How To Train An Aggressive Dog: A Complete Guide

Having an aggressive dog is a big problem. He may be aggressive towards you, other people, or other dogs. It can cause severe issues and complications. You may wonder about the obvious. Can you and how to train an aggressive dog? The first thing to know is that, yes, you can train an aggressive dog. It is a time-consuming process and will require a lot of patience, but it is essential. There are also a lot of other things you will need to know regarding this matter.

Signs Your Dog Is Aggressive

Aggression will start as a warning and progress to an attack. This is the last thing you need in your life, and it is something you need to prevent. How to train an aggressive dog is a must-know if your pet shows some of these signs.

• Shows teeth
• Growls
• Stands still and rigid.
• Snarls (growls and shows teeth at the same time)
• Charging someone
• biting but not applying pressure
• Bits that are slow or fast

It is important to know that your pet may do this for countless reasons. It is also important to know that he may show one sign or multiple ones at the same time. There are no rules for that.

How To Train An Aggressive Dog? A Complete Guide.

The first thing you need to know is that training an aggressive dog all by yourself is extremely difficult and hard. It is even impossible for some dog owners. As such, you will need professional help. It is expensive and obviously time-consuming, but it is the simplest method for you and your dog.

You must find the source of his aggression and eliminate it during the training. This is essential, and it can be almost anything. We will cover and explain all the main causes of his behaviour later on, so make sure you spend some time on that section as well.

The next thing to know is that your dog must go to the vet before the training starts. He may have a disease or other health issue that causes the aggression. A full checkup is mandatory, and a vet must determine that your pet is 100% healthy and feels fine.

If everything is fine with your dog, you may want to start the training. Basically, it goes as any other, ordinary training, but with some changes and it will require more time. Anyway, implement these points in your training and you should see some results within days.

1. Positive Behavior Correction Must Be Used

The main thing to know and remember is that you must not use punishment when training an aggressive dog. Some dogs are aggressive due to fear, and when you beat them, they will become even more scared and aggressive. They can attack in that state. Another thing to know is that a dog can sense when you are scared or nervous. If you try to train him while you are feeling like that, he won’t obey you. Make sure you are calm but show authority.

2. Give A Reward When Your Pet Does A Good Thing

Using and giving rewards to your dog during training is a mandatory and essential part of the process. You can give him a treat, which is the most common option. You can also give him a toy or just cuddle him a bit. The goal is so he can understand when he did something good and that he will get the reward when he does this again. 

3. Use Tools To Help You complete The Training In Less Time

You may want to use a dog collar for training. This is very effective on some dogs. They are the first and the most common, while also being the most effective tool when training an aggressive dog. On the other hand, there are other options as well. You can use prong collars as well. This is a very appealing option. An ordinary collar will choke your dog when you pull him.

This one will make him feel discomfort on his neck, which is identical to when his mother nips him in the same area and he feels discomfort. It means that behavior he displays is not acceptable. 

Last but not least important is a muzzle. It should be used 60 minutes before a meal or anything that your dog finds appealing and desirable. This is used to make him associate the sound of the muzzle to a dog time and you can use this in all situations where aggression must not be present.

Understand Why Your Dog Is Aggressive

It is mandatory to understand why your dog is aggressive. Yes, there are many reasons, but all of them are obvious and all of them can be worked out. Anyway, a dog can be aggressive because he feels like aggression is needed. There are several categories of aggression in dogs. These are:

• Pain caused
• Defensive
• Territorial
• Fear-caused
• Unsocialized
• Protective
• Possessive

We need to explain some of these categories and some of these aggression types. The first one is to know is that if you have adopted a dog from a shelter and he was abused, he will have triggers that will be present in certain cases. If this happens, every single time when he sees one or more of those triggers, he will become aggressive. This applies to all dogs and can be caused by numerous things or issues.

A dog who was hurt in some way will probably be in pain. But, if he shows aggression only when the pain is present, this is the cause, obviously. What this means is that once the pain goes away, he will stop being aggressive. You need to talk to your vet and try to help your dog eliminate pain from his life.

The most common reason why a dog is aggressive is territorial. He will become aggressive when he sees another dog, animal, or person on his territory. This will likely be his yard or your home in general. He will display severe signs of aggression and he may attack hat person or a dog. After all, your dog doesn’t like nor will tolerate others on his territory and he will chase them as soon as he can.

Possessive aggression is visible when a dog becomes aggressive when someone or other animal wants to play or touch his toys or his stuff. This can be his bed, his house, toy, or anything else. In essence, these aggression types are very common and the most severe. Proper training is mandatory in both cases and it should help your dog understand that this is a severe problem and his behavior must be changed. 

Some things you can do is to recognize those triggers and the causes of aggression and remove them from the life of your pet. Add proper training to the equation and you can expect a lot of success. 

Do Not Ignore His Aggression

Most dog owners will do the simplest thing. They will ignore his aggression. After all, a dog isn’t aggressive 24/7, and he has happy moments. This is a mistake for so many reasons, some of which are the most important.

First of all, an aggressive dog is a massive threat to other people and animals. He can attack, bite, or hurt another person, and you will be responsible. Your pet may be put to sleep afterward, which is a nightmare for all dog owners. Recognize the problem and start working on it as soon as you can. Ideally, you will start today and help your dog within days.

Your dog must protect you! Aggression will have a negative impact on this, and it is something that can make any situation even worse. Always remember that your dog has much stronger and more powerful senses of smell and hearing than humans. It means that they can detect and act on any threat much sooner than you can! It means that aggressive dogs will attack sooner and cause an even bigger problem for their owners.

Your dog should show signs of aggression and protect you when needed. But he must obey you, and after you tame him, the signs of aggression must vanish. This is the ideal scenario.

The Final Word

How to train an aggressive dog is one of those questions that some dog owners must get answered right now. Aggression in dogs is a severe problem and it can make your life dreadful. It is also dangerous to you, other humans, and other animals. In the end, you need to remember a few things.

You need to remove the sources and eliminate the aggression of your dog. Train him properly and work with him so he can understand that this type of dog behavior was a huge mistake. Never punish an aggressive dog.