My dog is scared of men and aggressive. How can I stop her biting?

Desensitization and counterconditioning Desensitization is the process of taking a fearful stimulus and slowly exposing your dog to it. You have to start slowly and gradually increase the amount of stimulus that your dog is exposed to, until she is no longer responding negatively to the stimulus. Counterconditioning should be used in conjunction with desensitization. This is the process of pairing the fearful stimulus with a reward, such as praise or a treat. Your dog thus begins to associate the previously feared stimulus with positive emotions. An Example of Desensitization and Counterconditioning: Dog Afraid of Men In a spacious, neutral environment, like a park or large fenced yard, start with a man at a distance from your leashed dog where she does not cower, growl, try to run away or otherwise appear fearful. Make sure you have a good amount of high value treats to work with, which may be hot dog pieces, cheese, etc. Small treats given fairly constantly with proper behavior are a great tool. Adjustments to distance from the stimulus should be gradual and paired with constant treating while the proper behavior (i.e. lack of fearful behavior as described above) is maintained. Your dog may reach a point where she feels threatened and may display signs of fear toward the man, possibly even aggression. If this occurs, expand the distance and repeat the process. This technique can be adjusted and applied to most situations that cause your dog to be fearful. Conclusion Keep in mind that this is a process and will take some time. Have reasonable expectations of your dog and what is acceptable behavior within your family unit. Each fear will likely have to be addressed separately and may never be abolished completely. And as with any training exercise, it should be fun and a great way for you and your dog to bond! Adding obedience training or agility classes may make the process smoother and ultimately more enjoyable for everyone involved. For further information and help, especially with working with specific triggers, please contact your veterinarian.

Poor Milo! He is afraid for certain. Don't panic; this is a very common problem I see every day in practice. If you're willing to work at it, you can change his response to being afraid. It is never to late to help him be better socialized with new people. Please go to this fantastic veterinary behavior website www.dogstardaily.com for really great free techniques to get your dog over his fear of strangers. Hope that helps!

Hi there! I'm sorry to hear that you're having this problem with Buffy. It's not unusual for behavioral issues to take a few weeks to show up in a newly adopted dog - there is often a "honeymoon period" while they're still getting comfortable and adjusting to their new home, before these issues start to emerge. Aggression towards other dogs and humans is a complex behavioral issue that's difficult to address properly in a forum like this, but I can try to give you some general information that may be helpful. Treatment for aggression issues is generally based on identifying what situations tend to trigger the aggressive behavior - then either finding ways to avoid them, or working with the dog to teach her to respond differently using reward-based training techniques. If this is something you want to work on, I would recommend making an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate Buffy in person and help you put together a detailed treatment plan to address her aggressive behavior. For now, if the aggression only happens with dogs and people she doesn't know, I would recommend keeping her separated from visitors for now until you are able to get a more detailed plan in place to work on the problem. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area here: www.dacvb.org

I'm sorry to hear that you're having this problem with Alfie! Owner-directed aggression is a complex behavior issue that really needs in-person guidance. In general, I can tell you that treatment for this problem typically involves identifying situations that tend to trigger the aggression - then either finding ways to avoid them, or working with Alfie to teach him to be more comfortable with these situations so that he doesn't feel the need to bite. All training should be positive and reward-based, as punishment often makes things worse over time and greatly increases the risk of being bitten. I would recommend asking your vet for referral to a board-certified veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate Alfie in person, and help you put together a detailed plan to work on his aggression issues.

I hate to hear this is happening. If you do not want to rehome her, I recommend to work with a professional trainer because this will give you the best results the fastest. Canine aggression is a complex behavior as it can stem from dominance, possessiveness, fear, anxiety, resource guarding or a combination. Most people are not familiar with reading canine body language and training. A professional trainer is fully capable of reading the body language and then teaching you how to modify this behavior. Researching on your own will also be helpful. Familiarizing yourself with canine body language and dog training can help you to recognize what your pet is trying to say. You can find many books written on the topic and there is a trainer named Victoria Stilwell who I think is particularly helpful. Best of luck.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I am sorry to hear about Blue, but you are not alone! This type of behavior is usually related to fear - fear that is so extreme that the pet has no choice but fight or flight. It often leads to aggression. The bad news is that an expensive trainer may not be able to help Blue anyways because her fear level is so high. The good news is that there are several great anti-anxiety medications that can make a HUGE difference in Blue's life. Not only will they reduce fear (and therefore aggression), but they will make whatever training you try MUCH more effective. (Pets cannot learn when they are scared). My favorites are amitiptyline and trazadone, but there are others available. Talk to your vet about what is available and reasonable to try for Blue. I hope this helps and best of luck to you and Blue!

I hate to hear that about Jimmy. Aggression is a very complex problem and one that may be difficult to fix without a trainer. Aggression can be related to dominance, possessive behavior, fear or anxiety and each one needs to be addressed in a different fashion. The trainer will be able to determine the cause. The trainer will then work with you and your pet to modify both of your behaviors to meet a common goal. There are several different training methods so you will need to find the one that works best for you and your pup. You should also pick up a few books about dog behavior and dog training so that you can learn to recognize your pet’s body language. By knowing what he is saying, you be better able to react before he reacts. Neutering Jimmy can also help to reduce undesired behavior. I hope this at least points you in the right direction. Please post again with any further questions.