Canine Communication

Caution:  If you have aggression problems you should first seek the advice of your veterinarian, some medical conditions can appear like aggression.  Once you have ruled out any medical conditions you should seek out a trainer who has experience with canine aggression.

There are several types of aggression but most trainers can't even tell the difference between a fear based aggression and a dominant aggression and without knowing the differences and types of aggression you will not be able to correct it. Please do not trust a trainer who got their training from a book or over the internet, get a trainer who has the experience as well as the knowledge to help you and your dog.   

Learning to handle an aggressive dog is a challenge that even most professionals have difficulty with, like driving a car, education is important but you can't learn how to drive a car by reading a book.  Find a professional dog trainer to work with who has experience in dealing with aggression, don't be fooled by amateur and hobbyist dog trainers who usually don't even have control over their own dogs. 

Don't be fooled by amateur and hobbyist dog trainers into believing group obedience classes will help. They almost always make it worse. Giving an aggressive or dominant dog food to train is extremely dangerous.

Food-Bribery makes many dogs even more aggressive and dominant.

We think every dog no matter how aggressive should be given a chance to live if the owner can contain and control their animal safely.

Bribing with food makes many dogs even more dangerous to children.

Canine aggression and dominance almost always escalate. Please, for your own safety and the safety of others, call us now at (780) 999-5453 and we would be glad to discuss your situation and provide you a consultation.

Classes are dangerous and often make aggression worse.

Because aggression is complex, and because the potential consequences are so serious, we recommend that you get professional one on one training to control any aggressive behavior.

Hire the best dog trainer in your area if children are at risk.

Dog training classes do virtually nothing for behavior problems.

What is the likelihood of your dog getting trained in the aisle of a pet shop or at the park with ten other dogs lunging and snapping at him or her?

If you love your dog enough, we can almost always help you to keep him. Call us before you decide to destroy your dog.

• First check with your veterinarian to rule out medical causes for the aggressive behavior.
• Seek professional help. An aggression problem will not go away by itself. Working with aggression problems requires help from an animal behavior specialist. Call us at (780) 999-5453.
• Take precautions. Your first priority is to keep everyone safe. Supervise, confine and/or restrict your dog's activities until you can obtain professional help. You are liable for your dog's behavior. If you must take your dog out in public, consider a cage-type muzzle as a temporary precaution, and keep in mind that some dogs can get a muzzle off.
• Avoid exposing your dog to situations where he is more likely to show aggression--like dog training classes. You may need to keep him confined to a safe room and limit his people-contact.
• If your dog is possessive of food, treats or a certain place, don't allow him access to those items. In an emergency, bribe him with something better than what he has. For example, if he steals your shoe, trade him the shoe for a piece of chicken.
• Spay or neuter your dog. Intact dogs are more likely to display dominance, territorial and protective aggressive behavior.

• Enroll in a dog training class.
• Don't encourage aggressive behavior. Playing tug-of-war or wrestling games encourages your dog to attempt to "best" you or "win" over you, which can result in the beginning of a dominance aggression problem. When dogs are encouraged to "go get 'em" or to bark and dash about in response to outside noises or at the approach of a person, territorial and protective aggressive behavior may be the result.

Call us if other dog trainers tell you that your dog can't be trained and needs to be euthanized.