when leaving for work simba gets very aggressive

[denverc]

Hi
i have tawt Simba the sit stay heel but when ever i leave for work or anyone from the house for that matter he bites at the ankles or clothing & barks very aggressively,WHAT DO I DO to curb this? the other problem is trying to get the food bowl is like very risky cos he protects that.At this point the sit stay dont work.

Urgent help required

Denver

[KOPcaroline]

Hi Denver,

Have you been alpha training Simba? You should get onto this, it will help stop him from guarding resources like his food bowl, and will improve his listening to you as well.

Start picking his foodbowl up as soon as he's done eating, and keeping it locked up somewhere until mealtime. Make him sit and stay with his food on the floor until you say ok, if he makes a move for it, get him by the collar or something suitable, and remove him from the room.

For leaving the house, try desensitizing him to the process of it. Break it down into steps (getting your keys, getting a coat on, going to the door, opening it, walking out, shutting it behind you). Go step by step and do "fake outs" throughout the day - grab your keys, but dont do anything else, just walk around with your keys jingling. Reward Simba for being calm about this, put him in time out or give a no command if he gets worked up. Repeat each step as many times as it takes for Simba to calm down, adding on when he gets used to the previous step. Hopefully he'll learn to calm down. Again, alpha training should also help with any aggression he might show toward you.

Hope this helps you, let us know how things go!