Canine Kundalini

A reactive dog does not become aggressive overnight. It becomes sensitized to stimulus, gradually and over a period of time.  The aggression often compounds regardless of well intended efforts to extinguish the behaviour. The dog continued to react and this repetitive behaviour becomes learnt behaviour. The more often the dog accessed this neural pathway the quicker and easier the behaviour triggered. Punishing the dog for aggressing may have worked to shut down the behaviour, but it didnt teach the dog to tolerate stimulus and decrease the stress on the animal. To begin treating aggression, we must first stop the dog from rehearsing the act of aggressing. To keep the dog from reacting, you may initially have avoid its triggers and teach it coping skills that will lend themselves to impulse control and handling the stress of the modern world. Ideally we want to expose the dog to measured amounts of what it fears and teach it to handle the stress, so that it can learn to cope. This takes time, cannot be rushed and does not happen overnight! 

Reactivity is not usually a sign of the dog wanting to fight. It is actually a coping mechanism to avoid fighting. The dog becomes fearful or threatened and puts on a display to hopefully gain space or access to resources. Aggression is the symptom of fear and stress. To reduce aggression in our dogs we must teach them to handle stress in limited amounts and also desensitize them to the things they fear. Ironically, an aggressive dog is often the one who gets the least exposure to dogs and people and they need it the most. In order to expose a dog to stress and allow it to work through it we need some management tools in place. The owner needs to have a way to orient the dog toward him or her, as well as away from the target of the reactivity. Also, the dog must not be allowed to focus on or lung at the object of the aggression. The idea is to expose the dog at distances, pair the exposure with pleasant and relaxing things and then reduce the space in controlled increments. This is a combination of desensitization and counter conditioning.

One common problem with many aggressive dogs is lack of impulse control. Impulse control can be worked on separately from the aggression. You can teach impulse control using food and toys and by exciting the dog and then teaching it to calm down. If the dog is able to control its impulses with food and toys, you can build this control and transfer it to all parts of the dogs life. In Yogadog Canine Kundalini classes work on teaching impulse control, as well as teach the owners of reactive dogs how to stay calm in the midst of the aggressive display. The class covers management tools, proper greeting rituals, reading body language, as well as how to counter condition the dog to other dogs while preforming desensitization techniques in a calm and safe environment. Canine Kundalini is ideal for nervous and fearful dogs, as well as most aggressive dogs. Yogadog offers Canine Kundalini at Bosleys in New Westminster, BC, on Friday nights between 8-9pm. To register for this class, please contact shannon@yogadog.ca or call Yogadog trainer Shannon at 604-312-8754. Spaces are limited!

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