Free Tips for Managing Boxer Dog Aggressive Behavior

For this Omaha in-home dog training session, we got to work with a pair of lovable Boxer pups. We shared tips to boost 4-year-old Nari’s confidence while petting her and addressed concerns about potential Boxer dog aggressive behavior. We also gave her strategies to stop reacting to other dogs. This will help her avoid showing aggression towards her roommate, 4-year-old Herbie.

While discussing Nari’s reactions to other dogs, I saw that she lowered her head whenever someone tried to pet her. The body mechanic of a confident dog is a noise parallel to the ground or higher. Typically lowering the nose indicates lower self esteem, confidence, etc. I used this as an opportunity to show the guardians how to pet in a way that boosts a dog’s confidence.

When you have a dog that acts submissive and nervous with humans, they often channel their aggression in other ways. This was the case in Nara’s household. When a person would try to pet her, she’d lower her head, almost to indicate she didn’t think she was worthy. But Nari would also act out when she was on a leash or towards her doggy roommate Herbie.

As you saw in the video above it’s important to work with a nervous dog at their pace. When Nari ducked her head in response to a hand coming towards her, you should never continue towards your furry friend. Take their cue and try a different approach.

By building up Nari’s confidence with humans, it should help fix her aggressive dog behavior and reactive behavior towards other dogs.

What Causes Boxer Dog Aggressive Behavior?

A good dog behavior expert will tell you that many dogs act aggressively toward other dogs because of stress. This stress is often made worse by feelings of insecurity.

Boosting a dog’s confidence is an important part of rehabilitating a dog with aggressive behaviors. I shared several tips to boost Nara’s confidence during this home dog training session. These include petting with a purpose, enforcing rules consistently, and rewarding good behaviors the dog shows on its own.

Since dogs learn in part through association, creating a positive experience can help stop dog aggression. I took out a clicker and showed the guardians how to train Nara. This will help her look away from other dogs instead of staring at them. Anyone can do this, even if they aren’t a professional Boxer dog trainer.

As you can see in the above video, stopping a dog from reacting is the first step in stopping aggressive dog behavior.

Tips to Stop Reactive Behavior Towards Other Dogs

Once a dog is reacting (barking, lunging, etc), you aren’t going to be able to reach or help them. That’s why it is important to find the right distance. You want to be close enough to get the dog’s attention, but far enough away so it does not react.

If the guardians reward Nari for ignoring other dogs, they can help her stay calm around them. Once they achieve this step, they will be able to start collapsing the distance. This way Nara practices not reacting and being calm and comfortable. Do this enough and many dogs stop reacting all together.

I’m hopeful that Nari’s aggressive dog behavior will diminish and eventually stop altogether. If the dog is still acting aggressive in a month, we may need to schedule a follow-up session. This will help us build on the progress and introduce other techniques to reduce aggressive behavior.

We created a video to help the guardians remember the positive dog training tips from this session. Check out the roadmap to success video below.