This is a can of compressed air that when emitted makes a loud, startling sound.Īs soon as the dog begins to show protective body language, say, “No!” and spray for a split second toward the dog (not at the dog.)įor better control over an aggressive dog, use a head collar, such as a Halti. When you are communicating to the dog that you do not need to be protected, I suggest purchasing the Pet Corrector. You must assert yourself as the leader and show the dog that you are in no need of protection.ĭogs will feel that they need to take control of a situation if they feel their owner cannot. Understand that the dog is showing you that for some reason you need to be protected. The most important thing to do if you have a dog like this is to implement leadership techniques. You put yourself in great danger if you physically correct a dog like this - often the aggression will redirect itself toward you. Once you have found that your dog is being aggressive or barking at men because your dog is being protective, and you are in a situation where your dog is acting like this, move away from the threatening person. Once your dog has become less sensitive to men, you can hire a male to walk your dog or a male relative to offer food to help establish a positive association with men. Yes, at Home Depot there are tons of men, and Home Depot allows dogs in their store. On the third week, go a little closer to the stimulus but not close enough that the dog reacts aggressively, then praise and reward.Ĭontinue this process for as long as it takes for the dog to be comfortable being closer to men.Ī good place to work on desensitizing your dog is - wait for it - Home Depot. Praise and reward your dog for not reacting to men and continue at the same distance for about two weeks. During training, you need to desensitize your dog by finding his “threshold of tolerance,” or the location where your dog notices the fearful stimulus but does not react. This is best done through leadership exercises.Īlong with leadership training, you also need to set aside some time to train your dog not be fearful of men. When adjusting your dog’s fearful behavior, you must work on building his confidence. Overwhelming a fearful dog can cause him to bite. If your dog is obviously scared, do not allow people to pet him. Instead, calmly give a “no reward marker” like “Nope!” and move away from the fearful situation while directing your dog’s attention onto you with a high-value food treat. If you physically correct a fearful dog, you can exacerbate the fear or have the dog redirect the aggression onto yourself.Īlso, do not try to calm your dog by stroking him or speaking in a sweet tone, as the dog will take this as a reward for the behavior and you will be inadvertently reinforcing the unwanted behavior. If you find yourself in a situation where your dog is barking or being aggressive toward men and you have diagnosed that it’s out of fear, do not freak out and physically correct your dog. The treatment plans for dogs that bark at men are different dependent on the underlying cause: Barking Due to a Fear of Men If you are on the receiving end of this behavior and the dog is growling and showing a short mouth, back away - this dog is showing intent to bite. The short mouth snarl shows only the front teeth and is much more threatening than the long mouth. The dog would be leaning toward the threatening person, tail up and still, hackles up or piloerection, ears forward, and displaying a “short mouth.” If the underlying cause is the feeling of protectiveness, the body language would be quite different. This is usually a display snarl and is used to scare to the person. If the dog is barking out of fear, he is being self-protective and will be leaning away from the feared person or stimulus and have a lowered body stance, with his ears back, hackles up or piloerection, tail tucked, and have a “long mouth.” The long mouth is a snarl that shows all of the dog’s teeth. The best way to discern the cause of your dog’s barking and aggression is to read his body language. If the dog is feeling protective over you, the techniques will show the dog that you do not need to be protected since you are the leader. They will also help the dog understand that he does not need to be fearful because you are in control. If fear is the underlying cause of the barking, leadership techniques will help build the dog’s confidence. No matter the cause of the aggression, the most important thing is to implement leadership techniques. The good news is that there are relatively simple training and behavior-modification techniques you can use to eliminate this behavior.Īlthough there are many reasons that a dog could bark or act aggressively with men, I find that fear is the most common one, followed by the feeling that they need to protect their owner.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |