Contact Andy Wilson

Agility

Home Classes Dog Display Team Gallery Contact Us Comments Links Rescue Dogs

Anti-Social - How it works

Anti-Social behaviour is one of the most frustrating and upsetting things dog owners have to deal with. They all love their dogs, at home the dogs are usually pretty well behaved and part of the family, however, it’s very hard not to fall out with your dog if it keeps attacking people or other dogs.

The advantage we have is the training class. Everyone that comes to it has a similar problem with their dog, so they don’t have a problem letting them off lead together. It’s worth mentioning now that the off lead part doesn’t happen until the handlers begin to gain some control over their dogs.

As I mentioned earlier, giving your dog something else to do when its being aggressive will promote you in the pack, it also means you can praise your dog for something instead of just correcting it for misbehaving. Sit is the easiest thing to try – keep it simple.

Most handlers of anti-social dogs tend to tense up when they approach or are approached by another dog. This gives the wrong message to their dog. Your dog will think there’s something wrong and react, usually with more aggression.

The handlers would then either

1. Correct the dog (bad dog - Leave - Snatch the lead etc)

2. Reassure the dog (stroking - talking nicely - telling the dogs to calm down good boy/girl etc)

I believe that both of the above enhance the anti-social behaviour.

So instead of correcting the dog for being aggressive, you give it something else to do and you are praise it for working for you. This is not easy to begin with, however, once your dog understands what it’s meant to do, progress usually follow very quickly.