[flw]

I can tell the difference between fearful aggression and dominant aggression, I'm most lost with dominant aggression. My dog does has not issues with this.

1. I would like to know some different methods of eliminating/training the dominant aggressive behaviors out?

Assume dog is castrated/spayed, is not abused, and is a only dog in the home. Owners may or may not be pack leaders but behavior is with people and dogs, when owners are not out with the dog.

BTW- I was asked by the owner to help with the problem and I don't do this for a living but have helped friends for many years with other basic stuff.

[zimandtakandgrrandmimi]

work on the down/stay and add a 'focus' command. focus meaning the dog has to zero in on the handler and not look at anything else. use positive methods. aggro dogs are tricky....can you give some more details?

[owensk9]

If you can post more details about this, it would be very helpful. When is the dog aggressing? Who is there? Is the dog in a fenced yard, on leash, dog park? Has the dog ever bitten anyone (person or dog)? How many times? What was the level of bite(s)? Who does the dog aggress to?
There are a lot of variables that contribute to whether or not the aggression can be "trained out".
In general, I would second the suggestions about working on the down stay each day. Institute a NILIF program and train every day. I would strongly recommend positive reinforcement training. Correction based trained can very likely make the aggressive behaviors significantly worse. Work hard on attention and focus as mentioned in the other post. The dog has to be able to give the owner attention in the face of distractions and the variables that make him aggress. Start working attention in the home and build slowly, one variable at a time. Good luck!

[Aggie]

There are so many variable and cues that could be setting off the aggression that I'd reccomend them hiring a behaviourist that deals in this. This can be a very dangerous dog, and doing the wrong thing to try to fix it can make for a bitten owner or worse. It's just very, very hard to describe things seen without bias, or simply not realizing it's connected to that red bird in the tree, etc.

[French Ring]

First of all I have a question for you personally...

Do you have extensive experience working with aggressive dogs? If you don't, then tell your friend that you can't help and advise a behaviorist. If you want to be stubborn and do whatever you want with an aggressive dog, you can do more damage than do any good. The owner might end up get angry with you for doing something wrong and making the dog MORE aggressive than he was before.

Dogs with aggression issues should not be dealt by somebody who has little experience with any kinds of aggressions. I don't care if people on this forum are experts and give you advice how to handle them. This is not the place you should be asking for an advice because we haven't seen the dog.

I don't want to offend to you. Actually, it is very common for inexperienced trainers to make tons of mistakes at first and it appears that you don't have much of experience. You will make mistakes and you don't want to practice those mistakes on big aggressive dogs. If he is strong and fast enough, he will hurt you badly.

I hope you are playing your cards right.

[zimandtakandgrrandmimi]

Originally Posted by French Ring

First of all I have a question for you personally...

Do you have extensive experience working with aggressive dogs? If you don't, then tell your friend that you can't help and advise a behaviorist. If you want to be stubborn and do whatever you want with an aggressive dog, you can do more damage than do any good. The owner might end up get angry with you for doing something wrong and making the dog MORE aggressive than he was before.

Dogs with aggression issues should not be dealt by somebody who has little experience with any kinds of aggressions. I don't care if people on this forum are experts and give you advice how to handle them. This is not the place you should be asking for an advice because we haven't seen the dog.

I don't want to offend to you. Actually, it is very common for inexperienced trainers to make tons of mistakes at first and it appears that you don't have much of experience. You will make mistakes and you don't want to practice those mistakes on big aggressive dogs. If he is strong and fast enough, he will hurt you badly.

I hope you are playing your cards right.

good post. can we put this up as an aggresion question disclaimer of sorts?

[wvasko]

French Ring is absolutely right, first off getting help on forum is just very generalized for something as serious as this. A person has to know their limitations. I'm sure you will get more replies giving advice on a dog they cannot see or judge in person. That in itself is scary. Somebody could get hurt and it won't be any of the advice givers. GET QUALIFIED HELP. Through the years I have had to work with some alligators, I do not accept these types of dogs now as my reflexes have fled elsewhere while aging and nobody wants to pay me hazardous pay duty or pick up my insurance premiums.

[flw]

I understand working within ones limits and we all have them. I'm want to start working with medium or even small dog with fearful aggression or dominant aggression issues.

I understand small dogs can generally be more likely to bite but not as likely to kill me either during my learning process.

So with safety tips from you and working within my limits:

1. In general only, how to begin working on reducing fearful aggression?

2. In general only, how to begin working on reducing fearful dominant aggression?

I want to start learning and need to get beyond books and am reaching out to others for both safety and training options.

Thank you for your training for either fearful aggression or dominant aggression behaviors.

[Jen D]

I would suggest a visit to the vet and be aware aggressive dogs can be extremely dangerous! What breed is the dog?

[French Ring]

Originally Posted by flw

I understand small dogs can generally be more likely to bite but not as likely to kill me either during my learning process.

Small dogs still can send you to the hospital, but I'm not saying that you shouldn't handle them. I started with small dogs too and they can be more difficult than handling a big dog.

Originally Posted by flw

So with safety tips from you and working within my limits:

First, I would start with reading many books as I can get my hands on about aggression issues and how to read dogs behavior. Actually, I wouldn't focus only on "fear/dominant aggression" because they are not the only problem that we see in our problem dogs today. There are many other issues such as guarding resource, territorial aggression, pain/medicine aggression, passive aggression, redirect aggression, etc.

It is critical that you know how to read the dogs VERY well and able to provide an appropriate solution. All of sudden, his aggression is gone less than a few minutes that is what making them an excellent trainer or a behaviorist.

Actually, I am speaking from my personal experience and spoke with some experienced trainers about dominant and fear aggressions is that they never mix together. It is always one way or the other. A dog can not be dominant and have a fear at the same time so it has to be one or the other. Sometimes they can give you confusing signals. Usually, dogs that act like they are being a dominant dog are just very insecure and not feeling comfortable taking a pack leader role.

Originally Posted by flw

1. In general only, how to begin working on reducing fearful aggression?

There are many ways to reduce fear aggression. It really depends on the dog because all are different. I would work on his insecure and desensitize around people, animals, or objects. It takes time and tons of experience to give a good judgment to make the problem disappearing. Sometimes when you remove owners, and then they are fine.

Originally Posted by flw

2. In general only, how to begin working on reducing fearful dominant aggression?

Basically there is no "fearful dominant aggression." Like I say it is one or other. I think you are referring to defense aggression, but I don't know maybe you can videotape the dog. I really can't say much.

Originally Posted by flw

I want to start learning and need to get beyond books and am reaching out to others for both safety and training options.

Absolutely, you should get involved with dog trainings like herding, Orally, protecting training, obedience, flyball, etc. Go out and meet trainers. It is good to gather many tips and experience from speaking with them. You will meet some bad and good ones. It is very difficult to keep a open mind because many trainers never agree on the same page.

I would watch Cesar Milian's show once in a while. There are some technique I don't agree with him, but I agree with his opinion on energies. I am a chemist and I find it true. Everything has to do with energy. When you are feeling angry, happy, upset, and sad, they are all energy. If you are feeling agitated, you can influence other people to feel the same. When a dog is being aggressive, he is influencing it on you. When you chose to ignore his "outburst" energy and stay calm all the time, he will transform his energy to match yours.

If you are working with dogs that are aggressive, it is important that you stay calm and don't take your frustration on them. They certainly will pick up on your frustration. Sometimes dogs behave better without owner's presence because owners get agitated, nervous, or worried. Dogs can sense their owners' worried energies.

Like I say get books and read. Also, get a book related to body language. http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Language-E.../dp/0966048407

http://www.amazon.com/Aggression-Dog...pd_sim_b_img_5

I'm sure other people on this forum have good suggestions.

[Dogstar]

Originally Posted by flw

I understand working within ones limits and we all have them. I'm want to start working with medium or even small dog with fearful aggression or dominant aggression issues.

I understand small dogs can generally be more likely to bite but not as likely to kill me either during my learning process.

Here's the thign though- the owner of that small or medium dog is not going to be any less pissed off if you inadvertantly make their dog worse. You are talking about someone's beloved pet's life. This is not someplace to be experimenting.

I'd recommend picking up ... well, there's too many titles, but most of the books mentioned on aggression and behavior in general- from Dogwise's Behavior, Body Language & Behavior, and Advanced Behavior text sections. You might also like Pam Denison's "Bringing Light to Shadow" and... I can't remember the author, but "How to Right A Dog Gone Wrong" is also good. Emma Parson's "Click to Calm" is good and it makes a good workbook to give to your friend, but I wouldn't recommend using it on a dog not your own without significant experience and learning under your belt.

I would attend EVERY seminar locally that featured a trainer who focuses on rehabbing dogs, even if it's someone I don't agree with in general. I might skip the sport-focused seminars but I'd take everything I could about 'evaluating behavior' or 'reactive dogs' type stuff.

This is NOT a learn as you go job.

[Curbside Prophet]

Originally Posted by flw

1. In general only, how to begin working on reducing fearful aggression?

2. In general only, how to begin working on reducing fearful dominant aggression?

In general when you're working to address fear or aggression, you begin with the laws of respondent and operant conditioning. How familiar are you with learning theory?

I want to start learning and need to get beyond books and am reaching out to others for both safety and training options.

I'm a huge advocate of learning by doing, but as others have pointed out, the doing shouldn't precede an apprenticeship of some sort. When the difference can be making matters worse or euthanasia, an apprenticeship *is* that important.

[zimandtakandgrrandmimi]

I guess I should have posted this first.

I have an aggressive dog. before I was truly cognizant of what that means, I made a huge mistake. another's animal was badly hurt. I freaked. I didn't know that there are many different types of aggression. it has taken me four years to learn how to deal with the aggression of just this one dog. i've since worked with other aggressive dogs while doing rescue and every SECOND can bring a hard lesson. the scars are on my back to prove it. the intent of my original post was that this is what worked for one dog. I will attempt to clarify better in the future. I apologize. please be careful.

[flw]

Originally Posted by French Ring

Like I say get books and read. Also, get a book related to body language. http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Language-E.../dp/0966048407

I'm sure other people on this forum have good suggestions.

I'm currently in the middle of of Ceasr Millian 3rd book on the episodes guide (Mini Case studies). I've read his first two already (much more helpful than the current book I'm on but still worth a read) and a general breed book before all those. I have a dog maintenance and emergency medical help book next so I'll take a read of the for-mentioned book after that.

So much to learn and so little time it seems some days.

Thank you all for your thoughts and ideas.