We set our dog up to succeed rather than lash out. We decide what we want our dogs to do instead of bark, lunge, and bite. And, maybe most importantly, we help our dog feel differently about his world and the people and other animals in it. When we change our focus in this way, we naturally shift from confrontation to collaboration. We start working with our dog rather than working on him. That shift leads us away from punishment and squarely toward positive reinforcement dog training. Dogs who behave aggressively are under pressure. They are emotional. The barking, lunging, and biting is about making that person or other animal go away or stop. Often this means training with the person or other animal farther away. Sometimes we start in a setting in which there are no stressors at all. Regardless, create an environment where your dog can get it right over and over.
Here’s an example of how we train a new behavior to replace an old aggressive behavior pattern. Because we are using happy talk, food, and movement we are actually influencing our dog’s emotions. Specifically, we are affecting a change in how he feels about the thing that was scaring him or making him angry. The aggression does stop. That offensive behavior pattern gets replaced with one that is calmer and functionally better for the dog and the people involved. More importantly, we are addressing the underlying emotions that fuel the aggressive behavior. Our dog learns to relax a bit around the thing that was scaring him or making him angry. Over time this can lead to what we call behavioral flexibility, the ability to take on other experiences with less rigidity.