Is Your Dog Showing Aggression In The Home?

Aggression in the home has become an epidemic. What I mean by aggression in the home is where your dog has possibly bitten the kids, the adults and even the other dog in the house. Sometime it hasn't gone that far yet however the dog does growl at you when you try to get it off the couch or the bed.

Quite often the dog that is showing aggression in the home is great with strangers in or out of the home. The good thing about this problem is that about 95% of the time it can be fixed with some training and some behavior modification. The hardest thing is finding a trainer or behavior specialist that has experience solving this type of problem.

When we see this type of aggression it is because the dog has gotten to a point where it thinks it is the alpha in the home. It does not want to be corrected by somebody else in the pack that is not above it.

Almost every time that we see this problem we are dealing with an untrained dog. When we talk about a trained dog I am referring to obedience training. Obedience training is what establishes you the owner as the alpha in the home. Without obedience training the dog doesn't know who the alpha is so it assumes the position.

The obedience training exercises you will need to do include the sit, down, sit-stay, down-stay as well as the recall (come). You will also train your dog to walk nicely on a loose leash (heel) so it does not drag you down the street.

Along with the obedience training you will be doing some behavior modification. What type of behavior modification depends on your dog and the extent of the aggression problem.

Usually this problem will not appear until sometime between 12 and 24 months of age and will actually get worse as the dog gets older. The sooner the problem is corrected the better chances you have of correcting the problem. The longer your dog shows this aggression then it starts to be a learned response and is harder to correct.

If you have aggression in the home with your dog find a good trainer and/or behavior specialist in your area that has experience with this specific problem. Remember start the corrective action early before it is too late and before someone in your home is seriously injured.

Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?Is-Your-Dog-Showing-Aggression-In-The-Home?&id=8419475