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Can We Prevent Aggression In Our Dogs?
"Aggression Is Natural For A Dog"
By their very nature a dog is aggressive. Before being
domesticated dogs in the wild needed to be aggressive just to survive. They needed to protect themselves from
enemies, defend their food and their den and their mate. There was no warm fireplace to curl up in front of and two
square meals a day handed to you in the wild.
Although breeders have for years tried to breed the aggression out of dogs and have
succeeded somewhat there will always be some aggression in our dogs. You just cannot out breed instinct and being
aggressive is instinctive to a dog.
We can deal with aggression in our dogs but we must be able to
recognize the signs. There are several types of aggression but the two that really concerns and affects us is when
our dog is aggressive towards strangers and aggressive towards members of the family.
Both of these aggressions are different and therefore require different treatment.
A dog that is aggressive towards strangers is probably lacking in
social skills. At a young age your dog needs to be socialized to as many different people, events, other animals,
and any situation you can think of. Remember he takes his lead from you so when you are relaxed around strangers
and other animals your dog will pick up on this. You need to get that puppy out and about with you and experience
all kinds of things so as he grows older he will be acclimated to many different sounds, scenes etc. He will see
all this as a fun new adventure instead of something scary that he needs to protect himself from.
How do you tell if your dog is nervous or uneasy around strangers? Your dog will be very restless around new
people. He may seem jumpy, cannot sit still and relax; reacting to the smallest sound and constantly pacing or he
can be sitting in one spot and be very still and not taking his eyes off the new person. His stare almost bores a
hole through that person.
A very good way to socialize your puppy is to take him to puppy classes. He will be exposed to other puppies
and people and different situations. The experience will be good for him. Taking your puppy to a doggie daycare
will also help. Once he has had all his shots and can be around other dogs sending him off to daycare will be
extremely good for your puppy. He will be running around with other dogs and getting used to them and enjoying his
fun time.
After puppy classes and daycare make sure you continue socializing your puppy. Take him out to as many new
places as possible on a regular basis. This will help him to become a great all round friendly and companionable
dog.
To find out more about dog aggression and other behavioural problems check
out Secrets to Dog Training. Secrets to Dog Training is a complete guide
to bringing up your puppy and training him/her to be a good companion dog. This guide is well worth a look as
it will help you prevent many behavioural problems.
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