[Dailydrool] aggression

[kaq1230 at comcast.net]

Hi,

I had to chime in about the aggressive basset.  It sounds to me as if these aggressive episodes are a learned behavior to get what he wants versus true aggressive attacks.  That being said, you can modify this behavior with some SERIOUS HARD WORK, however much like a gambler though recovered still has urges to gamble, the dog will still have learned that aggression works and it will be an ongoing process for the rest of the dogs life to keep that behavior modified.  I hate the thought of any dog being put down without at least attempting another solution whether it be re-homing, behavioral training, etc.  One of my boys "learned" that aggression works (resource guarding:  if I growl and bark as loud as I can people will not want to take away whatever I have) and it is truly a daily re-enforcement of alternative behaviors, and although he is no longer exhibiting aggressive behaviors towards me or my husband the rules seem not to extend to any other human.  Good luck with this heart-
wrenching decision.

karen
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.dailydrool.org/pipermail/dailydrool-dailydrool.org/attachments/20080709/b6e72012/attachment-0001.htm>