We’ve already explained what to do when dogs attack, and many of the techniques described there will help. But the complication with multiple dogs is that they will attack as a pack.

In the wild, dogs do this by sending the more submissive dogs around behind the prey while the dominant dogs approach from the front, so the most important thing to remember if you do encounter multiple dogs is to not let any of them get behind you.

Prevention

Of course, the ideal approach is to never get into a situation where you have to defend yourself and your dog against multiple dogs, and here is where a little prevention goes a long way. Your best offense is your own dog — pay attention to her body language and energy. She will become aware of other dogs in the area long before you do through her nose.

If your dog suddenly alerts by stopping and looking off in one direction, sniffing intently and possibly raising a paw, there’s probably a dog there. It may just be a neighbor walking their dog, but if you have any doubts, calmly change direction.

Next, and especially if you’re in an area known to have loose dogs around, there are items you can take with you on the walk to use for prevention and protection, such as:

• A sturdy walking stick or cane, which can be used to claim your space if dogs confront you, and as a defensive weapon if necessary.
• Dog repellent spray, such as DirectStop®, which uses citronella and is safer than something like pepper spray for the other dogs, you and your dog.
• A backpack, sweatshirt tied around your waist, or other disposable object that you can use as a distraction if a dog does come at you. The idea here is to get the dog to bite the object instead of you or your dog.
• Treats or food, which can also work as a distraction when thrown at the attacking dog.
• An air horn or very bright flashlight, which can be used as an attack deterrent as well as a way to signal others that you might need help.

Finally, one of the best preventative steps you can take is to socialize your own dog so that he does not become over-excited or aggressive when he sees other dogs. Keeping your own dog calm will keep a situation with an aggressive but distant dog from escalating into an approach and attack.

Precaution

When on the walk, always know your surroundings, and have an escape route in mind in case you are attacked by dogs — a place that you and your dog can get to quickly but other dogs can’t, like a business (whether dog friendly or not), the back of an open pick-up truck, or inside of an apartment complex or yard with a gate.

Get to know your neighborhood, and if there are any yards with dogs that bark or lunge at the fence when you pass by, try to avoid them. Take another route, or walk on the opposite side of the street.

But… when you are passing a yard with a barking dog, remain calm. Don’t speed up or try to run past — this will just teach the barking dog that its behavior makes things leave “her” territory more quickly, and will make the barking worse.

Get to know your neighbors and fellow dog walkers, and do exchange information about any encounters with aggressive dogs in the area so you can adjust your route accordingly.

Action

If, despite the above, you and your dog are approached by multiple dogs, there are still ways of avoiding a dog attack, and rule number one is to remain calm. Not only can this keep the situation from escalating, it will keep you focused and able to better deal with whatever happens.

Be aware of the dogs’ body language and know the signs of an imminent attack to look for so you can block the dogs before they strike — tension in the body, raised hackles, and ears flat against the head are some of the signs to watch for.

If it does escalate to an attack, know how to break up a dog fight, and use the tools you have brought with you to assist in that process. As Cesar explains, always focus on the dog with the highest energy level, and remove this one from the fight first, even if it’s your own dog. Call for help but do not rely on it showing up, and maintain your calm, assertive energy.

Have you had to deal with more than one aggressive dog at once? Tell us your story in the comments.

The post When (Several) Dogs Attack… appeared first on Cesar's Way.

When people ask me for help with their dogs, I ask them to tell me what they think the problem is. Quite often, they immediately diagnose aggression. “My dog is aggressive on the walk.” “My dog is aggressive around food.” “My dog is aggressive all the time.”

In fact, in a recent Facebook survey of my fans, when we asked you to pick the single most serious problem you have with your dogs, aggression was the number one choice.

However, more often than not, the dog is not aggressive. It is curious and excited on the walk, it is not calm and submissive before being fed, or it’s just an excited dog in general. In reality, very few dogs are actually aggressive. But, because they have big sharp teeth, we tend to interpret any incident in which a dog approaches another dog or human quickly as aggression, especially if we don’t know the dog.

If a strange dog approaches us and our dog on the walk, we often become apprehensive ourselves. Our dog interprets this as weak energy and is forced to protect us, and their defensiveness can then lead to the other dog becoming aggressive in defense as well.

However, other behavior problems in dogs, if not resolved, can lead to aggressive behavior. Here are a few of the major ones.

Fear, Anxiety, and Insecurity

All animals have three natural responses to danger: fight, flight, or avoidance. They will either attack, run away, or try to hide from that danger. Fearful, anxious, or insecure dogs will not naturally fight. They will run or hide. However, if either of these things does not remove them from danger, then they can lash out aggressively.

A dog in a constant state of anxiety can eventually stop trying to run or hide first because its internal energy is very high and very scattered, so they can progress to reacting aggressively to everything.

These kinds of dogs require lots of exercise in order to burn up that excess energy and bring them back to a calm, submissive state. They also require calm, assertive Pack Leaders who will build up their self-confidence by providing protection and direction.

Frustration

When a dog’s needs are not fulfilled, the dog experiences frustration — particularly if what’s missing is exercise. An otherwise happy-go-lucky, high energy dog stuck alone in a small apartment for twelve hours a day can become so frustrated that aggression may result. The problem is made worse if the humans don’t also give that dog discipline by providing rules, boundaries and limitations.

If you can’t be home to walk your dog at least every four hours, then you need to take the dog on a long walk before you leave and after you return home.  In the meantime, make sure that there are plenty of things to mentally stimulate your dog while you’re gone, like toys with treats hidden in them, acceptable things to chew on, and so forth.

Lack of Socialization

A dog knows how to be a dog and how to relate to other dogs. It’s only when human behavior short circuits that process that a dog becomes antisocial. This is particularly common with smaller dogs, because humans have the irresistible need to pick them up at the first sign of danger.

You never see someone pick up their Rottweiler because another dog on the walk is barking at it. And yet, for breeds like Chihuahuas and Yorkies, this is the first thing that people do, and it completely confuses the dog.

They associate being picked up (affection) with another dog being aggressive toward it, so what do they do? They learn that this is what you want. When they meet another dog, it’s time to go crazy with barking and lunging so they can get their “reward.”

Even without picking the dog up, we can make it antisocial through our reactions. If we become tense or nervous and tighten up on the leash when we see another dog, then we’re teaching our dogs to see other dogs as a threat.

Dog on dog aggression is not natural. It’s a learned behavior and we teach it. In order for our dogs to unlearn it and become socialized, we have to become aware of what we’re doing to make our dogs antisocial and we have to learn what to do to let our dogs be dogs.

Injury or Illness

Sometimes, a dog that has never shown any signs of aggression will suddenly lash out and snap at a family member unexpectedly. If none of the above cases apply, then this may be your dog’s way of letting you know that it’s in pain and the snarl or nip is a spontaneous reaction similar to someone yelling “Ouch!” when they stub their toe on the coffee table.

If your dog suddenly lashes out at a familiar human when being touched, then your first step should be to visit the vet and find out if there are any physical causes for the reaction. If this is the case, your dog will be grateful to you for helping stop the pain.

A lot of people assume that a dog is either naturally aggressive or not, but this isn’t really the case. Aggression is not a cause, but a symptom. If your dog is aggressive, then it’s telling you that something else is lacking. By paying attention to the behavior, we can understand what our dog is telling us and then figure out the cure to the problem.

Does you dog currently display any of the undesired behaviors that might lead to aggression? Now that you’re aware, how do you intend to address the issue? Share it with us in the comments.

The post The Rundown On Aggression appeared first on Cesar's Way.

Recently, one of my human office pack members told me a very interesting story. He has a neighbor with two dogs, and whenever he and his dog meet up with them, all of the dogs greet each other happily and play and get along great.

A few weeks ago, the neighbor was out of town and hired a dog walker and, as soon as the dog walker saw my employee and his dog, she tensed up and moved to the side. He told her that the dogs got along, but she stayed nervous and, instead of greeting his dog playfully, the other dogs started barking aggressively.

So — what was the difference?

Three dogs and one person were the same. One human was not, and she brought entirely different energy into the equation. Despite the dogs already being friendly, the dog walker was sending the message, “I’m nervous and afraid,” and the dogs responded by becoming protective.

The next time my employee saw the neighbor with her dogs, all three of them again engaged in friendly greeting and play, the aggressive incident forgotten.

The Importance of Energy

This story is a perfect example of how important our energy is, especially when it comes to communicating with our dogs. Since dogs live in the moment, they don’t necessarily remember, “I’ve met this dog before and we’re friends.” And since, to dogs, energy is everything, how the human is behaving during any interaction is far more important than any history between the dogs.

This is why we need to learn to be aware of the energy we’re projecting, and to remain calm. As I’ve explained before, energy equals intention times emotion. If your emotion is fearful and your intention is avoidance, then you’ve just sent the alarm to your dog that says “Get ready for danger!”

Humans are emotional beings, and two of the emotions that we can easily fall into are fear and excitement, whether separately or, worse, together. Each of these emotions is the opposite of calm and can be dangerous because they make us stop paying attention to what is actually around us and focus on what we think is happening. This is how we lose control of a situation.

Humans Tell the Story; Dogs Tell the Truth

This is also why I say that humans tell the “story” while dogs tell the truth. Human emotions, if they grow too strong, can blind us to reality. Even a positive emotion like love can keep us from seeing that, for example, the person we’re with doesn’t treat us very well.

Before you can learn to become calm in stressful or exciting situations, you have to learn how to check your own energy. To do that, you need to look at your instinctual response to your own emotions.

So I want you to think of a stressful situation and imagine yourself in it. Maybe it’s being stuck in traffic, or what you went through holiday shopping last year. Whatever it is, remember the feelings you had and try to feel them again.

Listen to What Your Body is Doing

Once you’ve done that, listen to what your body is doing. Maybe some part of you tensed up, or you’re feeling a knot in your stomach. Whatever it is, recognize how it’s connected to the negative emotions. Then, take a few deep breaths, shake out or stretch or whatever you need to do to release the physical tension, and think of the stressful situation again.

However, this time, instead of focusing on the emotion, think of that situation from another point of view and in a purely factual way — maybe traffic is bad because of an accident, or the line in the store was so slow because the clerk is near the end of a twelve-hour shift.

As you think of the situation like this, continue to breathe deeply and stand up straight, with your feet flat on the floor and shoulder-width, head up, chest out, and shoulders back. Feel whether the tension you felt has gone away, and think of how your view of the stressful situation is changing.

When the tension is gone, you should have achieved a calm energy state, and this is the state you should be in whenever you’re with your dog, especially on the walk. Because energy is a combination of emotion and intention, your intention equals the outcome you’re going to get but, once you get your emotions under control, you can make your intention positive.

As the dog walker story above shows us, we incredibly influence our dog’s behavior all of the time, because they mirror our energy. This is why it is so important for us to learn how to control our energy, and to be able to achieve a calm, assertive state at will.

Stay calm, and in control!

The post Keeping Control appeared first on Cesar's Way.

Questions from a Reader

When a female pitbull goes into heat, does that cause them to become aggressive even if they never were before? –Janine Gennawey

Cesar Millan’s answer:

Hi Janine,

Aggression in female dogs during their heat is a common complaint. Drastic hormone changes can adversely affect a female dog’s mood and can predispose to acts of aggression even if she has never been aggressive before. These hormone changes cause irritability, nervousness and can even cause pain during ovulation. Keep in mind that instead of going into heat for a few days a month a female dog goes into heat for a few weeks twice a year which is a considerable length of time. If your dog is getting too hot to handle while in heat be sure to take the necessary precautions.

Identify the triggers that induce aggression and isolate her from these triggers while she is in heat. If she is aggressive towards other dogs, keep her away from them during her cycle. Unspayed females will sometimes compete for a male dog’s attention by fighting. If she is overprotective of her pups use extra caution when dealing with the puppies. It is common for the maternal instinct to go into overdrive during this time.

Be mindful of your actions while your dog is in heat

Be calm and assertive when picking up the pups and praise and comfort her when she is being good. Let her hear in your voice that you mean no harm to the pups and do not touch the pups until she is relaxed and comfortable with your presence. Do not leave children unsupervised with a dog in heat and if she displays any heat related aggression it is best to isolate the dog from children entirely.

If you have no intentions of breeding her then having her spayed will be helpful and might even eliminate the aggression entirely especially considering she has never been aggressive before. Keep in mind she may learn undesirable behaviors and continue to exhibit aggression after her heat ends if she learns that this behavior can get her what she wants. So it is best to spay her as soon as possible because while heat related aggression is usually temporary it can lead to long term problems with aggression.

Aggression is a serious problem and should not be taken lightly

Remain calm and assertive when dealing with her and please seek professional advice from your veterinarian and an animal behaviorist or certified professional dog trainer as soon as possible.

Stay calm and assertive!
-Cesar Millan

How has spaying or neutering affected your dog? Share it with us in the comments.

The post Female Dogs in Heat: How to Handle Agression appeared first on Cesar's Way.