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.
- 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.
- 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. |
