My dog is aggressive and growls. Can a shock collar fix this behavior?

No. This is not acceptable. If your dog's behavior is so severe that you are considering this type of punishment then I suggest you seek the help of a professional dog trainer or re-home the dog to someone that can potentially get the dog trained. This time of punishment will only make things worse and is cruel.

Hi there. Any type of punishment for this behavior (which would include the use of a vibration collar to startle or scare him) is not recommended, as it has a high risk of making things worse over time. Instead, I would recommend working with a good reward-based trainer or behavior consultant who can give you some in-person guidance on how to address this issue. In most cases, we work with dogs like this by teaching them that good things happen (like getting treats!) when strangers are nearby. Once the dog is happy to see strangers approaching, he won't need to growl or act aggressively anymore. You can search for a qualified trainer or consultant here: www.ccpdt.org or www.iaabc.org

Definitely take Max into a veterinary behavioral expert for help! Aggressive dogs are not something to leave alone, and this behavior can and does get worse over time. In addition, if he did bite someone, he could seriously injure them and there could be very severe repercussions for that occurring including euthanasia. There are a number of cases where a dog has had to be put to sleep for biting people, and you do not want that to happen. Speak to your vet about a referral to a professional behavioral expert asap. I hope this helps!

Hello, sorry to hear about Jackson. I am concerned this behavior could lead to more severe results. I would recommend not leaving them unsupervised in the same room to hopefully prevent this from happening. It is likely that your other dogs are being triggered by something Jackson is doing that they do not agree with. This could include moving too closely to the food bowl or water bowl, a special toy or area at home all of which could be a sign of territorial aggression. Here are some more tips on how to reduce the incidence of aggression between your dogs. Ultimately if this does not work, you may need to seek a professional behavior consultation to obtain further recommendations. ntroduction Aggression is a common problem faced by many dog owners. It is commonly misunderstood to be based in dominance. In actuality, there are various reasons that dogs can react aggressively. Most commonly these acts are based in fear or anxiety. This handout, will attempt to help you differentiate whether your dog’s aggression is based in dominance or another stimulus, like fear or possession. However it is not meant to replace visits and discussions with your veterinarian. Common types of aggression • Fear aggression: Many commonplace human behaviors are threatening gestures to dogs, but their reactions are often times very subtle and easily missed by most people. Anything that can cause your dog to feel distressed or uneasy can illicit an aggressive reaction. Such things include: sustained eye contact, pressure over the top of the head, lifting the dog, bending over the top of a dog, certain force-based training techniques, or trying to take something of high value away from the dog. • Territorial aggression: Dogs can react aggressively when a person comes into an area that it regards as its home. There is often a basis of anxiety in dogs that have territorial aggression. • Possessive aggression: When aggression is directed toward a person that the dog views is approaching something of high value (food, toys, family members). • Redirected aggression: When the dog is frustrated by the inability to reach an object or person that elicits its aggression and instead acts aggressively toward a person that is within reach. • Dominance aggression: True dominance aggression is very rare. Most often aggressive acts are based out of another type of motivation. Usually what is assumed to be dominance aggression is actually based out of fear or anxiety. What is your dog’s motivation for its aggression? It is important to watch the body posture of your dog during a time of aggression to determine the underlying emotional state of the dog causing the aggression. Here are some examples of what to look for: Fearful or submissive postures • Avoiding eye contact • Lowered head and tail • T ense body posture • Ears to the side, back or down • Horizontal lip retraction • Licking lips • Yawning • Crouched body posture • Moving slowly or freezing • Submissive urination Dominant postures • Sustained eye contact • Ears erect and forward • Vertical lip retraction • Forward-leaning body posture

Have you tried a shock collar? This is often the best way to get there attention to correct them. It also may be time to consult your vet about medication to help. They make more than one you can give every day to help and it is trial and error to see what helps. They make both prescription and natural medications that you may help

Shock collars, bark collars, and clicker training are all acceptable ways of training pets. The down side is they are ineffective if not done properly. They are great modalities in the correct hands that know how to implement them and do it correctly to where the dog understands what is being asked of them. Consulting a behavioral/trainer that is experienced is the best way to achieve positive results.

I personally recommend against them. Most bark collars work by delivering a shock to your dog, in an attempt to "stop" them from whatever behavior they are doing. However, this often either causes pain to your dog, or starts an association of the shock with other things, such as you, or a nearby child or person, which may cause redirected aggression instead. Instead of shocking your dog when they bark or do something they shouldn't redirection through positive reinforcement is a better option. it can help build a bond with your dog without resorting to pain or fear, and while still stopping the problem. If your dog likes to bark, say, when someone walks past the house, you can instead get your dog's attention with a favorite treat or chew toy, moving them to a different room and refocusing their behavior on that, instead of the person causing them to bark. If they are distracted or upset, refocusing them into a sit or down (far enough away that the stimulus causing them to bark isn't as distracting) can help change the behavior from "bad" (barking) to "good" (sitting), which you can then start to reward if they present that behavior instead of the bark in the future. It does take longer to work with positive reinforcement and redirection training, but the overall result is a change in your dog's underlying behavior, rather than just a band aid that can lead to fear, redirected aggression, and at worse severe injury. If you're curious to work on more positive reinforcement behaviors, speaking with a local dog trainer or animal behaviorist (specialists in behavior training specifically) is best as they can work with you in person on any specific problems you're having.