My
husband and I have a very spoilt 3 year old dog. At about 18 months
old, he developed a severe case of fear based aggression towards his
own territory, other dogs, strangers, anybody that comes to close to
me, even people he knows, he even growled and lunged at the local vet,
whom Casper knows. He has growled and lunged at a teenager walking too
close to me. He seems to have a comfort zone around him, anybody coming
closer than that look out. He has earned himself quite a reputation
around town for being a vicious dog, which is unfortunate, as at home
he is a very placid, big softie that we can do anything with.
He
has made a real spectacle of himself in the past, when out on a lead
with me, in the car etc. which is sad, as that is all most people see
of him, a dog that looks threatening and menacing, which he does. It is
not very nice to have to say, when out walking with your dog, when
people want to come up and talk to you and the dog to have to say keep
your distance, don't come near the dog. By this time Casper is usually
growling and they don't come close anyway, which is a shame as Casper
does look very cuddly and pattable. Having never owned a dog, we
thought all you had to do was to love them to bits, and spoil them, and
that was it.
Secrets to Dog Training taught me that this is not so, there is a lot more to it. He failed
miserably at Dog Training School, by this time we were getting
desperate, when I ran across Secrets to Dog Training on the internet. Secrets to Dog Traininghas been invaluable in helping us gain control of Casper, by showing
him that we are the boss, and he doesn't have to feel threatened, or
feel he has to protect us, as he obviously lacks the confidence to do
so. That is our job. We realize we have never been the pack leaders,
and that we haven't done him any favors by giving in to him and
spoiling him, treating him like a baby etc. By applying the principles
outlined in Secrets to Dog Training to Casper, he has improved out of sight, he
still has a way to go, but now we can see light at the end of the
tunnel. Even from the feedback from around town, people have seen the
improvement in him, and wonder how we have accomplished this