Dog Is Acting Very Possessive

When The Dog Starts To Fear You

Here are some things to keep in your head while dealing with possession aggression. Depending on what the situation is, it is always best to try and correct the behavior during the act. I have said this a lot of times because it works. Treat the fault when it occurs. If you try and fix the mistake the next day there is no way you can expect the dog to remember its mistake. That is because to the dog, it did not make a mistake. Quality communication between you and the pet will prove to be very valuable in the end.

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When your dog is acting very possessive of the the things around it, this is due to the way in which it was taught to act. Follow with me here for a moment. Suppose your dog is playing with a toy and your child comes along (or you do) and non-intentionally takes that toy away. Is this a big deal? It sure can turn into one if you are not careful enough and keep the same pattern up.

Now although this behavior may seem normal to do to many owners, it is actually very wrong. Please do not get this confused with correction and training. This is simply talking about the act of taking something away because you can or because you feel the need to. There is a big difference. Now why is the act of taking something valuable away from your dog (repeatedly and on purpose or not) such a big deal?

It is a big deal for one main reason, that reason being the animal is now going to constantly keep an eye out for you. In the dog's eyes, you are a predator trying to take its valuable object all the time. This is not a good thing to have happening. So what can you do? Well before you start to do something, you have to know why you are correcting the situation.

The more you take the object away, the more possessive the animal is going to become. When the dog starts to fear you and keep an eye out for you, this is where things go really sour. Many dogs leave their aggression to barking and a fierce sounding growl. There are those that take things a step further and actually begin to bite their owners. Is this a bad dog? In our eyes the dog is misbehaving but from the standpoint of the canine, this is how it was brought up to be. The attitude your dog has is a reflection of your teaching methods.

How can you turn this behavior around? It is going to take some time to re-shape the dog's way of thinking but it is a definite must. I would suggest to get right at the animal's good side by using food in your training sessions. Everyone likes to get something in return for a favor, at least most people do whether they say so or not. This is our nature. Well the canine nature is also rather similar.

When you use food for an exchange of a carried out dog command, you are letting the dog know that it is ok to let go of their toy, food dish, or whatever it is that is valuable to them, even a sock. If the animal feels that it is going to gain something, or at bare minimum, not lose anything in the process, it will be much more likely to let that object go. This is the complete opposite of you just coming and taking the toy away. -- Is It Necessary To Put My Dog To Sleep For Aggression Problems?