Facts about Dealing with Dog Fighting Problems

It is difficult to know what is going on in your dog’s head when it sets out to attack every dog it encounters. An alpha dog that is not neurotic will not generally not attack another dog without some warning. However, it is also the case that dogs on leashes and tethered lines will behave differently than an unleashed or untethered dog. If your dog tends to pick fights while you are walking it on a leash, that may be part of the problem.

I think very few dog owners ever consider that their dog may look upon them as a potential enemy, but that is the case. Now, I’m not saying the dog sees you as an enemy. Note the word, “potential.” What I’m getting at is that when a dog no longer looks sees you as a possible enemy it stops showing submissive behavior such as lying on its back as protection. Of course, many dogs in later life do it because their owners have scratched their chests, which they like, and they hope for it again. But primarily, this behavior is an indication of the defense mechanism of the dog “tribe.” The mind of a dog that fights always has at the back of it the wish to be the alpha of the pack, and he fights other male dogs who are sexually mature to make sure there is no risk of his being questioned as the dominant alpha male.

If you muzzle that dog and then let him loose with a dog he has fought with earlier, the dog will understand that he is at a disadvantage and show no signs of aggression. For that reason, dogs with fighting problems should be muzzled and then freed with trained dogs or non-fighters. In some cases, the aggressive fighter can learn to be at ease with other dogs and the desire to fight diminishes or goes away altogether. In fact, it is not unusual to find aggressive fighters calmly associating unmuzzled with other dogs.

Here are a few things to also keep in mind: Your own personality needs to be strong to deal with fighters, because fighters are usually adult dogs. Few puppies fight, few females fight; therefore your mind must be stronger than that of the potential fighter so that you are the boss, not either of the dogs. If the dog is sex-mad you can do nothing but neuter it. Muzzling is only a stop-gap, not a cure. Owners who won’t have their fighting dogs neutered should always have them muzzled in public places.

You owe it to yourself to learn as much as you can about dog behavior and the most efficient, humane means of training your dog.

 

 

[tags]muzzled dog,aggressive fighting dogs,attacking dogs,how to train an aggressive dog,aggressive dogs,fighting dogs[/tags]

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