Dealing With Aggression

I am seeing two clients tomorrow dealing with aggression. Both clients have dogs who have bitten people. These cases are sad....for the dogs and for the people. Dogs who bite once, bite again if triggered. Figuring out the triggers and if they can be managed is the key. Dogs who have bitten their owners are particularly difficult to work with. How do you attempt to fix a relationship that is broken?  Especially when the owner is asking, "I do everything for my dog...why would she bite me? What did I do wrong?" It seems so natural for people to assume that they did something wrong when the truth of the matter is this....they didn't do anything to provoke the dog. Some dogs simply have lower thresholds, lack bite inhibition, were improperly socialized to people, etc. And when I tell people that dogs have a choice with respect to biting. They CHOOSE TO BITE. Many dogs experience the same triggers day in and day out and NEVER CHOOSE TO BITE. It is a choice though. A choice that can have very serious consequences for us all.