Stop Dog Biting - Stop Dog Aggression - How YOU May Be Causing It!
"I give my dog so much loving attention--how can he still have fear aggression?"Well, there's a good chance that all your loving attention may actually be CAUSING his fear aggression!It is not true that only dogs that have been harshly treated wind up as aggressive biters or fighters.
Even when a dog is treated gently--but incorrectly--we can either induce or reinforce aggression.
How you touch your dog and how you greet your dog can cause him to be fearful and can contribute to the next aggressive event.
The difficulty with fear biters--or nervous aggressive dogs--is that people with the best intentions in the world often contribute to the problem.
What's wrong with this picture:You come in and greet your dog, leaning over to pet him.
He rolls over and you gently and lovingly rub his stomach.
What's wrong is that you have just caused and rewarded the most submissive gesture a dog can make (rolling over on back).
How to Greet Your Dog When you greet a dog--even your own--your posture has a profound influence on your dog's behavior.
How to greet your dog to cause fear and submission:look him straight in the eye with your shoulders squared to him, lean over him, and reach down from above.
How to greet your dog so he won't be fearful:squat down, don't stare at his eyes right away, and reach from the floor up to him to pet him.
How NOT to Pet Your Dog If you pet your dog on the back of his neck, you are rewarding your dog for submitting to the threat you express by touching him at the back of his neck.
You are threatening the dog's life because dogs kill at the back of the neck.
As an analogy, imagine greeting someone.
You extend your hand, and they reach out and gently grab your throat.
That person was not hurting you, not killing you, and not choking you but you will instantly and powerfully react emotionally and psychologically to the fact that the person gently grabbed your throat.
Dogs react exactly the same way when you touch the back of their neck...
If the dog is in fact a fear biter, the more you--in love--touch or caress the back of his neck, the more you induce fearful aggression.
Rewarding Submission So now you have leaned over your dog and petted him on the back of his neck and he makes the ultimate submissive gesture:he rolls over on his back.
What do you do then?Well, rub his stomach, of course!Now you have just rewarded the most submissive gesture a dog can make.
You have reinforced his fear and submission.
There are several motives for dog aggression.
You have to be careful to avoid simply switching motives; in other words, if you treat a dog's dominance aggression very harshly it may now be fearfully aggressive!It usually requires an ethical and competent professional to treat dog aggression.
Even when a dog is treated gently--but incorrectly--we can either induce or reinforce aggression.
How you touch your dog and how you greet your dog can cause him to be fearful and can contribute to the next aggressive event.
The difficulty with fear biters--or nervous aggressive dogs--is that people with the best intentions in the world often contribute to the problem.
What's wrong with this picture:You come in and greet your dog, leaning over to pet him.
He rolls over and you gently and lovingly rub his stomach.
What's wrong is that you have just caused and rewarded the most submissive gesture a dog can make (rolling over on back).
How to Greet Your Dog When you greet a dog--even your own--your posture has a profound influence on your dog's behavior.
How to greet your dog to cause fear and submission:look him straight in the eye with your shoulders squared to him, lean over him, and reach down from above.
How to greet your dog so he won't be fearful:squat down, don't stare at his eyes right away, and reach from the floor up to him to pet him.
How NOT to Pet Your Dog If you pet your dog on the back of his neck, you are rewarding your dog for submitting to the threat you express by touching him at the back of his neck.
You are threatening the dog's life because dogs kill at the back of the neck.
As an analogy, imagine greeting someone.
You extend your hand, and they reach out and gently grab your throat.
That person was not hurting you, not killing you, and not choking you but you will instantly and powerfully react emotionally and psychologically to the fact that the person gently grabbed your throat.
Dogs react exactly the same way when you touch the back of their neck...
If the dog is in fact a fear biter, the more you--in love--touch or caress the back of his neck, the more you induce fearful aggression.
Rewarding Submission So now you have leaned over your dog and petted him on the back of his neck and he makes the ultimate submissive gesture:he rolls over on his back.
What do you do then?Well, rub his stomach, of course!Now you have just rewarded the most submissive gesture a dog can make.
You have reinforced his fear and submission.
There are several motives for dog aggression.
You have to be careful to avoid simply switching motives; in other words, if you treat a dog's dominance aggression very harshly it may now be fearfully aggressive!It usually requires an ethical and competent professional to treat dog aggression.
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