Reply to is there hope for a dog once it bites and shows aggression?

Forum Index » Pets

Reply to "is there hope for a dog once it bites and shows aggression?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]OP, I am agreed that you need to stop letting your dog have access to other people and dogs immediately. Get a behaviorist on board as soon as possible who can advise about how to safely manage your daily situations. As much as your dog may “hate” the crate or being boarded, these are far preferable to a human being traumatized or injured. Every time a dog successfully bites or otherwise aggresses, it reinforces the behavior. Do not let the dog have these opportunities, ever.

You should immediately journal the incidents where your dog was aggressive. This includes growling and lunging, not just biting. What were the commonalities? Was it territorial? Fear-based? Resource guarding? Keep this list for future vet and behaviorist visits. Now avoid those triggers for your dog entirely. Do not attempt to retrain on your own.

Here are some resources for you:

Humane Rescue Alliance has group classes for “reactive dogs.” Classes are very inexpensive and are offered on weekday evenings or weekends.

Brittany Fulton is a DC and MD-based behaviorist who has worked with HRA. She knows a lot about reactive dogs and is non-judgemental. http://www.dancesdogs.com/

Nancy Williams is a behaviorist who is amazing. She helped to evaluate Michael Vick’s dogs for rehabilitation potential. She lives further away, but is worth it: http://www.dogswithissues.com/.

The gold standard is to see a veterinary behaviorist. There are two who work in the DC area, and one practice at UPenn. Wait times are up to six months, and you don’t have another six months to wait with your dog’s situation. Also, fees run into the thousands.
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics