No Hope for an Aggressive Dog?
Many people who call me to help with their dog’s aggression have sought help elsewhere in the past. In some cases, a trainer took on the dog and the positive outcome they found was short-lived, with the aggression returning, sometimes with more added problems and escalation. The other common case I hear about these desperate dog owners is that at the consult, the trainer has turned them away, saying their dog is a lost cause; sometimes they even advised the owner to consider surrender or euthanasia.
As a dog trainer who has dealt with all types of aggression issues – sibling, dog, food/resource, human, etc. – I have serious issues with this approach. While there may be severe cases where it appears the dog is beyond help, the majority actually shows that there IS hope for these dogs. Certainly there’s a lot more caution and patience applied – I always tell people that dog training isn’t like a magic show. Most of the time, I work with a dog on their first lesson and the owner is astounded by the change of behavior in their best friend. I show that their dog is capable of change and obedience, but that they must maintain consistency and commitment for the dog to achieve the life-long results they want. I stress that every dog is different, and sometimes a dog will learn quickly and adopt the appropriate behavior as typical, everyday behavior. Other times, a dog requires a lot more of work, which is time-consuming and occasionally frustrating for the owners. Still, good, long-lasting behavior CAN be accomplished, and the owner and dog can find balance and a healthy, harmonious relationship in the home.
Take for instance, Phoebe. She is a young Staffordshire mix that has dealt with food aggression for a very long time. Her owners called me because they saw Phoebe’s condition worsening, where she would growl, bite, and lunge at anyone that was even just strolling past her as she ate her meals. Before meeting me, her owners kept looking for answers to help their beloved dog. They read about the purely positive training, how to apply dominance with aggressive cases, and much more. At times, some of these methods worked, but only temporarily. Some of these techniques made it worse, where Phoebe displayed more distrust to her human family. Still, no matter who it was, if Phoebe was eating her kibble or chewing on one of her rawhides, no one could go near her, touch her, or even talk to her without hearing a growl or getting snapped at.
On a related note, I recently had a consult with a woman with an aggressive Pit/Lab mix, that would lunge at strangers and was now starting to even bite people that the dog had known for many years. The owner had taken her dog to a trainer that said they would confront the aggression immediately, and completely focus on that particular problem. While the aggression was the main issue, I wondered how they would first build a foundation for this dog to learn from, work off of, and eventually graduate to the next level with all the basics ingrained in his mind and routine. The owner said the trainer explained that they could not do basic obedience until the aggression was under control first.
Since the beginning of this year, I have been working closely with Phoebe and her owners. The entire family is very committed to helping Phoebe overcome her anxiety and aggression with her food. Before even confronting the aggression issue, we tried to prepare Phoebe with a set up that would allow her to succeed in certain exercises and real-life situations. Unlike the aforementioned owner that could not teach obedience and structure until the aggression was eliminated, I am somewhat of the opposite. Aggression is a very intense behavioral problem and often leads to dangerous situations, for both people and the dog. It should definitely be dealt with, but depending on the dog, it is important to be cautious on how we approach it.
With Phoebe’s case, we made the necessary environmental changes that would take away any opportunity to fail, and delivered a training regimen that could help her understand structure in the household. We confronted the aggression soon, but in the beginning we wanted to start with the basics to help prep her for the big league. Through this, we consequently created more chances of her succeeding at the training. When it came to her meal times before we tackled the aggression, we worked on obedience and also desensitization. We set Phoebe and her owners up safely, and allowed Phoebe to eat with her owners there, applying reward-based techniques where she could slowly feel at ease with human presence, and also gradually see that she is rewarded when she is calm and not acting inappropriately.
Phoebe has struggled at times with the training, but even if she was not perfect yet, every time I saw her I could see that she was making progress. Since I last spoke with Phoebe’s owners, she has calmed down more and will even let them talk to her, step near her, and pet her while she eats. They understand that Phoebe needs a lot of patience from them, and they are so pleased with the gradual advancement she has made and is continuing to make. When an owner is committed to helping their dog, I am committed to helping all of them as much as they need me. Phoebe is actually approaching her last session, and she has come a long way since I first met her and witnessed her food aggression.
As a commitment-based trainer, I work with the dog and committed owners until they get the results they want. It is possible I may be making extra visits to Phoebe’s home to help her totally get over this behavior problem, but I am happy to do it, because it is obvious that Phoebe is not “a lost cause” or is “so bad that euthanasia must be considered an option”. I exhaust every possibility there is to help a dog, and even if it’s the very last option in the deck, I still always end up finding hope and progress just waiting there to be unleashed and flourish.
Please give me a call at 800.649.7297 to learn more about my training program and how I can help!