Re: Treating aggressive dog between training sessions

[Michael D'Abruzzo]

Thanks for the excellent history and video.

It seems clear to me we have a conflicted dog that is reacting to the touch because he understands that the human hands may sometimes be reaching to administer discipline. Good example of how dogs and humans suffer by the aftershocks of rough training. An unneutered male Golden with an obvious stronger personality will often decide to fight back and “correct” the person reaching for him in a way that makes him feel uncomfortable.

Definitely a category 5 at this point, but fortuntely I believe he can be shifted down easily to a category 4 with some trust building and structure. Once a category 4 dogs become safer to work with.

I have outlined some relationship building rules here in the members area:
http://www.selfhelpdogtraining.com/EstablishingtheRelationship/cms/Relationship.html

You will have to sign in to the self help section to get to the page. I can’t stress how important of a first step that is. Everything a person does with that dog at this point should be based on establishing a respectful relationship at the leadership position. this can be done safely by manageing the obvious triggers and following the rules outlined. For instance, at least two of the bites would have never occured just by following this way which I always use standard for all dogs.

As far as starting obedience, you cant go wrong by continuing with the clicker until more trust is built. Tell me what you think of the info on the link. Another thing to definitely do to give this dog the best possible chance is to remove those testicles! It wont solve any problems at this point but was certainly a factor in getting him to where he is now. Less testosterone will help him be less intense at the least. I hope Bono is still around and safe.

My hunkie video #1 is a loose example of some relationship guidelines with a new aggression rehab case:

[YOUTUBE]P3-7hvXKk8U[/YOUTUBE]