How to stop dog being aggressive to other dogs begins with understanding the nature of aggression. Aggression is rooted in the dog’s deep emotional longing to belong, to be owned, to control, and to be the leader. To stop a dog being aggressive to other dogs means understanding this deeper motivation and dealing with it accordingly. It also means learning new dog training tricks to help reinforce the kind of bond that dog needs to have.
One of the more common aggressive dog training tricks that people use is the clicker. You have probably heard of this technique by now. With a click, the dog learns what to do. The click tells the dog that he/she is doing the right thing, as in, he/she is performing the behavior expected of him/her. This kind of training works best for dogs that have more dominant temperaments or have been trained to be aggressive toward people.
Another trick is the dominant-submissive training. Dogs are naturally aggressive toward members of their own breed. It is also natural for them to be submissive to humans. By establishing yourself as the leader of the pack (and dogs also like this), you can gain the dog’s loyalty and respect. The dog will be loyal because of the benefits he/she will derive from being part of your group. You will also gain his respect because of the leader’s assurance that he/she is the leader of the pack and no one will mess with him.
You can also stop dog being aggressive to other dogs by making eye contact with him/her. Research shows that the dog’s eye contact reinforces positive things about him/her (i.e., he/she is a gentle dog). This can be especially effective if other dogs are present in the household. However, this method has not been scientifically proven to stop dog being aggressive to other dogs.
In addition, the use of treats as a reward for good behavior can be an effective way to stop a dog being aggressive to other dogs. However, there is a potential downside to this approach as well. The dog may become dependent on the treat as his/her only source of a certain type of food or treats and could develop a problem if you deprive them of them. Also, it should be emphasized that the dog should not be deprived of the reward when he/she exhibits unacceptable behavior.
One way to get over this problem is to start the dog off with smaller, easier to feed, dog treats. As he/she becomes used to it, then bigger, harder to find dog treats will become available. It would be best to keep changing the dog treat for each undesirable behavior. Eventually, after doing this for a while, your dog will start to understand what to expect from these treats. When this happens, you can change to tougher and stronger ones.
Another training technique that could be employed to stop dog’s aggression is to train him to be responsive to their owners. This basically means that your dog should respond to your body language when you tell it to be quiet or stop whatever it is that it is doing. Your dog will eventually learn to anticipate your cues so as to not hurt it off. This type of dog training also has the added benefit that it could actually prevent dog aggression to some extent.
The last, and in some cases, the only way to stop a dog being aggressive to other dogs is to make them see that they are not being liked by simply correcting their actions. There are basically three things that you can do to stop dog being aggressive to other dogs: correct their behavior, show them respect or affection and let them know that you are in command. If you are serious about stopping dog’s aggressive tendencies, then you should try to find out why it is that they are behaving the way they are. Once you have the answer to that question, then you will have a very good chance of stopping a dog’s aggressive behavior for good.
