THIS IS AWESOME! My favorite dog trainer and dog whisperer of all time has just released a free video online explaining how to eliminate 94% of all unwanted behavior in ANY dog. Her name is Krista Cantrell and I absolutely LOVE the way she teaches. Click on the video to watch. You'll be glad you did...

If you have ever tried training a dog, you will know that one of the hardest things to do is to change a pattern of aggression in a dog’s behaviour. For this reason, it is vital to prevent any initial signs of bad behaviour, such as snarling, biting, growling or snapping from developing into full blown problems. Puppies are particularly impressionable compared to adult dogs, so if you do the right things from the very start, you will cut out aggressive behaviour completely, and end up with a friendly and well adjusted dog when they grow up.

There is a huge number of causes of behind aggression in puppies. For many dogs, boredom is the issue. Dogs love to run free for hours at a time and hate being cooped up inside with nothing and nowhere new to explore and experience. As anyone with a young dog will attest to, it is almost impossible to burn out all of their energy. If there is no outlet for this energy, it is bound to end up in mischief. Aggressive behaviour can easily be explained by this frustration and excess of energy. To stop this kind of aggression in puppies, make sure they get enough exercise every day and have plenty of opportunities to go on walks.

One reason for much aggressive behaviour in dogs, and especially in puppies is just self defence. Dogs lack the means to let us know that they have been hurt during play time, except by lashing out. We forget that puppies are considerably smaller and more vulnerable, and it can be easy to hurt them without meaning to. We may misinterpret a puppy’s attempt at defending itself as an act of aggression. Keeping play time a bit calmer is probably the best way to deal with this.

As with all dogs, aggressive behaviour from your puppy may be an early attempt by them to establish themselves as the alpha dog, or leader of the pack. You need to let your dog know that you will not take any challenge to your leadership whatsoever. In order to best do this, you should apply behavioural rules that govern every part of your puppy’s life. Limit play time and your dog’s favourite toys to either particular times of day or when you want to let the dog know they are behaving well. You can also use food to train your dog in obedience - having them come to eat only when called is one way to train your puppy.

A lack of experience with other dogs can be a root cause for aggression in certain puppies. Attempting to socialise your dog is the best way prevent this happening. As early as possible, introduce them to other puppies and let them play together in an environment that you or the other owner controls. Soon they will learn to be comfortable around other dogs and know what is acceptable and what is unacceptable behaviour.

For more information about canine training visit stop puppy aggression or how to stop dog aggression towards other dogs or dog aggression training

No TweetBacks yet. (Be the first to Tweet this post)

Technorati Tags:

Tagged with:

Filed under: General Dogs Discussion

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!