Dog Training Tips for Aggressive Behavior

For this Omaha dog training session we shared dog training tips for aggressive behavior. We were called in to help 2 year old Lab / Boxer mix Carl. Carl’s family wanted him to stop acting aggressive towards people who visit his home.

I called ahead to see how Carl’s guardians handle visitors to the home. I have to admit I laughed a little when he said they ask people to hold their hands up. This is to stop Carl from hitting and biting them. They should wait for him to finish jumping on them.

Dog Training Tips for Aggressive Behavior Towards Guests

Instead I used a very structured approach, waiting outside the door after knocking for him to settle down. He was so worked up that his back leg was shaking a lot. This was more than I had ever seen before. It showed me he was not ready for me to come inside.

I kept my body sideways to the door, yawned quite a bit (a calming signal) and turned away when he got the most intense. This helped him calm down somewhat, but he was still very aroused.

I waited about 10 minutes before Carl settled down enough to walk away from the door. As soon as he did, I tossed in some high-value training treats to create a positive association.

I repeated this approach 4-6 times until he was much calmer. However, calmer was all I could achieve with this approach after 20 minutes at the door. Finally I had the guardian call Carl away, put him on the leash and leave the area so I could enter without his presence.

I coached the guardian on bringing Carl back into the room in a slower, structured way while on the leash. I didn’t want Carl to lunge or pull so as soon as he did either, the guardian stopped. I had also left a trail of high value treats from where he was to my location to provide even more positive reinforcement.

Stopping dog aggression is rewarding for me as a dog behaviorist, but it can also be dangerous at first. The first step is establishing a relationship built on trust. I wanted Carl to practice being in the room with me, but with me at a distance so he could relax.

It took a while, but eventually Carl started sitting down on his own and eventually laying down. I kept my voice quiet and avoided big movements or direct eye contact. These actions can upset a dog. My goal was to help Carl practice staying calm in the room with me.

I started out by talking about some creative ways to exercise Carl inside. This will help him considerably and reduce the stress his guardians have as they can all be done inside.

I think the treat toss on the stairs will be a lifesaver. If they can give him more exercise regularly, especially before guests arrive, it should help a lot. Increasing his exercise won’t stop the dog’s aggression, but it will help reduce aggressive behavior.

I also discussed how to create a healthy leader-follower relationship. This includes petting with a purpose and using passive training. We also discussed the importance of introducing and enforcing rules.

These will all help flip the leader follower dynamic and help Carl start to see his humans acting like leaders. This will be important in order for Carl to start trusting in their ability to lead and control the situation. Many dogs that act aggressively toward people are often stressed. They feel like they are in charge of humans who don’t listen to them.

When you have a human aggressive dog, having guests over can be nerve-racking and stressful. I gave my camera to them so they could film me. In the video below I talk about ways to create a positive experience for guests and additional dog training tips for aggressive behavior.

Now I don’t want the guardians to start practicing this approach for at least another month. They can do some prep work from the free dog training video.

Stopping Dog Aggression

For now, they should focus on influencing Carl’s behavior. This can be done by providing more structure and discipline, not punishment. We are talking about creating order here.

I asked Carl’s guardians to reach out to me in a month. We can then schedule a one-hour follow-up session. This will help us build on the progress they make with the dog behavior tips I shared during the in-home training.

To help them remember all the things we went over, we shot a roadmap to success video that you can view below.