggression is already very pronounced and your commands are often ignored, wearing a muzzle temporarily can also be a useful additional protective measure.
Common mistakes when dealing with aggressive dogs
Many dog owners make a crucial mistake when their four-legged friend behaves aggressively. In hopes of calming him down, they speak in a soft voice or even pet him. Of course, the aim is not to reward the aggressive animal.
In fact, that’s exactly what you’re doing. Because your dog doesn’t understand what you’re saying, only how you’re saying it. If you speak kindly to him and pay attention to him, he’ll take that as praise for his aggression, so you keep reinforcing the unwanted behavior rather than curbing it.
Be confident
Dogs are always guided by their owners and notice very well when their master or mistress is unsure. If your own insecurity is transferred to your four-legged friend, he will instinctively have the feeling that he has to defend you.
In order to counteract your dog’s aggressiveness, you must therefore show more self-confidence in dealing with him. If your four-legged friend notices that you are relaxed, he will also feel safe and gain new confidence in you and your abilities as a pack leader.
Professional help in training aggressive dogs
Of course, avoiding situations that make your dog aggressive is not a permanent solution. For a real fix, you need to re-educate your aggressive dog. Since most laymen will have a hard time doing this, we recommend visiting a dog school for this purpose.
There, your four-legged friend first learns to master the basic commands, before it then goes on to desensitize the animal with professional help. This means that the dog trainer artificially creates situations that have previously triggered aggressive behavior in your dog and rehearses alternative behaviors with you.
One tool that is often used to train aggressive dogs is positive reinforcement. By rewarding peaceful behavior and not rewarding aggression, your dog will gradually learn to change his behavior in the desired way.