What To Know When Walking An Aggressive Dog

You probably can relate to this if your dog is aggressive. You are taking him for a walk in the neighborhood, everything is going great. Out of nowhere, the dog's ears pop up, and he goes into a different mode. 

He shoots after a squirrel, another dog, or even worse, after a neighbor. If he is on a leash, then you are fighting to keep him restrained. What can you do to make the energy he has a positive experience instead of a negative one? Here are a few tips. 

First, you need to redirect the energy that he has by relaxing the dog. This way the energy is going to be a source of something good. Figure out what brought the dog to the point of aggression like it did. 

Once a dog gets this blast of energy, their natural instinct is to satisfy it, and many will use it to prey on an object or animal. Since the owner of the dog is going to have more predator like manners, and less prey like manners, then a dog that is energized is going to be in conflict with the owner. 

The problem is the dog will be distracted by its surroundings, so it will resolve the distraction by charging after it. If you hold it back, then it will get even more frustration, so the next object it sees will gain even more aggression from it. 

Once you take note that the dog is starting to focus on the surroundings and about to get energized, this is when you need to refocus the animal. Walking an aggressive dog can take some time to get him to refocus like he should, so keep this in mind. 

If you are tugging on the leash, then wiggle it, pull it to you, whatever, just make sure you reset their attention. It is all about getting to focus on you and not their surroundings when they go into this mode. 

You may have to walk in a different direction with the aggressive dog, just to change his focus. This is temporary though, because eventually you are going to want him to listen to what you say instead of just changing his surroundings. But it is a start. 

What you want to do is get the dog to the point that when there is a distraction there, then he looks to you to see what your reaction is. That way you can correct him, refocus his attention so his aggression when walking him will subside. 

You are going to have to patiently be on the lookout for the dog's attention to make that shift, so be aware of that. Whatever you do, don't give up and don't give in to the dog. You are the master. 

So keep the dog focused when walking him, and no matter how aggressive the dog is, you will eventually have results. Keep that in mind and soon you will get your pet to the state of mind he needs to be in when taking him for his walk.

Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?What-To-Know-When-Walking-An-Aggressive-Dog&id=8598396