The good news is that aggressive dog behavior is quite curable in many cases. And that's especially true if your dog is under one year old – a puppy. While older dogs are not that easily changed, there are techniques in existence that allow for aggressive behavior modification.
A dog can be aggressive for a variety of reasons. The dog could be in pain; it could be ill; it could have a nervous disposition; sometimes it could just have a territorial or dominating character. The first thing one needs to do is to stop making excuses for one’s dog. When people say things like “Oh, he doesn't really mean it when he bites – he never breaks the skin” or “He can be extremely sweet except that sometimes he gets snappish – who doesn't? ”. The sooner you recognize the problem and get it treated, the better.
Usually, you need one-on-one training by a proper dog trainer with the right qualifications. You need to take the dog in and leave him with the trainer for a period of time. That’s the only way the trainer is going to have enough time with the animal. In some cases, the trainer will, after a bit of time spent with the dog, declare that the dog's behavior is unmodifiable. In such a case, you have to make sure that the dog is never, ever around children or other people. The consequences for your legal liabilities would be too high.
Male dogs like Rottweilers, Dalmatians and German Shepherds, when left whole and unneutered, are the ones that account for almost all the bites reported in America. When their aggression gets out of hand, a behavioral therapist should be your next port of call. Sometimes, the treatment they recommend can be as simple as more exercise and more socializing with both humans and fellow animals. At other times, the behavioral therapist could offer the family hints on how to treat a dog of the breed they are asking about – learning to leave the dog alone at certain times may be important.
