Some Tips to Stop a Dog From Acting Aggressive to Other Dogs

For this Mar Vista dog training session, we worked with Birdie, a wonderful 2 year-old Staffordshire Pit mix who has a few dog aggression problems.

Knowing that Birdie likes to jump up on people when she is over excited, I called ahead to have the guardian use a trick to stop a dog from jumping up on guests at the door.

Once Birdie was calm and relaxed, we went over a number of things that will help stop her dog aggression problems. We started out by going over some creative forms of exercise. Many reactive dogs are set up to fail by having too much excess energy.

Next we went over the importance of rules and how enforcing them can help a dog see a human acting like a leader by enforcing them. Fortunately Birdie’s guardian already had some rules in place so I suggested a few others that should help.

Next I went over Petting with a Purpose and Passive Training before I showed her guardian how to teach Birdie to stay calm when being put on the leash.

We covered a few other exercises like the drop it command, how to teach her to bring the ball back when playing fetch. These are easy ways to sneak in some control and respect for the humans by creating a healthy leader follower dynamic.

To stop a dog from acting aggressive to other dogs, I often show clients how to redirect a dog’s attention. I share this tip to stop dog aggression as well as how to apply it in the free dog behavior training video below.

By helping Birdie practice cut off signals in controlled situations, her human will set her up for success. Many people inadvertently set their dog up to fail by putting them in situations they are not prepared for. Getting Birdie some exercise and developing a strong focus exercise first, then finding a setting that lets Birdie feel comfortable are all keys to stopping her dog on dog aggression. As long as they go at Birdie’s pace, they should be able to stop her dog aggression, even though they are not professional Pitbull dog trainers.

One additional issue came up at the end of the session, Birdie acting out when a special friend visits. I went over a number of tips to help stop that aggressive dog behavior in the roadmap to success video below, but wanted to include a link to this approach here too.

To help the guardians remember all the tips we shared in this in home Mar Vista dog training session, we recorded a roadmap to success video below.