If your Dog is becoming very aggressive, get him checked out by the vet first, if only to rule out physical causes. For instance, if your Dog is in great pain or discomfort, he may demonstrate this by being very mean or irritable. But before you try to sort out his aggressive behaviour, it is best to first rule out any medical condition.
There are many causes of canine aggression. So, it would be worthwhile for you to identify the cause of his aggression and then give him the relevant help. Once you have identified the cause your next step would be to give him obedience training—both to socialize him and to prevent aggression from occurring.
Kinds of aggression:
Dogs express their aggression in various ways. These are:
Possession aggression:
You can sometimes see this occur when we make the mistake of going over to our pet while he’s eating. Your Dog probably interprets your presence as your coming over to take back his bowl of food—something he will never want to part with! This feeling stems from the basic fact that Dogs don’t share their things. Such a Dog usually guards his possessions—whether they are his food, toys or even his master.
One way of preventing this is through the training of your dog while he is a puppy. You do this by giving him something and then taking it back. After a while, return it to him. From this he will learn that though someone may have what he wants, if he is patient, it will come back to him. To make it easier for him, teach him to respond to “give.”
Cage rage:
You cage your pet for no reason for indiscriminately long periods. And what do you expect? First of all, anger. Then, the feeling in your Dog that the cage belongs to him. This feeling comes out of caging your pet and then forgetting all about him. This angers him and he flares up. Further, he feels trapped and immobile when the whole world is doing things and happily too! So, he stays in his cage and fights the way he knows best.
Cage rage can also manifest itself as hyperactivity. This may just be a temporary reaction, which goes away the moment the Dog’s independence is restored to it.
Chained reaction:
This is the combination of fear and territorial aggression as a result of the dog being chained. New pet owners take in a Dog and then chain him up for long hours a day while he watches the rest of the family go about its business from where it lies chained. This builds up a feeling of anger and resentment in him and he expresses this by barking, jumping on those around him, particularly kids who enjoy this. They laugh at him and then go away, ignoring him once more.
As time passes, he develops a territorial feeling about his space and no longer wants a game. He feels cheated by the fact that the very family who professed to love him ignores him now and is happy to leave him in chains. One day, when he can’t tolerate it any longer, he reaches out and bites the person closest to him.
If you, as a pet owner, don't want your dog to roam free and be a part of your family then please reconsider owning a dog.
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Aggression In Dogs
