How to Handle an Aggressive Dog: The Story of Cally

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By Gardengates
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Handle an Aggressive Dog: The Story of Cally

The story of Cally is a lesson in dealing with dog aggression. Cally was a lovely Portuguese Water Dog with mellow parents. This isn't a breed famous for aggressive problems, but there was some guard-dog breeding in the distant past of the breed. Cally was a throw-back genetically. She was obedience, clicker and agility trained and she showed no aggression for the first year and a half of her life before she hit maturity. She was an excessively destructive puppy with a strong stubborn streak albeit she was very affectionate. As a result the owner let most things pass and was shocked when all of a sudden the dog started turning on people and other dogs with not so much as a growl or raised hackles....

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Step 1

Here are some steps for handling an aggressive dog as illustrated by Cally.
Step 2

YOU NEED TO KNOW IF YOUR DOG IS AGGRESSIVE BECAUSE OF THE DESIRE TO PROTECT OR THE DESIRE TO HUNT.
Cally was protection aggressive and would die for her owner. However, Cally felt SHE was the one to decide who to protect her owner from. Her choices were unpredictable. As a result, she couldn't be trusted around other people and certainly couldn't be let off leash. She proved herself dangerous by attacking a visitor -- a highly experienced dog trainer -- without warning.
Step 3

OWNERS MUST CONVEY THEY ARE IN CHARGE.
Training Cally meant the owner had to convince the dog that decisions were not up to Cally. This was an example of a very determined dog. She would do every trained trick her owner asked, but when it came to the big decisions, Cally considered herself top dog.
Step 4

SOMETIMES AN OWNER NEEDS TO TAKE OVER THE DOG'S LIFE TO CONVINCE HIM/HER WHO IS IN CHARGE. THIS SHOULD BE DONE GENTLY.
In the end, the solution involved the owner having to make all the decisions for Cally, big and little. Several trainers worked with the dog -- and the owner. For the owner, there were lots of exercises involving subtle dominance moves. For the dog there was the opportunity to know that the owner decided everything from where she slept to when she ate -- items that had been glossed over in the past. Items which, for most dogs do not have all that much significance. Cally also had to learn to trust the owner could protect HER and she could let the owner take over.
Step 5

DOGS NEED AN OUTLET FOR THEIR PROTECTION AGGRESSION.
For Cally, there were also lessons in protection training in which she could attack the sleeve and find a sportive outlet for her aggression. In the end, a dog who too many people felt would have to be put down, turned into a wonderful pet. Although she was remarkably docile and gentle after more than a year of intense training, she would never be totally trusted off-leash. But she went everywhere on leash, adored children, had a great relationship with her owner and continued getting exercising and training for the next 10 years until she died of cancer, breaking her owner's heart.
Step 6

IF YOU SEE THE FIRST SIGNS OF AGGRESSION, SEEK HELP TO MODIFY THE BEHAVIOR.
The moral of this story is that there are many methods of training and every relationship between dog and human is unique. Most are not this challenging. And the solution required several different training approaches. If you see any signs of behavioral problems with your dog -- especially aggressiveness toward people or other dogs, please be open to trying several approaches. I have never seen aggression towards a dog bring out anything but more aggression. Dominance can be handled softly and gently. You may need a combination of types of training as in this instance where it was both necessary to do dominance training for the owner and protection training as an outlet for the dog.
Step 7

EDUCATE YOURSELF. Talk to different trainers. Start with the most gentle and rewarding types of training. If you need to correct behavior it is better to do it clearly and cleanly than to perpetually nag. The story of Cally gave both dog and owner a happy life together. The original breeder thought the dog would have to be put down. It is amazing what you can do with a little patience and some extra professional help. If you have an aggressive dog, keep him or her safely away from others until you gain control. Try not to give up. Most dogs can be trained but you will have to be willing to invest time, work, and money. Most of all, you will have to be willing to re-train some of your own ideas as well!
Step 8

YOU CAN DO MIRACLES AND HELP AN AGGRESSIVE DOG HAVE A GOOD, SAFE, LOVING LIFE!
This is one dog I worked with. It was an extraordinary experience. But it was my experience and this article represents what I learned. You don't have to agree, but I wanted to let you know that I believe a well trained owner can do miracles even with an unusually challenging animal.

Comments

Mindee94 said

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on 6/11/2009 Excellent way to bring the points home. Use of example is so much clearer than points with no reference. Thanks for another great article!

thedogshrink said

on 6/11/2009 Excellent article! You've shown two things that are extremely important when dealing with dogs:
1. as you said, the owner let most things pass when she was a puppy -- big mistake, and
2. you NEVER, EVER use aggression of ANY kind to retrain an aggressive dog.
I don't know who would disagree with your article, but if they did, they are only showing their ignorance.

tcady said

on 1/7/2009 I have an aggressive rescue dog, he is fear aggressive, He is also a big teddy bear usually, but unpredictable, aggression is far and few between - making me feel less safe, but he does growl in warning first always and I have learned how to manage him, thus saving his life.