Dealing With An Aggressive GWP

No matter how cute a dog looks they can all have an aggressive streak. That’s the case with resident Otto, a German Wirehaired Pointer.

Otto’s owners decided action was needed when he’d bitten a member of the public while out walking. He’d also chased down a child on a bike and in the home had become more domineering with his behaviour. When I first spoke with his owner, it was clearly evident that these weren’t isolated incidents. For many years he’d been controlling the family. It doesn’t help that he was over loved, mollycoddled, lacked structure, discipline and routine. Add all these together and you have an over weight, dominant and aggressive GWP.

Otto has resided with me for nearly three weeks. Throughout his stay he hadn’t displayed full on aggression towards me. He’d displayed some dominant triggers, which questioned if he would challenge but at no point had he lashed out, until today. For no apparent reason when I went to get him out for his morning walk, the same I’ve done everyday, he displayed some dominance and within a split second lunged and attacked. Doing this job everyday I was quick to see the trigger and react. If that had been his family, it could have been a different situation.

When working with reactive dog I’m constantly assessing behaviour and the body language dogs display. The behaviour he displayed today was out of the blue. This is why I always advise clients how important it is to instil a good solid structure, boundaries and discipline from the outset. Over loving and a lack of correct training has led to Otto’s behaviour. Unfortunately, residential training is Otto’s last chance, his owners can’t have an aggressive dog around the family and members of the public.

The next 48 hours will be crucial to what happens with Otto. No matter what breed of dog you have, always start training from the moment they arrive in your home. Dogs communicate through bark and bite, so let’s not teach the dog that either is acceptable.

Posted: July 17, 2020