Preventing Aggression in Puppies
Originally published February 2020; updated August 2023
The puppy you brought home is so adorable and sweet. As you dream of life together in the coming years, aggression is definitely not invited to the party.
Can we do anything to prevent aggression? Are aggressive dogs born or made?
The short answer is yes and yes. The way an adult dog behaves is a product of both his genetics and his upbringing. It’s Nature and Nurture.
Here are some practical Dos and Do Nots for preventing aggression.
Dos:
Drop an extra yummy treat near his nose while he’s eating then immediately walk away. This teaches him that people approaching while he’s eating is an AWESOME thing.
Teach him to voluntarily Drop what’s in his mouth using positive-reinforcement techniques. Chirag Patel at Domesticated Manners has a phenomenal video tutorial on this easy process!
Systematically teach him to love having his feet/tail/ears/etc. handled.
Exercise caution when taking him off your property. Sadly, it doesn’t take very many scary encounters with bad-mannered off-leash dogs for your puppy to become reactive.
Carry Spray Shield when you take your puppy off your property. This citronella-based spray can be used to deter off-leash dogs from approaching.
Be picky about which training advice you follow. Just because the trainer or resource is popular or seems to produce fantastic results does not mean the advice is sound or in your puppy’s best interest. Here are three follow-worthy pages on Facebook. On YouTube, check out Dog Training by Kikopup, Zurison, Domesticated Manners, Donna Hill, 4PawsUniversity, and Laurie Luck.
Do Nots:
Stick your hand in his bowl, pet him or take his bowl away while he’s eating. This actually teaches him to be anxious about his food and it will create aggression.
Randomly mess with his feet/tail/ears/etc. This may teach him to tolerate that odd human behavior, but that tolerance may eventually run out.
Use a prong, electronic, or chain training collar. These tools create distress and build negative associations with his environment. Fear is the #1 cause of aggression.
Be the Alpha. It’s unnecessary, does little to produce a behaviorally healthy adult dog and will cause more problems.
“My puppy is growling!”
Puppy growling isn’t uncommon, but sometimes it’s hard to know whether it’s playful growling, or aggressive growling. Learn how to tell the difference with Koinonia’s post on puppy growling.
If you’re concerned that any of your puppy’s behaviors will become aggressive, don’t hesitate to get in touch with a qualified, positive-reinforcement dog trainer.
It is very unnatural for most young puppies to display aggression, so if it is happening, you need to get qualified professional help ASAP.
(A qualified dog trainer is important. Contact Koinonia if you’d like help finding someone. You can also check out this post on how to evaluate a dog trainer.)