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Stop Dog Aggression:There is a popular misconception about dogs that they are all friendly and that they are naturally at the most ease when with their owner.
While this is largely true, this ideal picture is something that happens after much growing together, with both the human and the dog learning and understanding each other. Dog psychology is quite complex and for a lay person, a dog’s psyche is somewhere between a highly attached adult and a child. Aggression is something that needs to be understood in the context of a dog’s environment.
Even more important is to understand that some breeds of dogs are naturally not very friendly to any being except those that grew up with it. This is because of the dog’s intrinsic nature of pack formation. As a dog grows up, the people in the immediate surroundings become its peers, cousins, and one will graduate to the alpha male status.
If you are not the alpha male, then certain actions can cause aggression in dog.
There are some other aspects to aggression. Dogs that have been psychologically scarred with separation and abuse can be extremely unpredictable and will even not hesitate to attack an owner. Yet another thing to remember is that the more sheltered an existence your dog has had, the more socially imbalanced it could be. When a dog shows aggression to taking medication and shots, this is usually a simple reaction caused by a lack of trust. Once a dog reaches a certain age, this kind of behavior is going to remain for life giving weight to the adage that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
Dealing with aggression requires that you understand how dog society works. You need to show your dog that either you are the alpha leader or that you are a peer. The latter is not a desirable situation if you own the dog and will be responsible for its actions. Teaching hierarchy to a dog starts with a bit of love and understanding. A dog will understand that it needs to behave when you withdraw food or love and attention from it. Do not hesitate to use this if your dog is aggressive towards you. When it comes to strangers, aggression can be contained by asking visitors to be a bit more reserved when around the dog. They can try touching and petting the dog once you are around and when the dog feels non-threatened.
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