Dog Behavior Specialist Warns of Increase in Dog Bites

Karen Arnoff, Cleveland, Ohio’s premier dog behavior specialist and expert witness and investigator with dog related legal issues warns that now is the time to watch out for unforeseen dog aggression.

Solon, OH (PRWEB) June 6, 2010 — Karen Arnoff, Cleveland, Ohio’s premier dog behavior specialist and expert witness and investigator with dog related legal issues warns that now is the time to watch out for unforeseen dog aggression. “I see more dog bite and other dog aggression cases in the spring and summer than at any other time of year,” says Ms. Arnoff. “And, it makes sense, she says, “if you look at it from the dog’s point of view.” Some of the contributing factors she identifies are: Read more

Good News About Dog Bites and How to Make it Better

Dog bites represent a tiny fraction of the injuries treated in the nation’s emergency rooms. Dog bites are, on average, far less severe than injuries we suffer from other common enjoyments. The good news about dog bites will be even better, following a model of responsible pet ownership.

Amenia, NY (PRWEB) May 17, 2010 — There are 308 million humans and 75 million dogs in the U.S. The majority of dog owners view their dogs as members of the family. Dogs provide us joy, companionship, love and laughter. Read more

Object Guarding – Canine Possession Aggression

Canine Possession Aggression……..object guarding, this is the act of aggressively protecting objects such as toys, pigs ears, rawhide chews, bones, or articles that the dog has found or stolen, such as socks shoes underwear tissues and human food.

The ears going back will be part of typical body language relating to this behaviour. The dog then will go into a crouch over the object, displaying a whale eye, that is the head turned away but the eyes are swivelled back towards you the perceived threat to his possession, the whites showing, you may also find the lips are slightly pulled back almost in a grin. Look at pictures of whales and you will see why whale eye gets its name. Read more

Dominance – A Nine Letter Swear Word?

Dominance: It would be easy to imagine that the word dates back to dawn of civilization, surely there has always been conflict where dominance and subjugation have existed. Strangely enough dominance is a relatively new idea in biology, first mooted early last century by the Norwegian researcher Thorleif Schjelderup-Ebbe, who coined the term “pecking order” following his studies on chickens. The simple premise was that chicken A can peck all the other chickens but chicken Y can only peck X. and poor old X is effectively bottom of the heap. Read more

Different Types of Aggression

Aggression is one of the main reasons that dogs are euthanised or rehomed; at least 30% of all dogs in rescue centres are there because of the incidence of aggressive behaviour in one form or another. It is actually unusual to have a dog that is aggressing to have just one type of aggression; most dogs have more than one of the following types of behaviour.

It would be prudent, before embarking on any program of aggressive behaviour modification, to rule out any medical reasons for that behaviour, especially if there is a sudden change in the dog’s temperament. Their are some fifty-odd different medical reasons why a dog may be showing aggressive tendencies, these range from Pain to Thyroid Dysfunction, Epilepsy to Hypoglycemia and Diabetes. The following is a list of the more common aggressions and why they may be occurring. This is only a part of the total types. Because of the constraints of space it can only be a fleeting reference. I have covered fully in previous articles in DM “Food Guarding “and “Object and Possession Aggression” Read more

Rage Syndrome

Sadly, out of the blue, certain breeds of dog display unpredictable outbursts of aggression known as ‘rage syndrome’ and ‘low threshold dominance aggression’.

These dogs will be perfectly civil with strangers and in the show ring, but then will suddenly attack family members for no apparent reason, their eyes becoming dilated and sometimes changing colour during and after an attack.

The dog will not respond to any attempts to stop it, often appearing confused afterwards, but will return to its usual self in time. Read more

Destructive Behavior

Chewing is a perfectly normal behavior for dogs. Dogs love to chew on bones and sticks—and just about anything else available. They chew for fun, they chew for stimulation and exercise, and they chew to relieve anxiety.

But that’s not it on the list of destructive behaviors. Dogs also steal things off the counters and tabletops, and they raid the trash. Most dogs prefer human food to dog food and, if given the opportunity, will help themselves. While these behaviors are normal, dogs can, of course, be taught to control themselves. Understand that your dog needs to learn not to chew your things or steal your food—he’s not born knowing that he shouldn’t.

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