Dog Training

How to Calm an Aggressive Dog

If you’ve ever been surprised by your dog’s sudden aggression, the following tips will help you diffuse the situation. Once you’re safe, contact a qualified dog training and behavioral professional to help you determine the cause of your dog’s aggressive reaction. A canine behavior specialist will give you techniques so your dog learns better ways to cope with triggers that currently cause aggressive displays and will provide you with management tools to prevent aggressive behavior in the future.

Be calm. If your dog growls over a bone, snarls at another dog, or lunges at a child—your first instinct is likely to scream, “NO!!!!”. Aggressive behavior is unacceptable and dangerous. However, loud scolding can cause your dog to become more defensive which may result in an attack. If your dog is already on a leash, quietly guide him away from the plumber, child, dog (whatever is causing his aggressive display), so he relaxes. By calmly adding distance to the situation, you’ll give your dog an opportunity to recover from the emotional turmoil causing his aggression.

If your dog is off-leash, safety tactics can be a bit trickier. If you’re approaching your dog, stop moving immediately. By walking close to an already agitated dog, you’re communicating that you’re not backing down, and contrary to popular information—attempting to “dominate” a dog who’s aggressing may make the situation worse because you appear menacing, aggressive.

Aggression + aggression = more aggression

You can reduce tension, and potentially stay safer by removing social pressure: pause, slightly turn your head, lower your gaze, and relax your body while remaining still. During precarious moments, your goal is staying out of danger. Communicating to your dog that you’re not a threat is a much better way to prevent a full-blown attack than adding more aggression to an unstable situation. Never turn your back, run, scream, or make sudden movements—all of which can further incite your dog, and place you in a more vulnerable position to become injured.

Once you’ve gained composure, find something of interest to your dog (or if another person with you, she’s in a better position to distract your dog if he’s growling or snarling at you) and as slowly as possible, move the item far away to entice your dog then confine him immediately. Though tossing a treat (underhand is best) into another room may seem like you’re rewarding your dog’s aggression, you’re preventing an attack. You’ll need to make a plan once everyone is safe to avoid further reinforcing your dog’s unwanted behavior.

Practice prevention. It’s important to make a note of what caused the aggression. Did your dog growl over a new a toy? Did a stranger approach your dog too quickly? Was your dog standing in front of you, attempting to protect you from your partner? A good trainer can help you identify what caused your dog’s aggression but until you can schedule an appointment, you must practice management to prevent putting yourself and your dog in a scary situation again. Leashes and gates are great ways to keep everyone unscathed (child, stranger, or another dog) until the trainer arrives.

If you’re unsure if your dog has the potential to become aggressive, thank you for being proactive—here are some tips to introduce a new person to your dog safely.

Understand body language. In my line of work, I meet a myriad of aggressive dogs, some with very serious bite histories. Nonetheless, I remain safe because I watch dogs closely to assure I know what they’re communicating so I’m actively preventing them from becoming so uncomfortable that they want to bite me. Keep in mind, dogs are MUCH faster than we humans are, so it’s best to keep your dog’s nervousness or agitation way below attack-mode because he doesn’t need coffee to gear up, especially in heated moments.

Indications that a dog is close to becoming defensive are hard stare, mouth tightening, pulsating tail (not wagging), and tense body posturing. If your dog positions himself between you and another person, runs away with a toy and hovers over it, or walks away from a child and hides, stop doing what you’re doing, immediately.

Your dog is communicating that he’s uncomfortable. If you pet him, take away his toy, or allow your child to corner your dog when he’s attempting to avoid a conflict or defensiveness, you’re asking for trouble. While I agree dogs should not be permitted to growl at your kids or snarl when you touch his belongings, tense moments aren’t teachable moments. Reduce tension by softening your body language, and when your dog is in another room, pick up the toy and place it in a closet or keep the person at a safe distance until you hire a trainer.

Tense moments aren’t teachable moments.

Never punish aggressive behavior. If you scream, yell, or stick your face in your dog’s face while he’s growling, snarling or snapping, you could get attacked. If you’re still getting to know your dog (it often takes up to a year to really know a dog), and his bite history is unknown, you very well may end up in the emergency room. Adding force and anger to an agitated, uncomfortable, and volatile situation can cause serious injury to you.

If you punish your dog harshly, some dogs stop communicating discomfort to avoid further punishment. Teaching your dog NOT to growl before he bites will jeopardize the safety of everyone you love.

Prevention and understanding are the best ways to keep an aggressive dog calm. However, in the face of a surprise, avoid staring and remain calm. Once you’re safe, call a trainer to get the help you need.

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Selecting the Right Chew Toys

Zeus with a chew toy

The Kong product line is popular for its durability and versatility. It is often my first choice to redirect innate chewing behaviors because it is virtually indestructible by most dogs. However, like any dog toy, there are exceptionally strong chewers who can annihilate even the Extreme Black Kong (considered the strongest). If your dog has destroyed every toy you have purchased (including the Extreme Kong) you can try the Kong Rubber Ball, Premier Galileo Bone or Boomer Ball toys. Keep close watch on your dog the first few times you allow chewing from any new toy, even small dogs. Some of the strongest mouths I have seen were in little bodies.

The Kong Company has many toy varieties to choose from, including: squeaky tennis balls, durable plush toys and many more. If your goal is to play fetch, tug and hide ‘n’ seek games. you can choose from any of Kong’s toy categories. However, for chewing purposes, I would recommend one of the Rubber Toys. The Classic and Extreme Kongs are popular choices because the stuffing options are limitless); they can entertain some dogs for hours and their solid design is very durable for strong chewers. The Goodie Bone is another excellent toy to teach good mouthing skills. If you fill one end of the toy with treats while holding the other end, you can prevent nipping while working on good handling exercises.

The Dental Stick and Stuff-A-Ball are also great toys to keep your baseboards, pant legs and shoes chomp free.

Some dogs play with their Kongs by rolling them around, tossing them in the air or simply licking out the good stuff. When introducing your dog to a Kong Rubber Toy for the first time, rinse it off very well. You can entice your dog by filling it with peanut butter, cheese or cream cheese so he or she understands its purpose is to engage their mouth. You and your dog can enjoy years of entertainment with the same Kong, clean it out regularly with
warm soapy water and always give the Kong in response to good behavior.

The above picture is compliments of Sarah Eng, we can’t wait to feature more of her beautiful photos!

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Thunderstorms

Finn post storm

After 11 years of living together and being completely unmoved by loud noises of any sort; my dear Finn started showing signs of anxiousness during storms. The first incident really took me by surprise and was very mild. He danced around a bit and followed me from room to room (which is not common). Once I realized what was going on; we moved to the room with the least amount of windows, turned on the ceiling fan and closed the blinds. I massaged him and gave him a Kong. He settled and remained relaxed even once his Kong was empty. Being a trainer, I immediately started working on a desensitization program where I played thunder and lightning sounds at a VERY low volume and practiced his “go to your bed” command pairing it with hot dog bits.

Unfortunately, the second storm came a few days later and we had barely increased the volume of storms on my phone to level three during our training sessions. His response to this storm was more upsetting; he paced and panted the entire time and only settled when there was food in his Kong. Feeling horrible for my big guy’s stress, I revised my training plan and added TTouch and the Tellington Touch body wrap to our daily training sessions. He absolutely sank in relaxation every time I worked Linda Tellington’s methods on him.

Barely a week into our training program, a third storm bombarded Chicago. Finn frantically paced and panted to the point I worried his old heart would not survive the night. I held him in a bear hug to try to calm him and I convulsed with him without doing much good. Sadly, the wrap I had used all week was a bit too short so the effects were non-existent. A snug t-shirt seemed to offer only an iota of relief. Worried for his health and just grief stricken for my poor old guy, I wondered what caused his anxiety to develop so quickly with such vigor. The puddles of his panic drool were smaller and he shook less if I stayed with him on his dog bed. I knew sifting through graduate school files and seminar information was out of the question as I wanted to stay close to him to minimize the worry that was coursing through his body. So, I did what I normally would not do. I turned to the internet.

Rather than searching for just any article on the topic, I looked up information from renowned Veterinary Behaviorist Dr. Nicholas Dodman and my other trusty resource Whole Dog Journal. After reading this article and desperate (a place I never like to be); I decided to give Finn a small dose of one of the herbs because I had it on hand and could not find any literature citing negative side effects.

After about an hour, I felt his panting to be a bit less pronounced and intervals of full blown panic started to shorten. With guidance from my veterinarian, I have since tried a few different herb combinations. We continue to pair storm sounds with treats during set-up sessions so he develops better associations. It was interesting for me to be caught off guard by my dog’s behavior. Here are a few lessons I would like to pass on:

1. Have more than one option for emergencies. I now have three herbs handy; a plan for when to give each one and how long I can wait until I can safely give the next herb.

2. This is the dog geek in me. Finn’s panic continued the entire night, even when the visual and audible sounds of the storm were not prevalent. I know and speak to dogs’ senses being much more heightened than ours but it truly made me re-think things a bit. I recalled (or remembered upon re-reading in the wee hours of the morning) that it is hypothesized perhaps static causes the horrible responses some dogs have to storms. I am also keeping dryer sheets close by in the event of a storm.

3. Focus on the solution, you may not figure out the cause. We moved into our new neighborhood last Fourth of July weekend and were surprised on our first walk with a huge firework celebration that lasted almost two weeks. Amazing how different life can be just a few miles from your old home. However, there have been many storms since then and Finn has been fine. I keep reminding myself when I wonder “why” that my energy is best focused on helping him.

4. Staying calm helps! I wanted to break down and cry a million times that night. Out of sadness for Finn; worry with hour that passed about what the stress would do to him and too exhausted to think straight. But, I feel he finally calmed for a bit because I was able to breathe deep and keep myself calm as I hugged him tightly. Since then, we have purchased the Thunder Shirt and love the results.

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Creating Boundaries

Roxy learning "bed" command

It’s happened to all of us: we meet a new friend and we like them so much we tell them to call us anytime. When they do, we get flustered because we’re busy and have other things going on in our life. I see this all the time, people getting annoyed at one another for doing exactly what they’ve encouraged, tolerated and even rewarded (picking up a call in the middle of a meeting).

Goodness! No wonder we have such a hard time setting boundaries for our dogs! Dogs, just like humans, require clear and concise parameters to help them understand their relationship with us. These “guidelines” help our relationships continue down a positive and loving path where both individual’s needs are met.

Now, while I do not claim to be a psychologist nor an expert on the human mind, I can tell you that I have learned a few things to help me develop friendly boundaries with dogs that may just be applicable to humans as well:

Be present whenever you are with your friend. When you walk your dog, walk your dog. If you chat on your cell phone the entire time, you miss a great opportunity to reinforce good leash walking behavior and eye contact which goes a long way to prevent unwanted behavior. Plus, you miss important bonding time with your pooch; another great tool in preventing naughtiness.

Say goodbye to guilt! You have to go to work, run errands, and leave your dog alone for life’s necessities. If you give your dog appropriate mental, physical and social stimulation when you are home, you have no need to worry all day about whether or not your dog is happy.

Set and stick to expectations. It is super confusing to allow your dog to jump on you when you walk in the door from work but then get angry when your dog does the same to your guests. Again, don’t feel guilty. By teaching your dog a simple “sit” when you spot any human walking towards you, you will aid in the development of good social behaviors and further reinforce what is acceptable behavior. Over time and with consistency, you will eventually see a lovely doggie smile as a result of all that great attention he or she gets for “sitting pretty.”

All good behavior should be rewarded. The whole concept of training is to work with our dogs so they naturally and freely behave in a manner which is appropriate. Unfortunately, many people only look for the negative behavior and respond strictly to that, often finding their interactions with their dog peppered with “No’s” and ”Stop that’s.” Try changing your point of view: if your dog is good when you watch a movie, sits at a street corner without being asked, or goes to “bed” during meals, make sure to communicate that by providing praise. Your dog will learn that getting attention for good, calm behavior results in love and rewards instead of sock stealing, barking, and grabbing your shirt to get attention in a busy home.

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