I finally managed to get my hands on a copy of Jean Donaldson's "The Culture Clash" and I'm really impressed. Once I've gotten my notes finished I'll post some of what I got out of the book. You can find her here: http://www.jeandonaldson.com. Her site is well worth visiting and I can recommend her books as well. Most of "The Culture Clash" seems like it should be common sense but when the waters have been muddied by TV shows and yank'n'crank propaganda it can be hard to stick to your guns.
I'm consistently taking Quark out for walks, car rides and bike rides (he has to ride on my lap or in a back pack right now) to achieve proper socialization. He has gone to stores with me, hung out at parks, visited picnics and has not met a person he doesn't like yet. He's been playing with other dogs, cats and kids (supervised only) and at 10 weeks old he seems to be settling in very nicely. Hopefully we can nip any behavioral issues in the bud. We have started with Clicker Training and his speed at grasping the concepts is truly astounding.
Liwanu has been running alongside my bike for 45 minutes a day, every day for the past week. It does seem to have made quite a bit of difference in his attitude. We have also been practicing his basic obedience commands especially 'leave it' and 'sit/stay'. He has not been lunging or snapping nearly as much while we are walking and he has also been less grumpy during the day while he is crated. I'm currently re-writing his goals and our plan of 'attack' so that we can make the most of my newly gained knowledge.
I feel kind of bad about using him as a guinea pig but he seems to enjoy spending the extra time with me and since the whole 'assert dominance' phase (that was at the beginning of our trek) his behavior has not been negatively effected by my attempts at redirecting his negative behaviors.
Showing posts with label dominance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dominance. Show all posts
7/1/08
Aggression
I'm going to cover a basic summary of the different types of dog aggression. Keep in mind that there is a HUGE difference between dog/dog(animal) aggression and dog/human aggression.
1) Fear or nervous aggression. This is a common form of aggression for dogs and can be directed towards animals, people, objects and can even be triggered by scary places. Fear aggression is correctable with proper socialization and R+ training methods (You can read about Liwanu's battle with this on the blog 'Curbing the Violence')
2) Frustration aggression. Also known as fence-fighting or boundary aggression. Dogs who are kept in dog runs behind the house 24/7, are chained 24/7 or otherwise live a fairly isolated life (IE are not family pets, don't get to explore or meet other dogs/people) are prone to this type of aggression.
3) Sexual Aggression- This usually occurs between two intact males in regards to a female in heat. Females may show aggression towards other females during their season or even the male if they are not receptive to his behavior.
4) Territorial Aggression- The name speaks for itself. Many people mistakenly think that this type of aggression is appropriate because they have never seen how quickly it can get out of hand. Anything the dog regards as 'their property' is defended often with serious injury being done. Many dog attacks happen because of someone mistakenly entering the dog's perceived territory and not knowing how to react to the initial threat display. NILIF is a great method to help break the cycle of territorial aggression.
5) 'Dominance' aggression- While I do not support the dominance theory, dogs do establish a ranking order when meeting other dogs. When two dogs meet who are equal rank or where one is trying to 'buck up' there is likely to be aggressive posturing, intimidation tactics and potentially a dog fight.
6) Predatory aggression- This is fairly straight forward as well. Predatory aggression is the act of fulfilling their prey drive. It comes into play when people, animals or other objects appear to be running from the dog.
There are more, but I think I've covered the basics for now. It comes down to a very simple fact. Aggression is a serious issue and correcting it takes help from a behaviorist. Because of the complex body language and various cues (many of which can barely be seen by an unblinking human eye) the average dog owner is not capable of telling which type of aggression their dog has, which makes it very difficult for them to correct.
1) Fear or nervous aggression. This is a common form of aggression for dogs and can be directed towards animals, people, objects and can even be triggered by scary places. Fear aggression is correctable with proper socialization and R+ training methods (You can read about Liwanu's battle with this on the blog 'Curbing the Violence')
2) Frustration aggression. Also known as fence-fighting or boundary aggression. Dogs who are kept in dog runs behind the house 24/7, are chained 24/7 or otherwise live a fairly isolated life (IE are not family pets, don't get to explore or meet other dogs/people) are prone to this type of aggression.
3) Sexual Aggression- This usually occurs between two intact males in regards to a female in heat. Females may show aggression towards other females during their season or even the male if they are not receptive to his behavior.
4) Territorial Aggression- The name speaks for itself. Many people mistakenly think that this type of aggression is appropriate because they have never seen how quickly it can get out of hand. Anything the dog regards as 'their property' is defended often with serious injury being done. Many dog attacks happen because of someone mistakenly entering the dog's perceived territory and not knowing how to react to the initial threat display. NILIF is a great method to help break the cycle of territorial aggression.
5) 'Dominance' aggression- While I do not support the dominance theory, dogs do establish a ranking order when meeting other dogs. When two dogs meet who are equal rank or where one is trying to 'buck up' there is likely to be aggressive posturing, intimidation tactics and potentially a dog fight.
6) Predatory aggression- This is fairly straight forward as well. Predatory aggression is the act of fulfilling their prey drive. It comes into play when people, animals or other objects appear to be running from the dog.
There are more, but I think I've covered the basics for now. It comes down to a very simple fact. Aggression is a serious issue and correcting it takes help from a behaviorist. Because of the complex body language and various cues (many of which can barely be seen by an unblinking human eye) the average dog owner is not capable of telling which type of aggression their dog has, which makes it very difficult for them to correct.
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