Pack Leader To An Aggressive Dog

It is especially difficult to become pack leader to an aggressive dog because we will naturally fear our dog's aggression.

My Shiba Inu used to have the worst bouts of aggressive leash biting. He would jump up on me and sometimes grab my jacket sleeve, and shake his head very rigorously in what I call the kill-move (the shaking, head tossing motion that animals make to kill prey).

The more fearful I got of my dog, the more aggressive he became. He started humping my leg and attacked the leash whenever I held it. Thankfully, he never broke skin, because of bite inhibition training. Nevertheless, I dreaded walking my dog and even just being with him.

Here are some techniques that helped me conquer my fear and become pack leader to my aggressive dog.

Practice calm and assertive energy.

Cesar Milan, The Dog Whisperer, always emphasizes the importance of projecting calm and assertive energy, especially when interacting with an aggressive dog. If you interact with a dog using nervous, submissive, fearful, or otherwise weak (non-assertive) energy, the dog may react to that energy and start showing aggression.

Anger, impatience, frustration, and all other non-calm energies will also excite your dog and cause him to behave badly.

Some techniques that helped me remain calm and assertive include:

• Taking deep breaths and focusing on breathing to remain calm.
• Actively thinking of something else whenever I start to get stressed about what my dog might do.
• Using the "tsch" sound that Cesar Millan uses (no, it is not a magical sound for calming dogs) to help remind myself to stay calm and assertive.
• Walking with an assertive posture (shoulders back, head up).

In addition, make sure that you are not putting tension on the leash.

The thing that helped me most was to imagine the worst that my dog could do - In the leash biting case it was a bite to my hand or arm. I decided that for my Shiba Inu, I could deal with some bites and that if he did that I would hold firm, get him home as quickly as possible, and then put him directly in a time-out area.

Once I had a plan for dealing with the worst, I became less fearful.

Once my energy improved, my dog's bad behavior also improved significantly.

Have a drag-lead on your dog and keep him on a schedule.

You have probably noticed that your dog can run much faster than you can. Your dog has probably noticed this too! To get better control of your dog and avoid chasing games always have a drag-lead on your dog. Initially start with a longer leash so you can control him without being close to his mouth.

Only use a flat collar with the drag lead and NOT a training collar.

Muzzle your dog if necessary with a basket muzzle. Your dog can still chew with a basket muzzle and it is less restraining. To make the muzzling process less stressful, you may want to first desensitize your dog to the muzzle by pairing it with food and fun.

Have clear and consistent rules for your dog at all times.

Initially, be more strict with your dog. Institute more rules so that you have many opportunities to show your dog that you are pack leader. If your dog does not follow the rules, then he does not get his most desired resources (e.g. access of the backyard, walks, yummy dog treats, fun dog toys, play time, access to pack members).

One of the best ways to become pack leader to an aggressive dog is to control his resources by following the Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF) program. This just means that your dog does not get anything until he does something for you first.

Do not give your dog all of his food on a silver platter. Instead, use them for dog training, grooming, during walks, and play time. Never leave food or other resources (e.g. toys) out for him to use whenever he wants. Being pack leader means that you control everything and you decide when, where, and for how long he gets access to resources.

Once you gain some confidence and your dog is behaving better, you may relax some of the rules.

Some useful rules to establish and maintain pack leadership include:

• No getting on furniture.
• Sit calmly before going through doorways and only go through on command.
• No jumping on people.
• No leash biting.
• No food aggression. Must release resource (food, toys, or other items) on command.
• Absolutely no growling, barring of teeth, mouthing, or biting of people.

More walks of shorter duration.

Most aggressive behaviors occur on neighborhood walks because that is when your dog is exposed to the most interesting stimuli (e.g. other dogs, cats, squirrels, people). On walks, you also have less control over the environment, and may not easily and quickly get your dog to a time-out area.

When I had troubles with my Shiba Inu, I shortened our walks but increased their frequency.

First, I would get him to walk in a heel position with me inside the house. Doing the heel inside the house helped to put me in a pack leader mindset and position. It also allowed me to quickly put my dog in a time-out if he started any aggressive behaviors.

Once we were ready, we practiced door manners. This helps to further establish pack leadership. My dog had to sit calmly while I opened and closed the door. If he remains calm, we would leave and start the walk.

Initially, I walked my dog close to the house so that I could quickly end the walk, get him home, and put him on a time-out if he started showing any aggression. As we started to have more and more successful short walks, I was able to gain more confidence and reduce my fear. When things started improving, I slowly increased the distance and duration of the walk.

Have a game plan.

A very important part of being pack leader is to be prepared.

Come up with a plan for dealing with each and every one of your dog's aggressive behavior. Go online, talk to trainers, and devise a range of methods for dealing with your dog. Remember that the human brain is much larger than a dog's brain so you can easily outsmart your dog.

When my dog had his leash biting problems, I tried every possible method I could think of, including leash corrections, water spray, loud noise, touching the dog's flank, stepping on the leash and ignoring him, turning my back to him, redirecting on a toy, giving an alternative command, and much more.

The method that finally worked for me is to hold the leash close to his collar (so I have good control of him) and getting him into a brisk walk home. Since a dog can't do two things at one time, he couldn't leash bite and also walk briskly so he gave up the ghost. Note: do not try this if your dog does not have good bite inhibition.

Even though I tried many methods that did not work, having a well thought-out plan of action helped me to remain calm when my dog became aggressive. I just focused on the game plan rather than getting stressed or fearful.

Avoid people and dogs with bad energy.

Your dog will be affected, not just by your energy, but also by the energy of the people and dogs around him.

In the initial stages of establishing pack leadership, it is best to avoid people and dogs with bad energy. These people can trigger an aggressive reaction in your dog because of the weak or unbalanced energy they are projecting.

Once you gain more confidence, and feel that your own energy can overcome these external sources of energy you may start to quickly walk your dog past them. Don't stop and greet them until you have your fear and your dog fully in control.

Even Cesar Millan, who is extremely calm with dogs, will frequently ask nervous or fearful dog owners to stay away in the initial stages of training. This allows Cesar to establish pack leadership first, before dealing with the unbalanced external energy.

When I was begining my pack leadership process, I avoided all houses with unbalanced dogs. As things improved, I was able to expand my walks, and eventually take my dog to on-leash, then off-leash park trails.

I only let my dog greet dogs that are calm and in control of their owners. At this time, I am keeping encounters short and sweet. I will start to lengthen the duration of encounters as my dog and I progress through this process.

Remember that being pack leader also means protecting your dog from unwanted attention, whether human or canine.

Instruct people on the best way to meet your dog (e.g. don't pat from above, no quick hand movements). If they cannot follow your instructions, then leave. If you must be rude, then so be it. Find a good vet who is familiar with aggressive dogs and is willing to spend the time in getting to know your dog.

Address aggressive behaviors as soon as possible.

A good pack leader is a vigilant pack leader. Watch your dog closely, especially when he is young (< 1 year old). Stop any aggressive behaviors as soon as you see them. If you do not address aggression issues early, your dog will likely escalate his behavior and start practicing aggression in a broader range of contexts. Once this occurs it will be harder to break your dog of the habit.

I do not let my dog leash bite, show teeth, growl, or mouth at me. Any of these offenses will get him a warning (ack ack). If he continues, he gets a time-out. Manage the everyday details of your time with your dog so that you set him and yourself up for success.

Proper management can significantly increase the number of successes, reduce the number of aggressive episodes, and help you  become a good pack leader.