Treatment of aggression

Treating aggressive behavior is best handled by a professional animal behaviorist or a very experienced, reputable animal trainer. There are a number of individuals who call themselves animal behaviorists or trainers who are poorly qualified. They often resort to brutal and sadistic methods such as "hanging" and shock collars to correct aggressive dogs. Excessive force and punishment are their main tools.
When seeking a professional trainer, always seek advice from your veterinarian and carefully interview trainers to find the one who uses the least amount of force necessary.
Treatment consists of listing all the things that trigger aggressive behavior and preventing these situations from developing. For example, if the dog growls when you try to remove it from the couch, don't allow it to get on the couch.
The first impulse is to minimize contact between an aggressive dog and the person or people he is most aggressive to. However, this scheme only encourages the dog to become dominant to more and more people and tightens his control of the household. Therefore, the individual who is having the most difficulty with the dog should become the main provider for everything the dog needs food, water, exercise, praise, affection, and all play activity. This person must be able to train the dog to obey basic obedience commands of sit, stay, come, and down. He will probably need a lot of help with the down command (which puts the animal in a submissive position) so he doesn't get bitten.
All other family members must totally ignore the dog no play, food, or affection. The dog must look on that one person as its sole provider of everything.
The dog must be rewarded for any signs of submissive behavior such as ears back, looking away (avoiding eye contact), rolling over, licking, crouching, or lowering the head when being reached for. Any dominant gestures that the dog will tolerate should be used frequently and the dog must be praised and given occasional food rewards for submitting. The dog must earn everything.
Once a dog starts to respond, then counter-conditioning can be started, but this should only be done with a qualified behaviorist-trainer. Counter-conditioning includes working with a dog that doesn't like its feet or hindquarters handled; it is also referred to as desensitizing the dog to certain stimuli or conditions.
To counter-condition a dog that does not like its hindquarters handled, first teach the dog to stand on command, then, with an experienced handler controlling the dog's head, the gently touch the rear end. If the dog submits, praise and give a food treat. Repeat praise and reward for each positive response. Gradually increase the duration and frequency of handling and praise the dog for each act of submission, no matter how small.
Aggressive dogs can be retrained under the right circumstances. Keep in mind, however, before anyone starts a program to correct an aggressive dog, he must realize that the dog may never be trustworthy around other people or children and may bite if provoked. Owners should always be given the cold, hard facts: they should never feel guilty for having an aggressive dog euthanized, but they should also realize that, if they are likely to make the same mistakes with another dog, they should not get another dog.

Signs of aggression

The late Dr. Harvey Braaf VMD listed the following symptoms of dog aggression. None of these symptoms should be ignored; each can be a predictor of serious aggressive behavior. A professional trainer should be contacted if the owner cannot deal with the problem.
In no case should the animal be abandoned to a shelter or rescue organization for adoption by an unsuspecting new owner.
If you think your dog is aggressive check the following symptoms

• Excessive barking;
• A tendency to snarl, growl, or snap to protect food;
• Overprotectiveness of possessions;
• Fearfulness in new situations or around strangers;
• Severe attacks on other animals, such as cats or livestock;
• Attempts to mount people's legs;
• Snapping and snarling when petted, groomed, or lifted;
• Frequent attempts to chase moving objects such as bicycles, skateboards, cars and trucks;
• Repeated escapes from home and long periods spent roaming free

Factors influencing aggression

Genetic and hereditary factors play a major role in aggression. Protective breeds such as Dobermans, Akitas, and Rottweilers are expected to be more aggressive than Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers. Feisty terriers were bred to kill small game, and they still retain this characteristic.
Inbreeding can create unstable temperaments, and hormones can contribute to aggressive tendencies in intact male dogs, females in heat or in a false pregnancy, and females nursing puppies.
Environment -- living conditions, lack of socialization, excessive punishment, being attacked or frightened by an aggressive dog, being spoiled or given too much unwarranted praise by owners, being isolated from human contact or being exposed to frequent teasing by children or aggravation by joggers --can also influence aggression.
Obviously, dogs are not people. They have a pack order that determines their social rank, a pack order that is established and maintained by body language. Some dogs occupy dominant or alpha status, and some have low rank or omega status. When dogs live with people, they look at humans as members of the pack and try to establish their place in the social order by challenging the more submissive family members, particularly the children. If dogs display a dominant gesture such as growling while guarding the food dish, and they are not corrected for this behavior, they have established a bit of dominance to build on with any or all family members. If these dominant gestures remain uncorrected, the dog slowly but surely gains in status over one or all family members.
The subtle signs of dominance usually go unnoticed or are explained away until the dog bites the human for infringement on his alpha position. The owner misunderstands the progression of behaviors and blames the dog for biting "for no reason." These dogs frequently end up at animal shelters and are destroyed because their owners misunderstood the development of aggressive behavior.

Preventing aggression

The primary goal is simple -- never allow any dog to achieve dominant status over any adult or child. If dogs always know their social ranking and are never allowed to challenge people, they will usually be good family members.
The first rule for preventing problems is to match the right breed and puppy to the right owner. In other words, the Rottweiler or Akita is not a suitable breed for a meek or mild owner or the macho owner looking for a tough, aggressive dog; the Dalmatian and the Flat-Coated Retriever do not fit sedentary lifestyles; the Shetland Sheepdog or the Chihuahua do not like boisterous, rowdy children, etc. Likewise, the litter bully will take over the home of a submissive owner and the shy puppy needs extra attention to adjust to an active household.
Puppy testing done by the breeder can help. The test includes social attraction, following, restraint, social dominance and elevation dominance.
Aggression prevention includes early socialization. Puppies should be handled gently, especially between three and four months of age. They should be hand-fed by children and adults and taught to take food without grabbing or lunging. They should not be allowed to chase children or joggers, jump on people, mount legs, or growl for any reason. They should never receive or be part of rough, aggressive play such as hand-fighting, wrestling, or tug-of-war games. Puppies should never be physically punished for aggressive behavior; instead, they should be denied the rewards of aggression, restrained from repeating the infraction, and taught alternative behavior.
If puppies bite at or jump on children, the children should take charge by screaming "Off!" and crossing their arms (to protect hands and arms from being grabbed) and turning away. Puppies love to play; if fun is denied when they get too rough, they will learn to play more calmly.
Puppy parties, where children of all ages visit and play gentle games and offer food rewards are helpful for the children and the puppy.
The puppy should be part of the family pack and should learn to accept delivery people, repairmen, and other strangers. Once they have been vaccinated against the common canine diseases, puppies should be exposed to non-aggressive dogs so they learn that other dogs as well as other people are friendly.