One of the biggest fears of a new dog owner is will their dog run away. This will be because of concern for his safety or what mischief he may be getting up to when out of site. Alternatively, because you are embarrassed with the lack of control you have over your pet. Unfortunately, there are many dangers that threaten loose dogs, from the obvious one of the motorways to other dogs attacking them So how are you going to stop you dog from running away?

Your very first task should be to take steps to physically prevent your dog from escaping You must make your home and garden secure so there is no possibility that he can escape. Your long-term objective is to train your dog so that he will obey your commands. Training your dog need not be a harrowing experience for you or your dog, in fact if done correctly then you both will enjoy the training.

There are two separate commands that you and your pet need to master before you can safely say that you pet will not run away.

The first one is the command “STAY”.The objective is to get you dog to stay in a set position until you give him the command to move. This command can be anything or rather any word you choose. I use the command “Away” but you can use any thing as long as you are consistent. One of the biggest problems with training your dog is that different family members will try to use different commands for the same action. This will just confuse your pet. Make sure all the family use the same word, consistency in command will equal a positive result.

The second command will be “Recall”Again, you must use the same word all the time so that you pet links that word or command to the action you require. I personally use a whistle for my recall command. This simply means than any family member can recall our dog with the blowing of the whistle. The dog recognises this command and there is no possibility that he can get confused with different people saying the recall command differently.

Therefore, once you have trained you pet with these two basic commands you will feel a lot more confident when out walking your pet. No longer dreading letting him off the lead and facing the embarrassment of chasing after you pet because of your lack of control. These simple tips will help.

Hi,

I have just returned from a 16 days’ holiday in Melbourne and visited my siblings who also has a dog each; Maltese mixed and Jack Russel mixed. You can see some of the photos of the dogs at my website dedicated to my own 2 dogs, Jack the Beagle and Ruby the Corgi, at http://beaglecorgi.blogspot.com/

I have also just posted 9 news on dogs so click on the News tab and enjoy reading the stories reported on dogs aorund the world.

I will be posting some videos on dog tricks that I got on Fluffy the Maltese mixed so drop by again in a week or so.

Regards,

 David

Hi,

You may want to check this children’s picture book, CRASH!, about a little boy learning to care for his new golden retriever puppy.

The author is donating 50% of my royalties to Almost Heaven Golden Retriever Rescue and Sanctuary.

You may find more information at http://www.mayrassecretbookcase.blogspot.com/

Regards

David

Dogs are aggressive by nature. During the caveman times, dogs needed this aggression to defend themselves as well as their territory, whether it be their food, their sleeping quarters, or their mate. They have since become domesticated and more refined, but the instinct of aggression remains, and will always be part of a dog.

As a dog’s owner, you can prevent aggressive dog behavior from showing itself and becoming a habit by recognizing it, and dealing with it. To start, you must learn to read the signs.

When a dog becomes aggressive he may exhibit any of these: he becomes jumpy and fidgety, starts barking at the least sound, has his ears pointing forward, raises his hackles, tugs against his leash, or may instead sit very still and not move, while staring hard at the object of his suspicion.

Animal therapists say that there are many different types of aggression behavior in dogs. Two of the most common ones are: aggression towards strangers, and aggression toward family members.

A dog usually becomes aggressive towards strangers because he is not used to them. And because he has not, he cannot relax. This usually happens when a dog hasn’t been trained to be around people or other animals.

The solution? Get your dog used to socializing. Expose him to new people, new situations, and new animals. If your dog is used to socializing he will soon learn that new experiences are not necessarily scary, and thus relax. This is important, especially when the dog is young. Take him to a puppy school, go walking in the neighborhood with him. Go to a dog-friendly mall. Take him for a car ride!

Sometimes a dog may exhibit aggressive dog behavior towards his own family members, for several reasons. One is, he is trying to defend something he thinks he owns, from you. This is called resource guarding, and usually happens with food or toys. Or, maybe he is not comfortable with the way he’s being treated in your household. He may even have had bad handling experience, such as being hurt while his nails were being cut. Bathing is another thing some dogs hate.

Try to see it from his point of view. Dogs are pack animals, and in a pack there is always the issue of hierarchy and dominance. Just as a dog would rank himself in a pack, he ranks himself with you and the members of the family. If a dog thinks he ranks high enough among you, or even higher than all of you, he will not hesitate to be dominant.

So how do we deal with this? Put him in his place by teaching him to be obedient. Reprimand him for bad dog behavior, and then reward him when he has done good. Eventually he will realize who is boss, and that it pays to follow you. Give him obedience training frequently and make it a pleasant experience for him by giving him praise and goodies. Before long he will learn who is the real authority and that dog aggression will be tamed.

If you want to learn more about how to handle aggressive and dominant dog behavior, read the book SitStayFetch. This guide deals with all the aspects of dog ownership, including dog aggression. Get a copy now. Click here for free dog training lessons.

Sadly, every year thousands of dogs are sent to their deaths at animal
shelters because of their aggressive behavior towards people. Although
dogs are instinctively aggressive creatures, the overly aggressive or
vicious behavior some dogs exhibit can be prevented if you take a
proactive approach.

In nature, aggression comes in handy and is in fact necessary.
Descending from wolves, dogs needed to defend themselves against other
animals, had to hunt and protect resources and of course find a mate.
Lets face it-dogs are well adapted to do some serious physical harm-
take a look at your dog’s teeth! Some of a dog’s aggressive nature has
been minimized through selective breeding but you can’t change the fact
that dogs are hunters and had to be aggressive to survive.

The easiest way way to stop aggressive behavior in dogs is to not let
it form in the first place. Count yourself lucky if you are reading
this while your furry friend is still a puppy because really all you
have to do is what I call diverse socialization. Let your puppy see and
play with a wide variety of people: babies and toddlers, old people,
young boys and girls, men with beards, other animals and even the
mailman.(Don’t laugh-according to the US Postal Service every year
2,851 mail carriers get bitten by dogs)

Your dog depends on you to broaden his social horizons. If you give him
many positive socialization experiences with a wide variety of people
and animals he will feel more relaxed when he encounters a stranger or
unfamiliar situation. He has learned that new people and situations are
fun and interesting, not scary. He has to learn this through experience
and the earlier you start him on this “socialization training” the
better. It is not enough to put your adult dog in a room full of
strange people and tell him to “Relax, settle down Rufus, it’s
alright”. He has to learn this himself. If you don’t have time to do
this yourself there are “puppy preschools” that encourage socialization
with other dogs and their owners. The environment is safe and
controlled and your dog will get exposure to wide variety of different,
friendly faces and other dogs. This way he will learn that he doesn’t
need to fear new faces.

It is best to continue with a dog’s socialization as an ongoing
lifetime effort. If he looks like he is being overwhelmed just back off
the training a little bit until he can build up his tolerance.
Aggression Towards Your Family Members

In some situations an adult dog will show aggression to someone in your
own family. This type of aggression is usually a behavior that dogs
exhibit when they are trying to guard a resource from what they
perceive as a threat. He may be guarding his food, or his territory
from a perceived threat-you or another family member. Some dogs will
growl if you approach them while they are eating or may give you a
“staredown” if you try to take anything away from them such as a toy.
This behavior is commonplace and it relates to the social behavior of
dogs. Dogs are pack animals and live in a structured, hierarchal
society. Each individual in their society has a certain status or rank.
The highest ranking dog, the alpha, is the leader of the pack and gets
his choice of food and mates. Each dog knows his rank, or dominance in
relation to every other dog. So he would know which dog he can easily
push away, which ones he can muscle in on, and which ones he must back
away from in a confrontation.

Your dog also lives in a pack-your family. Your dog already has
everyone ranked in the family in his social schema. The problem that
can occur here is that if he thinks that he has a higher rank than you
or another family member he may act aggressively. This aggressive or
dominant type behavior is the “right” of a higher ranking animal. Only
a higher status or dominant dog would act aggressively this way.
In other words, if your dog understood that he was not the alpha dog in
this situation he would never aggressively try to prevent you from
taking his food or toy. A lower staus or ranking dog would simply go
along with what the higher ranking dog (you or your family) does
without a fight.

The best way to stop this is with some obedience training which will
make him understand that you and your family are the leader of the pack
and not him. Don’t take this to mean you have to beat your dog if he
disobeys-this can lead to fear biting and other problems. It’s better
if you spend a couple of short sessions a day-say 10-15 minutes and
reward him with praise and food treats for following your commands and
putting him in isolation when he disobeys. Your dog wants to be an
accepted part of the pack.

Some dogs, especially dogs that have been abused and abandoned in
shelters may be especially aggressive and fearful. He may be too much
to handle for you. If you have the heart there are professional dog
trainers that can help train very aggressive dogs.