Human Aggression

H for Help

Is your dog growling, barking or snapping at you, family, strangers or friends? Perhaps your dog is growling at the children over his food bowl or toys, or at you or your partner when he’s hunkered down on his bed, your bed, or the couch.

Maybe it’s just one family member your dog has taken a dislike to—an uncle or grandma. Or it’s visitors who can’t come into your home without your pet feeling threatened. Or strangers on the street who try to say hello or just walk on by.

You want to enjoy peace in your house, have company over without being afraid of what might happen, and be able to take your dog out in public without problems and chaos.  We understand & we can help!

Human Aggression Private Training (Coaching)

In this private coaching program, we’ll help you understand the reasons for your dog’s behavior and how to manage it.

How does the program work?

  • Our human aggression dog training includes two approaches: We teach your dog there’s nothing to be afraid of, and show him new, more effective ways to behave when he encounters new people.
  • We show you how to manage your dog’s behavior in different situations.
  • We will do the initial assessment and set you up with management and training protocols, as needed.
  • Our professional dog trainer will then meet you once a week at your home or on zoom to work with your dog to be calm and relaxed around strangers/visitors.
  • The trainer will discuss practice work for you to focus on between sessions.
  • We recommend that you participate in each training session so we can leave you with minimal management and practice work.

Tuition:
Consultation & Goal Setting (1.5 hours): $410
Initial Program Investment:
$2400 for TEN 60-minute coaching sessions.
All training sessions are 60-minutes

Human Aggression FAQs

Our clients and students often ask us why their dogs behave the way they do. When it comes to aggression, fear is usually the culprit.

What? He hardly looks scared, you say.

We know. He looks kind of scary doing all that barking and growling and lunging. But many dogs learn that when you bark and growl and lunge things move away from you. It’s really a pretty smart technique, when you think about it. Not a very socially acceptable one, though!

Well, it could be that he’s had a bad past experience that’s led him to lash out proactively to protect himself.

But far more likely it’s a lack of experience. Dogs who don’t grow up around lots of different kinds of people during puppyhood often suffer from under-socialization. Not as adept at generalizing as humans, dogs who grow up around a small number of similar humans expect them all to look the same and are startled when they don’t.

Changing behaviors that stem out of fear and/or frustration takes time. The program helps you build a reliable foundation and saves you time and effort during the initial learning, while making ongoing training much easier for you.

You will still have to do the homework and invest time working with your dog on a daily basis.

Please remember dogs are living organisms and do “what’s reinforced”. The progress we make depends on the owner compliance, learning curve (owner and dog), breed characteristics, and more; Hence the training time frames and results have many variables. I will do my best to give you an accurate estimate of training time and results, but ethically cannot give guarantees.

Ah! We’re so glad you asked this question.

We can guarantee to give you the tools and the training needed to maintain your dog’s new learning. Think of training your dog as “learning to swim” or “learning to drive a car”. Training is a process and it involves doing the work alongside the trainer to maintain and build on your dog’s newly learned behaviors.

We can NOT guarantee your dog will be well trained for the rest of his/her life (as training always requires maintenance, just like when people learn skills!).

While no training program can guarantee a well-trained dog for life it makes the process a lot easier and often more fun. — it sure gives you a foundation you can build on. Training is a process. It’s important to do the work with your dog and continue to build the behaviors your dog learns.

Guarantees by other trainers are just marketing strategies and often times involve using shock collars and other aversive training methods which work quickly but are not reliable. Please do your research thoroughly before choosing the trainer for your dog.

At D for Dogz, we understand that canine aggression can stem from various underlying reasons, often linked to fear or anxiety. Our experienced trainers employ effective, modern, science based training methods to help your dog build a healthier relationship with people.
Our approach to aggressive dog training focuses on behavior modification using positive reinforcement techniques. There is no one size fits all. We tailor our programs to suit your dog’s specific needs, ensuring a safe and supportive environment for your dog and you.
Our dog as a whole is a result of its L.E.G.S (Learning, Environment, Genetics, Self) to explain all four aspects of a dog’s behavior (credit: Kim Brophey, applied ethologist & Professional Family Dog Mediator). When these are in balance, they work in harmony, but if not, they can create discord or disaster. We can help you understand the root cause of your dog’s behavior, help you put management protocols in place to prevent the repetition of the behaviors and train alternate behaviors. Every dog-human situation is unique and the progress depends on the intensity of the behavior, genetic influence, owner compliance to management and training protocols.

At D for Dogz, we are committed to addressing canine aggression and providing the support and training necessary to help your dog become a well-adjusted and socially confident companion.

“We have a very challenging female English Mastiff who has fear and aggression issues. She truly gets to know her clients (including the dog!) and puts all of her efforts and attention toward giving you the tools necessary to improve your dog’s behavior.”
Samantha F, Mom of Kaya, a Bull Mastiff (Private Training Client)
“Kajal showed us effective and inventive techniques to train our dog and trouble-shooted any problems we had implementing the training. She took the time to get to know us and our dog so that she could suggest ideas that worked for us.”
Alison D, Dad of Munchkin, a Labradoodle Puppy (Group Class Client)