If you don’t learn how to socialize an aggressive dog, you are endangering other dogs. Dog owners and dog walkers who are comfortable with this risk have yet to attempt ending a dog fight or separating a dog from chewing off a child’s face. This is even more true if the dog in question has aggressive tendencies. Don’t take the topic lightly!
Evidence that aggressive, anti-social dogs are a genuine danger. Get them trained!
There are times when the single most important reason why a dog is aggressive towards other dogs, which can lead to human intervention that can result in dog bites, is that the dog isn’t properly socialized if at all. By socializing an aggressive dog, you might be able to resolve its dog on dog aggression.
Aggressive dogs are harder to socialize than other dogs, but they’re not impossible. You must be decisive, however. Consider, for instance, what the late Dr. Sophia Yin says about how to react to an emergency using negative reinforcement.
Read on to learn how to socialize an aggressive dog and prepare to deal with the possibility of dog on dog aggression during any of your dog walks.
What Does It Mean To Socialize A Dog?
Socializing a dog means to introduce them to, and familiarize them with, different sights, sounds, and experiences. When most people think of dog socialization they think of getting a dog accustomed to interacting and playing with other dogs. It’s true that this is a very important part of socializing a dog and it’s what we will primarily focus on in this article.
However, it’s important to note that socializing a dog also includes getting your dog accustomed to people, places, objects and unexpected events that your dog might encounter in its day to day circumstance.
Why Should You Socialize Your Dog?
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of doctor and lawyer bills. Asking how to socialize an aggressive dog takes you into the realm of confrontation. You are acknowledging the dog is aggressive, it’s a problem and needs addressing. It takes a different mind set than thinking it is responding to aggression. And yet, this is not how the dog may see the situation that provokes its aggression.
Dogs that were not socialized tend to be timid, fearful and are often aggressive towards other dogs because they do not enjoy the unfamiliar. Often, they have lived long enough to have experienced much distress, irritation or pain from what they consider to be foreign or only too predictable and unpleasant.
Therefore, before you learn how to socialize an aggressive dog it may be helpful also to understand what specifically may be causing your dog’s aggression. What experiences has it had?
What Could Cause Dog On Dog Aggression?
When a dog exhibits aggressive behavior and gets labeled as a dominant dog, it will get reactions deserving of a mean and bully dog. Indeed, some dogs are aggressive because they feel the instinct to assert dominance. But far more often a dog becomes aggressive when it is scared. You cannot treat a bully the same way you treat a fraidy-cat (even if in this case we’re speaking exclusively about dogs).
In the wild, a dog’s life is very different than among humans. They get up to hunt and defend their pack against other predators. No one day is guaranteed. Survival is a daily struggle. In domesticity they become accustomed not to fight for their food or territory or self-defense.
So how does this relate to dog on dog aggression? Well, even if a dog is domesticated, it still retains its instincts. It can become as aggressive as a wild dog under certain circumstances. Fear is a powerful instinct. It’s primeval. It’s deeply rooted in a dog’s sense for survival. A dog doesn’t need to be taught to be afraid of the unknown because it might be dangerous.
Consequently, domesticated dogs can often experience their human family as the pack, and consider the unfamiliar dogs as a threat. Barking, growling, lunging are instinctive reaction that call attention to the threat, as are biting and scratching if the threat approaches past a certain limit. What then are the limits in the dog’s mind?
Here is the importance of socializing every domestic dog. They need to know their limits in the world of humans. By getting them used to being around other dogs, they will learn not be afraid of members of another pack. It will prevent them from becoming aggressive to a threat that does not exist.
When Should You Socialize Your Dog?
How to socialize an aggressive dog is less imperative than when to do it. The earlier you socialize a dog the better because young dogs are born curious and fearless and lose their curiosity by gaining fear and distrust about the environment beyond their lair.
The best time to socialize a dog is when it is a puppy. This is when a dog gains its impression of the world around. If you introduce puppies to older dogs in a controlled environment, they will develop proper social skills and learn to respect and not to fear them.
However, if puppies are isolated from other dogs, they may never understand what acceptable behavior is. For example, dog etiquette calls for not nipping at another dog even in jest. If while on an early outing an older dog returns a nip attempt from a too-frisky puppy with a swift bite, the pup will become fearful of other dogs. In protest to having to confront them in the future, it will commonly react to them upon sight with aggressive behavior.
If a dog wasn’t socialized as a puppy and has become aggressive towards other dogs it’s not too late to solve the problem. It may take more time and patience to correct the behavior, but it is possible.
Dog On Dog Aggression Solutions: How To Socialize An Aggressive Dog Hater
Maybe your dog doesn’t like cats and you’d like to know how to socialize it not to chase after felines. But if dog on dog aggression is the problem, then of all the dog on dog aggression solutions available, the most effective option is to learn to get your dog to realize there is no reason to fear the circumstance that triggers its aggressive behavior. Instead the dog should fear your displeasure, and this should lead the dog to stop misbehaving. This is how you can socialize an aggressive dog. You teach him who is boss.
Here are three techniques you can use to socialize an aggressive dog:
Desensitization
Desensitization is optimal in socializing a dog and correcting its aggressive behavior. We cover this topic in greater deal in our article “How to Calm an Aggressive Dog” but here’s a quick rundown of this technique.
- Start with your dog on leash introducing other dogs at a distance. Be sure to use the right type of leash for your dog, especially if you have a puller in your hands. You should be far enough away that your dog doesn’t immediately react to the other dogs, but close enough so that they will notice it.
- Slowly over time (this may be minutes, hours, days or weeks depending on your dog) decrease the distance between your dogs and the other dogs.
- If at any time your dog negatively reacts to the other dogs and advances in aggression, use the “Come!” command to bring him back to you. Take his attention away from the other dogs. And, of course, always reward your dog for good obeying.
Jolly Routine
As we discussed before, dogs often view their families as their packs which is why they can become so protective. Consequently, if a dog senses you are tense or nervous, it will imitate your attitude, as it will take your tension as a sign that a legitimate threatened is imminent. Therefore, be a level-headed pack leader!
The Jolly Routine works by using the owner’s mood to influence the mood of the dog.
- When you see your dog start to act apprehensively, suspiciously or aggressively, act happy and cheerfully instead of scolding him.
- Give your dog a sense of confidence in confronting the situation the way you are. If you become tense with the dog’s tension, you’re only confirming the cause of tension for the dog.
- Make a list of words and phrases that you know elicit positive reactions in your dog and use them as triggers to calm it down.
This is often referred to as “jolly talk”. By showing you are relaxed and happy, you will stimulate your dog to realize there is no need to be afraid, thus, no need to be aggressive.
Open Bar
The “Open Bar” is an offshoot of the Jolly Routine and a very effective way to socialize an aggressive dog.
Here’s how it works:
- Every time your dog meets another dog, you give it jolly talk and a special treat only ever given when other dogs are around. The treat should be given no matter how your dog behaves.
- Make sure to stop the jolly talk and stop giving treats as soon as the other dogs are gone. Giving treats even if your dog behaves badly may seem counterintuitive. So, in this case, the logic may not seem obvious.
- However, by always giving treats when other dogs are around, what you are reinforcing is a strong positive association with other dogs being near.
This positive association eventually overrides reinforcement of negative behavior in dogs for which negative reinforcement is not serving as effectively a method for dealing with their aggression.
For dogs that respond better to positive reinforcement, the Open Bar technique should produce a progressive decline the intensity of their aggressive behavior. Continue with this technique for as long as necessary until the aggressive behavior is gone.
Dog On Dog Aggression Training Tips
Training dogs can be a time-consuming process, but there are several things you can do to ease how to socialize an aggressive dog. In addition to the techniques above here are a few dog on dog aggression training tips you can use while socializing your dog:
Avoid punishment if possible
Some approaches recommend punishment, such as yanking on a dog’s leash, to correct aggressive behavior. However, this might only make the problem worse. The dog will associate proximity to other dogs with punishment which could lead to stress and more aggressive behavior. Punishment is necessary when positive reinforcement techniques show no results. If you use it, consider Jeff Gellman’s approach from Solid K9 Training. Understand that nervous, fearful, aggressive dogs need special treatment even while using negative reinforcement.
Remain calm when socializing your dog
Remember, your dog will often feed off your emotions. If you become agitated when other dogs are around your dog will become agitated as well. Always remain calm so your dog knows there is no reason to be stressed or afraid.
Take your dog to Growl Classes
If you would like some assistance while learning how to socialize an aggressive dog you can try enrolling them in a growl class. These classes are specifically designed to get aggressive dogs accustomed to interacting with other dogs. They can be the perfect supplement to your own training regimens.
How To Socialize An Aggressive Dog: Conclusion
As already shown, aggressive behavior in dogs is often the result of a dog not being properly socialized from an early age. When dogs are isolated from other dogs they can become stressed or afraid when approached by unfamiliar events, such as strangers, vehicles or animals. These emotions can lead to aggressive self-defensive outbursts as warnings about looming threats to their perceived packs.
By learning how to socialize an aggressive dog you will increase the comfort of interacting with other dogs that you encounter in your walks and begin eliminating the danger of dog on dog aggression and possible injury to humans who intervene in stopping a dog fight or who, worse yet, may become targets of your aggressive, anti-social dog.