Evaluating Aggressive Dogs

Here are some examples of owner reports of typical dog biting situations: Barrier aggression; Bite at feet when walking; Bite when guests come in; Biting after being petted; Biting service dog; Can't touch paws; Fearful dog; Fighting in the home; Food bowl guarding; Food fight; Get in fights at the off leash park; Guard towel on the floor; Hates children; Lunges at other dogs; Male / Female ; Male attacks female; On leash; Ongoing fighting after first fight; Puppy biting; Resource guard wife; Runs out the door and attacks other dogs; Vicious with strangers; When restrained; When wearing a coat.

Remember when you were a kid, and you got in an argument or fight with another kid? What was usually the first question your mom or dad asked? “What are you fighting about?”

That is the first question that should be asked when evaluating aggressive dogs. 

Someone asked me the other day, “why do dogs bark?” I listed several reasons. There isn’t just one trigger. The same is true with biting dogs. There isn’t just one trigger. 

For many people, including trainers, their first response is to either punish the dog or to give the dog some kind of obedience command or obedience training. That just isn’t going to work. If you don’t know the why, then you can’t fix the problem. You might be able to block some responses with obedience training, but the root causes will not be addressed. 

“What are you fighting about?”

Get the correct answer and the right solution has a chance to work.

Plan accordingly.