Aggressive Dogs and How to Rehabilitate Them By Kelly Perry At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

If you're a pet owner, no doubt you've seen your four-legged fur kid do things you've never really grasped. You've seen your loving, loyal dog turn into an aggressive, posturing guardian at the worst possible times, whether it's around new people, other dogs, or even around family members.

Dog aggression is the result of millions of years of evolution to help wild dogs form hunting packs that can bring down game. It's not something they'll outgrow, but it is something that can be coached out of them. Most aggression in dogs doesn't stem from any human behavior, even putting dog clothes on them. It's that your dog is reading body languages as a dominance challenge, and is trying to carve a new place in the hierarchy of the pack.

The vast majority of dogs are content to let their two legged pack mates run things for them. When socialized as puppies, they bond to us the same way they'd bond to a larger dog in the pack in the wild; they get chided and rewarded and in doing so, learn the ropes of proper behavior. The problem stems when the dog gets incomplete or inconsistent instruction, and doesn't recognize the humans in the house as being the top animal in the pack. In short, the dog is using aggression to try and intimidate you into doing what it wants, rather than the other way around; this shows up when the dog is being overly protective of a favorite sleeping area, or of its food dish – even when it's being leashed or groomed, or having dog clothes put on it. Trust us; the dog isn't objecting to your taste in clothes, it's objecting to being subordinate to you.

This is very alien to a lot of dog owners, who expect that by showing the dog love and affection that the dog will respond to this the same way a human would. Solving it is not a quick process, either. It usually starts when the dog is 18 to 24 months old, and needs to be curbed quickly.

If you notice this pattern, set up an appointment with your veterinarian. Have the dog physically examined; there are some health problems that can trigger canine aggression, ranging from dental disease to hyperthyroidism to epilepsy. In older dogs, hip dysplasia or arthritis can be a trigger – if the dog is constantly achy, some will take it out as aggression.

If there aren't any physical issues, the next step is to consult with a dog behaviorist; these are specialists who understand how the dog is behaving, and many of them can 'read' dog body language to find out what she's really thinking. They can work out the specifics needed for your exact situation.

Some general tips, after checking for medical issues:

1) Get help early, before the problem sets in. While it's possible to recondition a dog out of bad habits, the longer they've set in, the harder they are to break.

2) Don't assume that a dog that growls over their food dish would never take that aggression out on someone else, like a stranger or a child.

3) Make the time to get exercise with your dog; the single most common contributing factor to dog aggression is what humans would call 'cabin fever'. Your dog needs to run and exercise to be happy – most dog trainers recommend 45 to 60 minutes of exercise (where the dog is panting) twice a day!

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