When you have an aggressive dog, we want to find someone who can gives us some answers on how to deal with it. Unfortunately not only are there methods and practices that can be that can be harmful and even dangerous, anyone can call themselves a trainer, specialist or a behaviorist or some other kind of expert.
In addition, recommendations that come from other clients may simply be swayed by the individual’s ability to convince them they are knowledgable. Where do you start? How can you make sure you are not going down a road that will cause more problems for your dog and leave you feeling emotional and financially duped?
Here is an overview on the main groups of professionals that work with aggressive dogs, and what you need to be concerned with.
Veterinary Behaviorists
A verterinary behaviorist is the only professional who can diagnose a behavior problem. They will take a detailed behavioral history, consider the dog’s health and physiology, environment and family circumstances in order to both diagnose and come up with a treatment plan, and then may do follow-ups through the course of the treatment. While they do not train your dog, they have an excellent understanding of how dog’s learn, and what works for aggressive or anxious dogs. While they are not trainers, they often work with trainers, or will recommend a trainer, or the kind of trainer you should be working with as they understand what training methods are both effective and safe.
If you have a serious problem, we currently recommend contacting your vet or the behavioral department at the nearest veterinary college and asking for a referral for a veterinary behaviorist in your area (this might take some research to find out who is the best person to contact). A Veterinary Behaviorist are the only professionals capable of diagnosing your dog. The challenge is, there is usually a waiting list to see these individuals.
Remember, a veterinary behaviorist is not the same as a behaviorist or behavior specialist – anyone can call themselves a behaviorist or trainer. Not anyone can call themselves a veterinarian.
Veterinary Colleges – Americas
Veterinary Colleges – USA and Canada
Veterinarians
Your vet may think they know about training dogs, especially if they have have owned them, and because see clients dogs regularly, but their focus is on medical issues. The majority of vets do not specialize in behavior problems and have not done the additional study and training that is involved in becoming a veterinary behaviorist. It is not uncommon for a vet to immediately jump to recommending euthanasia for dogs who otherwise might live long, healthy and happy lives if treated properly.
However, your vet can consult with a veterinary behaviorist on your behalf if you request.
Trainers, Behaviorists and Specialists
There are talented knowledgeable trainers and sadly there are trainers that leave a lot to be desires when it comes to treating dog aggression. Those that do treat dog aggression often treat aggression as if the aggression needs to be punished and to increase the dog’s ability to respond consistently to commands. However, to treat an aggressive as normal, but misbehaving and to expect a normal response to corrections can be dangerous. Some trainers deem the dog to be beyond help and recommend euthanasia even when most aggressive dogs do not need to be euthanized. But without having access to data on generalized anxiety disorders, medical or drug interventions, are these recommendations sound? How do you know when a trainer is recommending euthanasia simply because his or hers methods don’t work or have made the problem worse?
It is always a good idea after consulting a veterinarian behaviorist to ask them what you should look for in a trainer. Many of them can even recommend one to you.
A trainer who is the right fit for your dog should be using positive methods only. They should also understand that your’s aggression has a compnent rooted in anxiety. They should to understand is not the result of a lack of training or obedience, or a matter of you needing to be “Alpha” or “top dog”. These concepts are long outdated, and often harmful to the dog. A good trainer should be more than willing to get a veterinary behaviorist involved in serious cases.
Avoid trainers that use the following tools as these cause fear and anxiety:
- shock collars / electric collars / e-collars / static collars
- prong collars
- “correction” collars
- choke collars, choke chains (sometimes euphemistically referred to as training collars)
See How to Chooser a Trainer (pdf)
