Aggression toward cat

by Larry
(Georgia)

I have a 5 year old, 60lb Lab/Pit mix. We found in the street in front of our house, too young to be taken away from his mother. He has skin irritation and severe anxiety issues and is currently on Fluoxetine 30mg a day. He has always been a loving dog and loves children, adults and other dogs, until recently...We adopted a kitten about a year ago, 7 months ago he attacked her unprovoked when she was walking across the floor. Cut her belly so bad it needed stitches. Since then we have also noticed increased aggression toward other dogs. When my daughter came to visit with her lab mix puppy, he snapped and fought with her on a couple of occasions, when we went to a friends house with him, he was baring his teeth at their dog, we quickly separated them and put him in his own space. Yesterday, he attacked our cat unprovoked again, she was walking on my wife's leg on the couch and he reached up and grabbed her by the head. Small cut below and small cut above her eye. I'm afraid of him doing this again and seriously hurting her or killing her. He has always been the most loving dog, likes you or children to lay on him and hang all over him. I am concerned that he might try to snap at one of our grandchildren. Could he be jealous of the cat getting so much attention that he may have been getting? Can he be trusted or do we need to consider rehoming him?

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Jul 15, 2018
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Become The Pack Leader
by: Online Dog Trainer

Become The Pack Leader

Of all the questions that people ask "how to become the pack leader" is the big one! This is by far the most important question how to convince your dog that you are the person in charge. Think of the pack leader as the decision maker - where you should go on the walk, how to behave in different situations and how to respond to all the strange things that are out there.

When you understand how dogs packs work you soon realize the importance, that pack leader makes all the decisions. If you leave it up to your dog then there a big chance that your dog is going to get something’s very wrong and make a mistake!

In order to understand how to become the pack leader you must first recognize that the following means nothing to a dog….

What car you drive, the size of your house, the money you earn or the fact that you speak languages! Your dog would happily swap all of that for a nice snack!

Asking your dog to sit before her dinner falls a long way short of what you need to be achieving to become the pack leader and walking through doorways is only necessary when your dog is on the lead.

Lastly - dominating your dog is certainly not the way to become the pack leader in fact this can back fire badly on you later on if you teach your dog that physical strength is what it is all about. Whilst you may force your dog into submission it will not be convincing your dogs mind that you are worthy of the position and that you should become the pack leader only that you are a bit of a bully.

So how do you become the pack leader? All dogs worldwide, regardless of breed use the same ways to check to establish the pack leader. The best way to learn about how to put it into practice is to watch it being done on video as I have done through one of the video based web sites. The important areas to take control in are the following:

The pack leader will be in total calm control when your dog barks and alerts you to danger. This includes anything that your dog may perceive as dangerous and barks at in and around the property
On the walk your dog should not pull you at a single stage, even the beginning! Learning to walk your dog properly can only really be learnt through video as I have found out!

If you are the pack leader then your dog should be able to relax and switch off completely inside the house. If your dog is always switched on most of the time and can’t relax then that is your dog on pack leader duty!

Getting your dog to switch off is directly connected to how you meet and greet your dog after your return home. You need to watch it on video it is so subtle but it is the difference between being the pack leader or the follower.

Lastly, feeding your dog correctly will establish who is the pack leader and there is much more to it than asking your dog to sit! Also if you have a dog that is "not food motivated" then you may be in for a surprise!

There is one site that shows you – using video – exactly how to become the pack leader and how crucial it is to changing any behavioral issue.

If you want to understand more about this topic or see the videos that explain everything then simply take a look at:

The Online Dog Trainer here.

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