April 12, 2011
We were told that we should spray her with water every time our dog shows agression towards strangers or toys. Do you think this will work?
Full Question:
Hi,I was reading your article on-line about aggressive dog behavior and was hoping you could give me some advice regarding my dog. She is a 3-year-old Chinese Shar Pei Mix, who is most likely inbred. As a puppy she growled at strangers and has never really liked being pet. She was definitely a hand licker and still doesn't like her paws being touched. I took her to obedience training and socialized her at the local dog park where she gets along great with other dogs, but never lets any of the strangers pet her. When a stranger at the park tries to pet her she lowers her head, backs up and sometimes even growls. Recently she has started showing aggression towards anyone, even myself, over new toys that she really likes, like a rawhide bone. She growls and shows her teeth at anyone who comes near her when she has that new toy, but once you put that new toy away and out of sight she is back to herself. I'd like to be able to give her new toys, but don't know which ones will trigger this aggressive behavior. Is this aggressive behavior correctable? Other people have suggested I use the spray bottle technique and spray her face if she shows signs of aggression. Do you feel that this technique would be effective? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Regards,
Virginia
Ed's Answer:
I am going to suggest several DVDs and articles. A spray bottle is not the method we would suggest for showing aggression. We might use it to keep our cats off the counter but that’s about it.
Please read this article about becoming an effective pack leader.
The first sentence in this article says it all: “You can feed water and love your dog and he will like you but he very well may not respect you. “99% of all behavioral problems are a result of dogs not respecting their owners. This happens as a result of poor handling and/or poor training.
This article was written for people like yourself, people who have great intentions but not enough knowledge of pack structure. There are links within the article that will take you to other articles on my web site. She sees herself as the leader, and you and everyone else as followers.
Pack structure and how to live with a dog in your home are the first issues to deal with whenever you add a new dog to your family or have problems with an existing dog. We recently finished a new DVD that covers this called Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Pet.
I believe that this DVD could really help you. It’s titled DEALING WITH DOMINANT AND AGGRESSIVE DOGS and was a 5 year project.
You can go to the web page and read the outline of what’s included on the video. My DVDs are not meant to be watched one time. The fact is anyone who needs this information needs to watch it many many times because every time they watch it they will pick up new ideas.
Once you have the pack structure straightened out then I would work her through the obedience exercises in our Basic Dog Obedience DVD.
Working through these issues won’t happen overnight, but they can be improved with a restructuring of her freedom and giving her rules and boundaries.
I hope this helps.
Please read this article about becoming an effective pack leader.
The first sentence in this article says it all: “You can feed water and love your dog and he will like you but he very well may not respect you. “99% of all behavioral problems are a result of dogs not respecting their owners. This happens as a result of poor handling and/or poor training.
This article was written for people like yourself, people who have great intentions but not enough knowledge of pack structure. There are links within the article that will take you to other articles on my web site. She sees herself as the leader, and you and everyone else as followers.
Pack structure and how to live with a dog in your home are the first issues to deal with whenever you add a new dog to your family or have problems with an existing dog. We recently finished a new DVD that covers this called Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Pet.
I believe that this DVD could really help you. It’s titled DEALING WITH DOMINANT AND AGGRESSIVE DOGS and was a 5 year project.
You can go to the web page and read the outline of what’s included on the video. My DVDs are not meant to be watched one time. The fact is anyone who needs this information needs to watch it many many times because every time they watch it they will pick up new ideas.
Once you have the pack structure straightened out then I would work her through the obedience exercises in our Basic Dog Obedience DVD.
Working through these issues won’t happen overnight, but they can be improved with a restructuring of her freedom and giving her rules and boundaries.
I hope this helps.
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