Free Tips to Help a Puppy Stop Acting Aggressive

For this Omaha dog training session we demonstrate a technique called “free shaping.” This lesson helped 7-month-old Blue Heeler Scout learn to look away when she sees other dogs. We successfully helped this puppy stop acting aggressive.

Scout joined one of our puppy classes. However, because of her aggressive behavior towards other dogs, we thought an in-home training session would work better. I started the session by talking about her exercise routine. I believe most people do not give herding breeds enough exercise.

Scout is a lucky puppy. One of her guardians plans on using her to help herd cattle. I love it when people get dogs to help with work. Dogs love it too, especially herding breeds.

Not only does it burn off all their energy, it has a profound impact on their self esteem. Blue Heeler trainers are often unnecessary as much of the herding behavior is instinctual.

Aggressive Behavior in Blue Heelers

I focused on Scout’s aggressive behavior towards other dogs. I shared several tips to help create a healthy leader-follower relationship.

This is crucial if you want a dog to respect and listen to you. Petting with a purpose, passive training, and teaching her new tricks will help with her dog aggression problem. Enforcing rules is also important.

As a dog behavior expert, I find that many dogs with aggressive behavior problems get into trouble with their eyes. Dogs are scent creatures and it’s most comfortable for them to meet via scent. But when you have a reactive dog, that interaction is often avoided. So the dog starts seeing, then reacting to dogs; getting frustrated they don’t get to interact / get close enough to smell.

Some dogs are aggressive towards other dogs because they lack confidence. Others may have this behavior due to genetics.

Late or not enough socialization can also cause aggression. A bad experience can lead to this behavior as well. But in most cases the reason the dog reacts is to make the other dog move away.

By acting aggressive to other dogs, the aggressor dog is trying to increase distance between the two. Well there are two ways to increase distance; the other is to walk away on its own.

Blue Heelers, also called Australian Cattle Dogs, react strongly to other dogs and people. However, they are not naturally aggressive. They can be territorial and cautious around strangers. In certain situations, they may nip or bite other animals as part of their herding instinct to guide them.

Using “Free Shaping” to Help a Puppy Stop Acting Aggressive

But many dogs are so fixated visually on the other dog its hard to get their attention. I took out my camera to show the guardian how to use “free shaping”. This method helps teach the dog to look away when it sees another dog.

It will be important for the guardians to practice the look away command at home until Scout has it down pat. The next step is to practice outside where the distractions make it harder.

But you don’t want to have any dogs around for this practice. The goal is to help the dog learn this skill in a simple situation at first. Then, we will gradually make it more challenging. You only want to start practicing the rest of my suggestions in the video when Scout can turn away on command while outside.

It will take some practice. But if the guardians go at the dog’s pace, they should help Scout learn to look away from dogs they don’t want to engage with. We call this a cut-off signal, and it can help eliminate dog aggression before it starts. At first from a distance, but then closer and closer.

I hope that the look away will stop Scout from being aggressive to other dogs. However, it will take the guardians a few months of practice to find out for sure. I told the guardians to let me know if this problem is still happening this spring. If it is, we may need to set up a follow up appointment to do some BAT training with another dog.

To help them remember all the dog training secrets I shared in this in-home dog training session, we filmed a roadmap to success video that you can check out below.