Aggressions to other dogs

The aggressions or attention of it, that can happen between two exemplars, generally in an adult age, will be caused basically by three reasons: territory, self-defense and control.

Aggressions for territory
On the aggressive frames for territory, the manifestations will be produced in two fundamental places: at home and on the park or his usual playing grounds.

His home is considered by the dog not only as a safe area, but also as a place exclusively of his own. Any intromission that is produced in this area will be taken by the animal, when the intruder is another dog, as an invasion. Before the possibility of loosing the control of his castle, he will attack the invader. He won't look for the submission of the contrary, unless it is a female, but for his retiring and escaping.

The unchaining circumstances for the aggression could be:

The permanence of the intruder in his home,
The non submission, completely or not, to the legitimate owner of the territory, and
The trying of the just arrived exemplary, for considering himself as dominant, of taking the leadership, territory and affection of the owners, that the legitimate owner considers his.

Before this situation, it is of vital importance of the attitude that the owners adopt. Being a legitimate reaction, you mustn't repress the answer manifested by your dog. He will not understand why the superior elements of his pack won't support him before the vindication he feels is just.

Only, and always in a proportional way to the intensity of the answer of the dog, will you separate him from the intruder by the way of a light verbal reprehension and making him understand that the aggression against the other dog won't be tolerated, but in no way will you communicate you don't understand his attitude. If in the encounter of both of the exemplars, the intruder would be the one to adopt an intransigent posture, you will take the necessary preventive measures and will wait to see the reaction manifested by our dog. You will give him the opportunity to respond to the challenge given by the contrary, if not so, we would be frustrating ours.

If, as expected, our dog is the first to react, you will hold him back without giving him the opportunity of attacking and will congratulate him in a moderate way. From that instance, we won't tolerate new examples of dominance from our dog to another. What was pretended, was that he ended up being the winner, having attained this and, what is more important, is that our dog has understood without being inhibited by his owners.

In any case, and besides which of the two exemplars began the aggression, at the end the result has to be the same: The intruder must be banned from our home, or limited to stay isolated in another room of the house until the end of the visit.

The problem of aggression will be present with more frequency on the usual playing grounds of the dog. This is so, because each exemplar considers these areas as his exclusively. If to this we add that in a greater or lesser measure, we are all submitted to a daily routine in what is related to schedules, including those we mark for the dog, the conflict will be served, when finding every day the same rivals.

To avoid greater problems, you always must stop the full aggression (never the encounter and, if there were an immediate challenge). But will have kept special attention as much to the reactions of our dog as to the other as he comes near.

If our dog has an aggressive behavior before an exteriorization of indifference or of submission from the contrary, we will proceed to take our dog away from the place and from the other dog, without any kind of reprehension or congratulation. On the contrary, and even if it is a question that has to be solved by them, if our dog would be attacked, you will have to intervene to make him feel supported by a superior element from his pack. In the case of a low level response from our dog, we will try for him not to suffer an excessive humiliation and we will leave immediately from the area of conflict, congratulating him no matter how poor his reactions has been.

This type of aggressive answer in the matter of territory is more virulent and more frequent between exemplars of the same gender.

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