Addressing Demanding Behaviors

Meet Simon!

This a tall and hansome young shepherd mix was in several different homes before we had the pleasure of meeting him. Needless to say Simon didnt really know whether he was coming or going. Once we entered the courtyard at his home, we were greeted by loud and macho barks. Once inside it was abundantly clear that Simon was mainly interested in being the center of attention. His persistence almost always surpassed that of his new owners. Simons biggest challenge, however, was his aggressive behavior towards other dogs.

Right off the bat we introduced a tool called the drag line. A drag line is a leash that you use indoors. The drag line would help manage Simons habit of guarding the front door and prevent any negative incidents from occurring. Simon also had a tendency of harassing everyone in the room for attention with such behaviors as mouthing and pawing. As a large and still growing dog, this behavior could pose a serious problem down the road. Making sure that Simon was not dictating his owners behavior was accomplished by implementing a Nothing For Free policy. Simon would have to learn to earn peoples attention by exhibiting acceptable behavior.

Simons dog aggression is an all together different issue and will take time to recondition. For help with dog on dog aggression or information on techniques like Nothing for Free visit Zen Dog Training Online.