How to stop my dog's aggression towards other dogs without a trainer?

Question

My dog is very aggresive towards other dogs. I'm guessing because she didn't have a good experience with them as a puppy and growing up she didn't interact with them. A professional trainer is expensive for me. Is there anything I can do on my own to help her??

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA · Accepted Answer

I'm sorry to hear that your dog is having this problem! Behavior issues like this are quite complex, and often very difficult to handle successfully on your own if you don't have any training experience. And particularly with an aggression problem, it may not be safe to attempt to work on this without professional assistance. If at all possible, I would strongly recommend making an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate your dog in person and help you put together a detailed plan to work on the problem. Although the initial visit may be somewhat expensive, in many cases owners are able to stay in contact with the behaviorist via phone or email about how things are going without the need for repeated in-person sessions - which cuts down tremendously on the long-term cost vs. working with a trainer every week. The behaviorist may also recommend medication or other adjunct treatment options that could be helpful in addition to the training plan. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist here: www.dacvb.org If your dog is mainly aggressive to other dogs when she sees them on-leash (the most common form of this problem, in my experience), I would also suggest the short book "Feisty Fido" by PhD behaviorist Patricia McConnell - it has very sound, useful advice for dealing with this issue that may help to get you started.

How to stop my dog's aggression towards other dogs without a trainer?

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