Some Tips to Help a Covid Era Rescue Dog Warm Up to New People

By: David Codr

Published Date: May 4, 2020

Ralph Old English Bulldog scaled - Some Tips to Help a Covid Era Rescue Dog Warm Up to New People

For this Omaha dog training session we shared tips to help a 4 year-old English Bulldog rescue named Ralph who has shown occasional guarding behavior towards some people.

Ralph was adopted a few weeks before the session. The first go I have worked with who ended up getting adopted due to everyone being at home due to CoVid-19. My first Corona Era rescue dog!

Anytime you have a pooch who guards things, teaching the dog the leave it command and drop it command are super important. Practicing drop it and leave it with low value items when the dog is home and relaxed sets the dog up for success when it has high value items like shoes, remote controls, etc.

I noticed that Ralph moved away when I tried to take his photo so I decided to fix that dog behavior problem. You can learn how to train your dog to look at the camera for pictures by watching the free positive dog training video below.

Anyone can do this exercise, even if they aren’t a professional Olde English Bulldog dog trainer. If the guardians practice this exercise to take amazing dog photos (10 treats twice a day for a week) they should have an English Bulldog model on their hands in no time.

Next I addressed the main dog behavior problem they wanted to fix; Ralph’s infrequent aggressive behavior towards people he doesn’t know. Some dogs act aggressive due to dominance, others do so territorially and some out of fear or anxiety. I didn’t get to see Ralph acting aggressive so I decided to share a bunch of tips to stop a dog from acting aggressive to people.

If the guardians practice each of the dog behavior secrets outlined in the above free positive dog training video, Ralph should start to see the arrival of new people as a positive thing and / or start moving away from the door when he hears the door chime. This is an easy way to stop dog aggression if you practice on a regular basis. Consistency is key when rehabilitating an aggressive dog.

Id like to see the guardians set Ralph up for success by first practicing at work when the business is closed or a very slow time. The key to this is first establishing a habit, and the easiest way to do this is without anything the dog may react to nearby. As he gets comfortable with the movements without people, then the guardians can start having friends come at that time to practice.

If the guardians can practice this exercise every day for a week (preferably after exercising big Ralph and giving 10 minutes to catch his breath), they should start to see the dog acting less aggressive or not acting aggressive at all when new people come to the business. If that is not the case, I asked their super cool guardians to text me so we can make some adjustments.

To help the guardians remember all the positive dog behavior tips we shared to stop a dog from acting aggressive to people we covered in this in home dog training session, we filmed a roadmap to success video that you can watch below.

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This post was written by: David Codr