“Behaviour is the Outward expression of the internal psychological state. ”

Introduction:

Dealing with a negative behaviour response or perceived aggressive behaviours can be a daunting task. It's not only stressful for the owner but also poses a potential risk to people and other animals around. Understanding aggressive dog behaviour and learning how to calm an aggressive dog is crucial for maintaining harmony at home and ensuring the safety of everyone involved. 

This blog post will guide you through some effective dog-calming techniques and behaviour-modification strategies to help you manage your pet's aggression.

Understanding Aggressive Dog Behaviour.

Behaviour is the Outward expression of the internal psychological state. 

Before we delve into the methods of calming your dog, it's important to understand what constitutes ‘aggression’ in dogs. The dictionary terms aggression as feelings of anger resulting in hostile or violent behaviour, and readiness to attack or confront.  

I read today that aggression can manifest in various forms such as growling, barking, snarling, biting, or lunging at people or other animals. True aggression is rare. Most of the adverse behaviours you see are due to how the dog feels emotionally. A cocktail of hormones is driving adverse behaviours because they work to keep the dog safe. 

Adverse behaviours can be triggered by various factors including fear, frustration, pain or discomfort, or even a lack of socialisation. Identifying the root cause is the first step towards addressing your pet's aggression.

Dog Calming Techniques

1. Create a Safe Environment:

Adverse behaviours can be triggered by various factors including fear, frustration, pain or discomfort, or even a lack of socialisation. Identifying the root cause is the first step towards addressing your pet's aggression. One of the most effective ways to calm dogs is by creating a safe and comfortable environment for them. This includes providing them with space, away from triggers that create adverse behaviours.

I often hear from my clients that their dogs react when on lead, but are ok when they are off their leads. This is because the lead acts as a barrier, preventing them from escape and they feel scared because of this.

2. Use Positive Reinforcement:

 Rewarding your dog for good behaviour is another powerful technique that encourages positive actions over negative ones. Whenever your dog behaves well or responds positively to commands, reward them with treats or praise. And don’t wait to use this only when your dog reacts.

3. Meeting their biological needs

A good diet, regular, effective exercise and sometimes completely ditching the walks, and regular enrichment such as scent work will help to increase their mood and make them happier. 

4. Professional Training: 

If your pet’s aggression continues despite your best efforts, consider seeking help from a professional dog behaviourist. They can provide personalised training programs that address your dog's specific needs.

Dog Behaviour Modification

After a thorough assessment process, a behaviour modification plan is a systematic approach to changing a dog's reaction to certain situations, objects, or individuals. It involves replacing an undesirable behaviour with a desirable one using various techniques such as desensitisation, counter-conditioning, and positive reinforcement.

My Behaviour work seeks to ensure that the dog’s basic needs are met and they are able to display a degree of calmness outside before being exposed to triggers. 

1. Desensitisation: 

This technique involves working with your dog to help them to be able to be calmer around triggers and not adversly react. Using rewards, and space away from triggers so that they don't feel the need to react and creating a safe and secure environment, turning the negative experience into a positve, safe experience helps the dog be calm and change their emotional responses to the environment and gradually exposing them to the triggers

2. Counter-Conditioning: 

Counter-conditioning is used in conjuction with desensitisation. Counter conditioning uses a reward to change the emotional response. Many people wait until the dog reacts and then tries to reward and change the behaviour. However by using desnsiting away from the triggers and counter conditioning, regardless of the reponse will have the desired effect and help the dog change their behaviour.

3. Positive Reinforcement: 

As mentioned earlier, rewarding good behaviour encourages dogs to repeat those behaviours. Consistently rewarding your dog when they remain calm in situations that typically trigger their aggression can help modify their behaviour over time. Many people think that this means food should not be used when adverse behaviours are present as they will be repeated, however, due to the physiological process happening in the brain the dog will not learn to repeat the adverse behaviours. Rewards will counter-condition and desensitise the dog away from the behaviours, not increase them.

Conclusion

Dealing with adverse dog behaviours can be challenging but remember that patience and consistency are key when it comes to calming and modifying their behaviour. Always ensure that you're not inadvertently encouraging behaviour through exposure to the triggers and always remain calm and help them to be calm. If you're unsure about how to handle your pet's behaviour or if it poses a serious risk, don't hesitate to seek professional help.

Remember, every dog deserves a chance at a happy and peaceful life. With the right approach and techniques, even the most aggressive dogs can learn to stay calm and behave well in various situations.