Dogs are naturally aggressive and we all realize that dogs are capable of seriously injuring people and other animals. Fortunately, there are ways for dog owners to prevent dog aggression. An aggressive dog must be given obedience training immediately, before he injures you or a member of your family.

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Aggression towards strangers and aggression towards family members are the most frequently displayed types of dog aggression. Dog aggression can be triggered for many different reasons so it should be dealt with in different ways.

Aggression Towards Strangers

The most common reason for a dog disliking a person or another animal is that he hasn't had a chance to get used to them. Socialization is the method used to familiarize dogs with new surroundings, and new people and animals. Socialization is essential to your dog's training. You may be wondering how socialization can stop aggressive dogs from attacking the mailman or pizza delivery guy. A socialized dog begins to realize that new experiences can be fun instead of frightening.

It is important that your dog learns this at a young age. The more frequently your dog interacts with different people (for example, men in uniform, elderly people, young children, teens, people with umbrellas or wearing helmets in a relaxed and fun environment, the less aggressive your dog is likely to be with strangers.

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Puppy group training courses (often run by pet stores or at a vet clinic) are a good place to socialize your dog in a monitored environment. Your dog will learn how to act with unfamiliar dogs. He will also learn that he need not fear the unfamiliar people at these sessions. It is essential that he is not overwhelmed - let your dog's comfort level increase gradually.

Aggressive Dog Behavior Towards Family Members

Dogs often show aggressive behavior to their human family members for the following reasons:

• Your dog is guarding his food and toys from his owner or family members. Resource guarding is quite normal behavior for dogs.

• Such resource guarding behavior is a clear display of dominance and relates to your dog's perceived ranking in the pecking order of your household. Dogs see the family make up as being no different from a dog pack. A dog that sees himself in a loftier position than his owner will be aggressive.

Resource guarding is definitely an act of dominance - a lower ranked dog would never show aggression towards to a more highly ranked member of the pack.

Dog obedience training is the best method to stop aggression in dogs, which will ensure that your dog understands that you are the "top dog". Your "alpha dog" status can be reinforced with rewards such as treats and praise when he responds appropriately to a command, and with "time-out" for misbehaving.

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