My dog is biting family members. Can I retrain him to stop biting?

It sounds like Suzy is dog aggressive, and I would speak to your vet about a referral to a professional behavior expert. I never recommend owners try to train aggressive behaviors on their own because it can be dangerous and the owner can get hurt. This is something that is best left to the professionals. It is definitely something that needs to be worked on immediately with a trainer, as she could hurt another dog or get very hurt herself if she goes after a big dog. Give your vet a call today or first thing in the morning to discuss professional behavioral experts in your area. Good luck, I hope this helps!

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.

You need to consult with a professional, in-home dog trainer. This is not a quick fix and if you don't curb this behavior now he may seriously injure someone. This is not something that you are likely to fix on your own. You must realize at some point you need to consult a professional. I personally like Bark Busters but I am not endorsing them in any way. I believe they give you a free in home consultation and their training in guaranteed. ( https://www.barkbusters.com/dog-training-sacramento-roseville-folsom ) Here are some others I found. ( https://daugherty-dog-training.business.site/ ) ( http://dalerobertstrainingcenter.com/ ) Best wishes.

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

Aggression toward people is a very serious and complicated topic, and one that should be worked with by a local animal behaviorist or trainer in person. It is best to work together to address the root cause behind the biting (fear, uncomfortable in new home, undersocialized, etc) and then work on a training plan together than can ensure both Okami and any visitors remain safe. In the meantime, moving Okami to another room and not having visitors approach, or just tossing a treat if they walk past where he is is best to avoid direct contact and anyone getting hurt. In the US, this site is useful for finding a certified behaviorist near you that can get you started on resolving the issue: http://www.dacvb.org/about/member-directory/

Poor Bandit! It does sound like he's very fearful of new people - this is a fairly common problem in dogs, and can be due to genetics, inadequate socialization as a puppy, and/or negative experiences with strangers in the past. The good news is, most dogs with this problem are able to improve tremendously with some help from a professional. I would recommend making an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate Bandit in person and help you put together a detailed treatment plan for him - this would normally include management recommendations to help keep him from being put in situations that are overwhelming for him, a training plan to teach him to associate new people with good things (usually treats!), and possibly also medication depending on the severity of his anxiety. It can be very challenging to try and do this on your own if you don't have any experience working on this problem, so I would definitely recommend having a behaviorist help you - especially since he does sometimes try to bite. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area here: www.dacvb.org

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.