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Dog Snaps at Children
Q:
Sometimes, for no apparent reason, my
dog snaps at children. It's usually when
a child comes up to pet her while
someone else is petting her. Is this a
territorial issue? How can I break her
of this aggressive habit?
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A:
Obviously a professional
trainer is needed in this situation
before someone is seriously injured. He
or she will set up a behavior
modification program to help resolve
this problem. A dog behavior expert will
visit the home to assess and evaluate
aggression, taking a detailed history
including the dog's health, training
history, daily lifestyle, relationships
with family members, the age and sex of
the dog, and many other factors. Often
it is a combination of factors that
influence aggressive behavior.
The key is asking what you want your dog
TO DO rather than punishing your dog in
an attempt to stop a behavior. If you
don't know what you want your dog to do
in any given situation, your dog can't
possibly know either.
Three things are needed:
- Set
up the environment for safety and
success. This might
include the use of baby gates,
supervised tethering, exercise pens,
etc. There is no substitute for good
common sense. Families must do
whatever they have to do, using
positive methods, to make sure
everyone is safe and aggressive
behavior is not triggered.
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Counter Conditioning .
Change the way the dog feels about
the situation. If a dog acts
aggressive when a child approaches,
change the association. For example,
after setting up the environment for
safety, one exercise would be to
give the dog delicious treats as the
child approaches, If this is safely
done enough times with the proper
skills including distance and
timing, eventually the dog will
associate the child with the food
instead of looking at the child as a
threat.
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Operant Conditioning or Establishing
Leadership and Reliable Behavior
through Positive Training.
The dog must learn that all humans,
including the child, are dominant.
Dominance does not mean using
physical punishment to “make” a dog
do something. Dominance means
controlling what the dog wants and
then teaching him that he must do
something in order to get it. For
example:
- Want to go
outside? The dog has to sit first.
- Want to
chase the ball? The dog has to lie
down first.
- Want to be
fed? The dog must run to his bed and
stay until released.
- Want to
continue being petted? The dog must
lie down and relax whenever the
child approaches.
This training must be done in a
step-by-step manner, rewarding the dog
for baby steps along the way.
Aggression is influenced by three
things: the genetic component (what the
parents passed on), socialization (the
first 14 weeks of the dog's life) and
how the dog is raised with all life's
subsequent learning experiences.
Whatever factors are contributing to
aggression, it is up to us humans to
identify the problem and patiently work
with the cause as we teach the dog what
we want them TO DO rather than punishing
them for behaviors we don't want.
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Aggression DVD: Biting
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 Dogs &
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