PREVENTING DOG AGGRESSION TO HUMANS

If you have received a puppy from a reputable breeder that has grown up in a litter of more than one puppy and has not been separated from its littermates before 7 weeks, your puppy will have received some preliminary preventative training all ready.

Now your new puppy is on its way home with you.  Throw away any training material that suggests you should discipline it by rubbing its nose in accidents, whacking it with folded newspapers, throwing it on its back and holding it down while it screams, tying it to your waist with a leash for hours.

New training methods encourage the positive.  The above cruel methods are not used on children unless you want a visit from the Children’s Aid.  They are worse than useless on puppies.  The following approaches will go a long way to having your puppy love you, want to please, and have no desire to hurt you.

Puppy proof your home.  Until your puppy is at least a year, pack away fragile and dangerous items.  Pay special attention to electric cords and poisonous house plants.  Put a crate in your living area, not to jail the puppy for hours, but as a parking area for times you cannot watch it, as when you are cooking, etc. Prevention of damage is much better than punishing a puppy for accidents caused by breakable items.

Ensure that your puppy has many hours of free outdoor play in a safely fenced area.  Under exercised and cooped up puppies can be destructive and aggressive just from sheer frustration.

Enroll your puppy in a puppy kindergarten or play group, so that the lessons learned with its littermates are not forgotten. If it forgets and bites down hard on you, let out an earthshaking scream.  The puppy will start back in dismay, and realize that you are fragile, and not playful like its littermates.  You can even test the progress by putting your hand in the dog’s mouth.  When it does not try to clamp down, this lesson has been learned.

By two months, after the second set of shots, the puppy can be started on beginner obedience in a school where positive and motivational methods are used.  Concepts such as shaping, naming the activity desired, and saying yes or no as the puppy does the right thing or not, are signs of up to date training.  The jury is out on food training.  I find with some dogs it is very helpful for developing a keenly positive attitude to training class.  For many breeds, especially the larger ones, it can be very useful in getting the dog to go into a down with pleasure.  They will be growing into a dog too big to force down, so it is desirable to have them associate the action with a reward, at the beginning at least. You will avoid getting into a total battle and encouraging an aggressive resistance by your puppy.

Be sure your dog wears collar and tags, and is taught for the beginning to walk on your left, at heel, without pulling on the lead.  I raise a breed where a cloth martingale all purpose collar is sufficient.  For some breeds, a Volhard snap-around collar works well (1.5 inches of slack, and they must be changed as the puppy grows).  A few may need a pinch collar, fitted to size.  These collars can be expanded by adding links. Haltis also work with some.  The last three types are for training, and are not worn for everyday or house use.  The martingale collar which has no plastic and can slip off in an emergency is a better choice. It doubles as an ID collar and a training collar.  Avoid old fashioned chain chokers.  They damage coats, can strangle dogs if caught somewhere, and are not as effective as the other types. Once you have a willing obedient young dog, the chance of building aggressive tendencies with rough treatment diminish.  Martingale collars may be ordered from Rokaro Kennel by e-mail or phone. Link.

House training should be done by taking the puppy out regularly on rising, after eating, after playing, and before bedtime.  How would you feel if you were locked in a room until you soiled yourself, then beaten for doing it?  You would become depressed, fearful, and angry, and so would your puppy.  Use humane positive methods.  If the dog soils, you are to blame, as you did not take it outside soon enough or sufficiently.  Crating at night is a way station to control, as the puppy will tend not to soil its sleeping area.

Firmly discourage any application of the dog’s mouth and jaws to your body or clothes.  Keep toys in its play area and a toy basket in the living room. The puppy will need a variety of materials to chew while it is teething.  Stuffed toys from the Salvation Army stores (with eyes etc. removed), hard rubber toys such as rings and rubber kongs (our dogs adore the floating type with the rope attached), and bones large and solid enough to chew safely are all good.  Teach constructive games such as Fetch.  Avoid tug of war games, as they can teach the puppy to be aggressive and struggle against you.

Totally avoid allowing the puppy to jump up.  This is hard on your clothes, annoying to visitors, and dangerous to children.  Teach the command Off.  If necessary, use a long line and a friend or family member.  Put the dog on the line, encourage it to come and jump.  If it tries to do so, the other person will pull back on the correction collar, and say Off.  Most dogs do not need many corrections to get the idea.  Then be positive.  Teach the puppy to come and Sit for treats and caresses.  If it jumps up, it gets nothing.  Try…Yes, Good Sit…for the correct behaviour. 

Dealing with children requires a combination of training both the child and puppy.  No interaction should be allowed without adult supervision.  Forbid the children to tease or hit the puppy.  Let them hand feed the puppy, and develop positive games like Fetch.

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

There are a few special circumstances that need caution.  Grabbing fresh meat bones away from a puppy is not reasonable.  It should be allowed to eat undisturbed by children or other pets.  Some dogs will snap if stepped on or awakened suddenly from sleep. Placing them in a crate as a safe retreat often stops the problem before it starts.  Do not let them start guarding the hallway.  No need to be confrontational.  Teach them their crate is the place, even with the door open, if they want to be alone and undisturbed.

Start as you mean to go on.  If sleeping on your bed is ok, don’t suddenly punish the dog for doing it.  If your circumstances change (as in illness, marriage etc.), you may have to put a roomy crate in the bedroom and some favorite toys and bones to make the transition to staying off the bed easier.

Our vet says that in his opinion, there is no dog that will never bite under exceptional circumstances, such as sudden unexpected and severe pain.  If you have to handle a dog in such circumstances, throw something over its head or try to muzzle it with soft cloth.  An attempt to bite on the part of a suffering dog is not the sign of an aggressive animal.  There is an upper limit to pain tolerance.

Never try to break up a dog fight with your hands.  Use a broom, furniture or whatever is handy until the combatants have been separated and can safely be leashed and taken away from each other.

Good ideas on obedience training and interacting with dogs can be found in the latest edition of Dogs in Canada’s breeders directory, and the many dog training books and videos authored by the Volhard’s, many of them out in paperback.  There is no perfect trainer, training school, or book that has all the answers.  Kindness, consistency, prevention rather than punishment, and spending quality time with your puppy so that it will love you and want to please…are ideas to prevent aggression and build a life-time loving relationship with your new pet.

Margery Armstrong, Rokaro Kennel Reg’d, trainer of many breeds but particularly of Borzoi, Salukis, and Shetland Sheepdogs, and trainer and owner of two triathalon winners, Borzoi CnCh Called Del Fantasia of Rokaro F.Ch. CD, CGC and Saluki CnAmCh Zahir's Sahara Sand CGC

Shown above, CnCh Rokaro’s Infanta Ikona CGC CD in training for her CDX with the Shepherds at Appleridge Training Academy, near Ingersoll, ON. Trained and owned by Margery Armstrong.

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