Tips on How to Stop Dog on Dog Aggression in Venice Beach

For this Venice Beach dog training session we worked with 2 year-old Australian Shepherd Taz, showing his parents how to use engage disengage to stop dog on dog aggression.

Taz may be the biggest Australian Shepherd I’ve ever seen, or it may be that his shaggy haircut made him look impressively large.

We spent the first portion of the session going over a number of dog behavior fundamentals. We introduced a marker word, used hand targeting for the humans to practice their timing, discussed how and when to introduce command cues to dogs as well as the importance of celebrating desired behaviors. We also covered dog consent, some creative forms of exercise and the importance of adding rules and structure.

I always go through these fundamentals when I first work with a new client because I find that there are many dog behavior problems that are caused by or contributed to by a lack of these foundational elements.

This sometimes frustrates my clients who want to focus on jumping straight towards fixing their primary dog behavior problem. While this seems logical, if you don’t have a good foundation in place, your progress is going to be slower and prone to back slides.

How to Stop Dog on Dog Aggression

We headed out to a park that was nearby so that I could show the guardians some tips to stop dog aggression.

Often dogs that are reactive are doing so out of a fearful or insecure place. They want the other thing to go away and barking at it usually causes that to happen. But as humans, we can be a good leader and increase the distance between the dog and stimulus before they feel the need to bark or lunge.

We used a few of these dog aggression tips on the way to the park. When you were rehabilitating a dog, one of the most important elements is to help the dog avoid practicing the unwanted behavior. In this case that means not putting Taz in locations that may cause him to be reactive to another dog.

Sometimes you can accomplish this by driving to your destination, or walking your dog at different times of the day when they are less likely to encounter the thing that gets them upset. This does not stop dog on dog aggression, but it prevents the dog from practicng the unwanted behavior.

Of course as soon as we arrived at the park we discovered that there weren’t any dogs there. This may be the first time in the history of Venice that no dogs were at this park, lol.

We waited around and I was eventually able to find a dog passing by to demonstrate this easy way of stopping dog on dog aggression. However since that dog was in a hurry, we didn’t get an opportunity to shoot a video.

I wanted to make sure the guardians had some clear instructions on how to use this technique to stop dog aggression. I pulled out my camera and handed it to one of the guardians so they could record me sharing tips to stop aggressive dog behavior.

If you have a dog who is reactive to other dogs, you should definitely check out the free positive dog training video below

Stopping dog aggression is all about changing how the dog feels about whatever they’re reacting to. Often dogs act in a way that we perceive as aggressive because they are fearful or frustrated. These are geniune emotions. Its important to remember this is not an action the dog is doing on purpose. That’s why punishing a dog for acting aggressive is such a terrible thing to do.

One of great things about using the disengage game to stop dog aggression is that its completely positive. In fact, that is the whole point. instead of the dog seeing the thing as a negative, you change that into a positive (hopefully) or neutral emotional response.

It’s very important that you make sure that you keep enough distance between you and the other dog when using this method. Basically what you’re trying to do is get close to another dog so there is a connection, but far enough away where your dog feels comfortable. Once you find that distance, you work to create a positive association.

When you use this trick, be mindful of the other dog’s energy too. If you encounter a dog who is jumping all over, barking or showing lots of energy, you may need to move further away. But if the other dog is calm and quiet, you may be able to get closer. ALso keep in mind dog behavior modificaiton is not a bell curve. Sometimes you will have good days, others not so much.

We got to practice using this technique to stop dog aggression on the way home. Due to the neighborhoods in Venice Beach being very urban, there wasn’t a lot of room. Often we had to play the game from across the street, which may be more distance than is needed.

Its important to always remember that practicing successfully is the most vital aspect of this approach to stopping dog on dog aggression. If the dog reacts, that means you got too close.  If it happens, you need to move away and give your dog time to relax before trying again from further away.

I recommended that the guardians try to practice this solution to dog aggression a couple of times a week. With two guardians in the home, hopefully they can practice 3 or 4 times a week in short 10 to 20 minute practice sessions

Behavior modification is really a numbers game, so the more positive practice they can get in, the better. I shared a tip to help the guardians stay on track by keeping score and also shared another trick they can use at home. I like to smear peanut butter on a spoon and then have the dog lick that while they’re looking at the thing they used to bark at.

By the end of the session, Taz was pooped. We covered a lot in this in-home Venice Beach dog training session. I wanted to make sure the guardians would be able to remember everything, so I sat down to record a roadmap to success summary video that you can watch below.