I would like to introduce you to a technique for reducing dog aggression, if you are concerned about your dog’s aggression towards you children , that I call “Toddler Proofing”.
Toddler Proofing is the technique used for re-programming a dog’s emotional reaction from feelings of agression to excitement, or at least tolerance, to your child’s touch… tolerance.
This process is CRUCIAL for families who want to prevent their children from being bitten by their dogs when they aren’t looking.Preventative training is something all families should take seriously, since roughly 65% of all dog biting cases are to the face.
Children cannot always be prevented by their kids from pulling their dog’s tail, climbing over him, or curiously trying to take food out of his food bowl, so it only makes sense to consider preventative training.This article cannot guarantee success in all cases of dog aggression with children, although it is a great starting point.
The secret behind why Toddler Proofing can be so effective for fixing dog aggression with Children is because it uses a process of giving what I call, “Hi Value Emotional Rewards”, to your dog when your child is doing something irritating to him BEFORE the dog can experience the aggressive emotions.
Here’s how Toddler Proofing works:
Step #1: Make sure you know what your dog loves more then anything in the world. You need to have a Hi Value emotional reward in order for Toddler Proofing to work. For some dogs this could be food treats like cheese or meat.Some dogs might rather chase a ball. You’ll be using this reward as a way to interrupt the normal emotional pattern your dog experiences when you child goes to bother him. So make sure to have this reward handy.
Always begin small! You should not try all at once to get you dog to accept all sort of behavior from your child. Instead pick a behavior that only mildly bothers your dog. For this example let’s say that the behavior we want to work on is allowing your dog to tolerate his tail being pulled without growling.
WARNING!!! NEVER put yourself or your child at risk of being harmed by your dog.Use these techniques only for mild cases of aggression.In cases where your dog is dangerous or you are afraid of being bitten, consult a professional trainer in your local area to help you with your issues directly, rather than following these instructions.This article cannot address every factor considering your safety, because there’s simply too many of them.You should be very careful.
While “slightly” bothering him, reward your dog. “Tail Pulling” may become more accepted by your dog if you start rewarding him with a treat while you lightly grab his tail.Instead of pulling his tail, just lightly grasp it at first. Make sure you reward your dog with a food treat, or other reward at the exact instant you grab his tail.
When his tail is being touched, instead of feeling aggression, you can FORCE your dog to instead feel the emotion of excitement for a reward.You can reprogram your dog so that he gets excited about having his tail touched by doing this repeatedly, since it usually leads to a reward. In effect, you’re reprogramming his emotional mind!
Add more discomfort slowly. If you dog will let you grasp his tail 10 times throughout the day without growling or showing signs of aggression willingly, it is time to increase his discomfort.SLOWLY and CAREFULLY is how this should be done. Don’t push your dog past his comfort zone. Instead, just try grabbing your dogs tail slightly harder, while continuing to reward him with food treats.
BACK OFF and squeeze lighter if you notice your dog is bothered by this harder grasping of his tail.
Teaching your dog slowly that having his tail grabbed is a good thing is the goal.
By continuing to reward your dog for having his tail grabbed while receiving a treat, you’ll be able to continue to increase your dog’s tolerance threshold.You can substantially increase the tolerance threshold of how much discomfort a dog can feel before acting aggressive, if done correctly.Toddler Proofing is such a wonderful technique for fixing dog aggression towards children.
Such Toddler Proofing techniques, in many cases, have been used on working dogs, such as seeing-eye dogs.Trainers need to train the dogs to tolerate having their tails stepped on or run over by wheel chairs in cases like these.Owners who might accidentally cause their dog pain, still need the dogs to not bite their handlers.
You can effectively fix dog aggression towards children for all sorts of behaviors that they do to dogs that bother them, such as whisker and tail pulling, or feet touching, by using Toddler Proofing strategies correctly.
I hope this helps with the reduction of aggression from your dog towards your child!