#redirected aggression

Have you ever tried to break up a dog fight and your dog turned around and actually took its frustration out by giving you a big bite on the hand? Yep, it has happened probably at least once to any person that has gotten between two fighting dogs but the question is why? Your dog didn't really want to bite you however it was in the middle of a fight and you just happened to get in the middle of the fight. It's called redirected aggression. For those of you that still don't understand let me give you a human example of how this might happen. Two neighbors get into a fight in the front yard and their wives run over to break it up. As one wife grabs her husband to pull him off he swings and punched her in the nose... redirected aggression. Quite often you can see an example of this when two dogs are at a fence barking at a passing dog walker and his dogs. Since they can't get through or over the chain link fence one dog turns around and snaps or bites at his buddy... redirected aggression. So when I have clients that tells me their dog bit them while barking at a passing dog when they were out for a walk I explain the reason. So how do you avoid it? Good question and it sort of depends on the situation. Never get between two fighting dogs. Separate them in a different way by using a water hose, a loud whistle or even a small air horn. What about when you are walking your dog and it goes crazy about another dog? Training will do the trick. Teach your dog some obedience so that you can give you dog a command as simple as a sit-stay while the other dog passes. You can also do something to distract your dog. For example you can offer a high value treat that your dog may find more important than another dog and keep him busy while the other dog passes. Redirected aggression is something that can be controlled with some good obedience training. Not just so-so training I mean having a dog that accepts you as the alpha and obeys your commands even in situations that include a distraction. It's a fact that with as little as 15 minutes worth of training a day you can have the best trained dog in the neighborhood. Give it a try it will be good for you and your dog. Wayne Booth is owner of Canine Behavior Specialists, http://ift.tt/1hQmY47 in Nashville, TN where he helps people train their dogs and solve behavior problems. Wayne has been teaching people how to become Professional Dog Trainers since 1990 and he is the Training Director of the Canine Behavior Specialists Network, http://ift.tt/1ohThL8. Article Source: http://ift.tt/1InuuEc

he's never done that before. I've gotten relatively used to dealing with these little displaced aggression episodes but he always goes after Faith or the dog, he's never hurt me before.

I wish this hadn't started again. he stopped doing it for a good few months and he's just started again this week. I don't even know what's causing it, the last time I knew it was because of the feral cats outside but I haven't seen/heard them around lately.