Aggressive Dog Training – Keep it Light and Fun

Michael Baugh CDBC

I don’t remember who it was. A mentor many years ago said, “Aggressive behavior is just behavior.” It plays by the same rules of behavior just like anything else our dogs do.

It’s true. Behavior that is reinforced (think: behavior that works) grows stronger and comes back time and time again. But aggressive dog behavior is distinctly different because powerful emotions fuel it. Aggression works; barking and biting make things stop. And aggression is born of fear turned to anger. Emotionally charged behavior comes up fast and has a kick behind it.

We can replace aggressive behavior with cooperation, more benign tasks and patterns our dogs can follow. New people in our home, for example, can trigger calm and attentive behavior rather than barking and menacing. There’s training for that.

More importantly, though, we can quell the fear and anger behind the aggression. It’s not all about throwing treats at the dog, either. Yes, food plays a role. But there is something else even more powerful at play. You and me. How we behave around our dog when things get tense — that is critical.

Here are some facts. Dogs watch us. They understand our facial expressions. They. notice and respond to our body postures, vocal tones, and some words. Our dogs look to us for social feedback and support. They are social creatures. So are we. Dogs and we have co-evolved for thousands of years. This next part is really cool. Dogs frequently mirror our emotions (and we there’s, I suspect). Model calm behavior for your dog, and you are more likely to see a calmer dog. Act excited and talk in a cheerful voice, and see your dog get bouncy and excited.

I like to keep all training fun and easygoing because I know it helps my dog learn. How we show up in the moment matters. Take a few deep breaths before you start. Let your shoulders relax. Smile. This is especially important when we are working with a dog who has an emotional injury. Our fearful dog (and angry dog) needs a human teacher who is confident but calm, and most of all kind.

If you have a long-standing good relationship with your dog, you are already in an excellent position to succeed. Your relationship counts for more than you might think. You might use clicker training (a mechanical clicker or tongue click) to teach your dog new skills and patterns of behavior. Good. But don’t forget your most powerful advantage: yourself. Learning is not all about the clicks and treats. Leverage your relationship. Include yourself, your gentle words, your reassuring presence. It all counts.

Include play. Take a break for some tug or retrieve. Spend a moment or two between reps to enjoy some goofy time.

Share some joy. Soak some in for yourself. The days we have with our dog are passing quickly. Don’t let them go unlived. Aggressive behavior is serious business. The training to ease it doesn’t have to be.

Michael Baugh CDBC teaches dog training in Sedona AZ and Houston TX. He specializes in aggressive dog training.

Dog Training – How We Show Up Matters

Michael Baugh CDBC

Let’s think about how we begin our dog training sessions. Are we scrambling around looking for that plastic bag of treats? Are we distracted by our phones, our spouses, our kids? Maybe we’re just caught up in our own heads, thinking about other stuff.

It is a disservice to both our dogs and ourselves to show up like a maniac on the run. Be honest, we wouldn’t tolerate that level of inattention from our dogs. We should do better.

And yes, I get it. We live in a fast-paced, everything all at once world. Life is hard. Things are changing, getting worse, rarely better. It’s a lot. Sometimes it’s too much.

That’s all the more reason to give yourself (and your dog) a nice, thoughtful time to learn together. Take a moment. Think it through. You deserve something good right now.

Here’s how I like to approach a structured training session with my dog.

Begin with wonder. You’ve heard me say this before. Our dogs are fantastic creatures. They are intelligent, emotional, athletic, and social. Begin training in awe of that. This is a sacred moment.

Come prepared. Have a proper treat bag — a fabric one that you can wear or attach to your clothing. Use healthful food. If you are training with props (e.g., a mat), have them neatly set to the side.

Be curious. Ask questions? Is now the right time to train? How does my dog look? Is he hungry, tired, excited? Should we burn off energy with active training? Do we need to play or take a walk first because we want to train relaxation? Your curiosity is a sign of awareness and your open mind.

Arrive. Take a few deep breaths. Let your shoulders drop. Smile. Look at your dog. We are here right now. Be present and joyful and relaxed. This is what our dog deserves: our full intelligence, our sharp attention, and our kind guidance.

Training is a conversation with a dear friend who will never speak a word to us. Consider that for a moment. Dog training is not a menu of commands. It’s not a list of problems to solve. It is a connection. Training is how we communicate with our dogs.

This is a gift — these morsels of time in a day or a week or a life that sometimes feels like it’s devouring us. How wonderful that we’ve set this time aside to teach and learn with our dog. How do we approach such a gift if not with humility and sincere joy? Show up. Time is slipping away. Show up like you wish everything else would stop and this one moment would last forever.

Michael Baugh specializes in aggressive dog training in Sedona, Arizona and Houston.

Jealousy and Dog on Dog Aggression

Michael Baugh CDBC

Jealousy is a complex cluster of emotions: anger, fear, uncertainty, and insecurity. If you ask a jealous person what they are feeling, they might have a hard time telling you because they aren’t sure themselves. There’s too much to unpack.

So, what about our dogs? Well, they can’t talk at all. Most of us can tell when a dog is angry. We can see fearful behavior. There are even visible signs of uncertainly and insecurity. Is that jealousy? I think the label is a hard fit for dogs. And I’m not a fan of labels in the first place.

Behavior, in this case dog behavior, is all about verbs. That dog lunged. One dog bit the other. My dog tucked his tail and lowered his head. We observe behavior, identify when it occurs, and then work to change it. Feelings change when behavior changes. We know that for a fact. Is my dog jealous? I don’t know. Regardless, let’s teach him a new pattern of behavior and hope that he feels better.

Most dog fights start over food or food-relate objects. I’ve seen it in street dogs around the world. My dog has guarded treats and bones. Hundreds of clients’ dogs have clashed this way. It’s commonly called resource guarding.

Resource guarding can spread. A dog might aggress toward a housemate dog over a prized sleeping spot, a crate, or a sofa. One’s dog might guard a caregiver and not let another dog approach. Some dogs become sensitive to another dog approaching their own personal space, no matter where they are.

After two dogs have fought a few times, there is a chance they will become so agitated that they fight on sight. The history becomes thick with anger and pain. They simply don’t like each other.

These cases are hard to resolve, not impossible.

Keep the dogs separate unless in a controlled training exposure. We want to protect them from their own unacceptable behavior. When they fight again, they just get better at fighting. It’s up to us to prevent fights at all costs.

Teach calm behavior. A dog who is physically relaxed (example: lying comfortably on a mat) is less likely to behave aggressively.

Safely expose the dogs to each other at a distance while reinforcing relaxed behavior. Progress incrementally.

This is a very abbreviated description of the process. Work with a qualified trainer to do it correctly and to get support along the way. The process is straightforward, but it is certainly not easy. Get help.

Do I think dogs get jealous? Gosh, that’s a hard one. I really focus on the more basic emotions that are linked to observable behavior. Keep it simple.

If using the word jealousy plays a role, maybe it is this. We humans can all relate to feeling threatened. We may fear that another person is going to take what is ours (money, status, a lover). It’s an unsettling feeling. We may become angry. It’s likely we will feel some enmity toward that person. When we share our feelings with a friend, they may say, “You’re jealous.” It’s possible that defining our dog’s behaviors as jealousy opens the door to empathy. We get it. We’ve felt that terror, that confusion, that rage.

Here we stand on common ground with our dog. “You’re having some big complicated feelings, dog. I’ve had those, too. Let me help you.” If a flimsy label (jealousy) leads to empathy, I’m all for it. Stand tall on that common ground. Step up and help you dog, because you know how awful it feels and how unnecessary that behavior is. Who better than you to help? You understand. You’re smart. And you got this.

Michael Baugh teaches dog training in Arizona and Texas. He specializes in aggressive dog training.