Doubt of a Shadow

When a dog barks or charges another dog, a lot of people immediately think, "My dog is red zone aggressive." That's not always the case. There is a difference between aggression and dominance. Dominance involves physical touch, such as a bite on the neck, but not to the point of puncturing the skin. A dominant state of mind has a limit. It's easier for me to stop a dog when he is in a dominant state or to break up an escalation fueled by dominance. When a dog is in an aggressive state, they're going for the kill. It's a state of mind that is blind; they can't hear or feel. The dog is so focused on injuring the other dog that everything else just goes away. The only way to stop that behavior is to get their attention at the same intensity as their aggression.
Categories: S4:Ep416: Shadow, Jake & Riley, and Norton
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10 Comments

I have a pit bull her name is Baby i love her to death ive had her over a year. A few weeks ago she had puppies and on easter sunday i left her gate opened and our other dog named Mac a mini pincher that we had him a year too they were good friends. So anyway i left her gate open and i guess he got nosy and went in there and she attacked him and he died and this has happend before with my neighbors dog wich he was also a small dog and died as well. I dont want to get rid of my dog so i strongly believe that she has a problem with small dogs. I just want to know if you have any suggestions or advice i feel like im runnig out of options.
Thanks Yenny Reyes

hi i have seen your show a few times and it is very very good.. im having trouble finding a way to contact you, but i have threee dogs. one is the sweetest girl, but the other two are very aggressive. very recently, one of my dogs bit my brother in the face, and my brother wasnt doing the slgihtest thing to the dog. we are debatimg whether to put him down, but he is my dog and ive had him since he was a puppy and h hasnt been aggressive towards me, but my third dog is also going in that agressive direction and i really need help. please help me!

This episode was special to me due to the fact that I have two neutered brother malamute/wolf dogs. I was fascinated to watch the difference between aggression and dominance and how this dog was handled despite all the biting. My dogs are almost 2yrs old and were raised using your ways since they were 4 months old. I have no issues with them except that they will sometimes want to jump up on certain people while on the leash. I am having a hard time finding someone who has the time to let me correct this behavior while its happening so I can change it. I don't always encounter other people nor dogs on my 45 min daily walk. The dogs are non aggressive towards people nor other dogs. Great episode despite losing your shirt... my favorite for sure.

As a loyal watcher from early on, I have to say this is the best episode! I have owned and trained dogs for over 30 years, but have not learned as much from any one source as I have from Cesar. I have also worked with hundreds of rescue and shelter dogs in my years of volunteering, and often think how I would have handled a dog differently knowing what I have learned from Cesar. His methods make so much more sense to me because they are not really "training". Cesar takes you to a much more natural way of thinking and doing versus push on their butt til they sit down. I learned so much from this one episode, not only from the dogs body language, but from the people's body language also. It was great to see the difference between dominance and agression. And as hard as it was, it was nice to know some dogs even challenge the best, and to see how Cesar used his breathing to control his emotions and keep himself on the right path to helping the dogs. Thank you so much - this episode was #1 - and I am in love with Junior :) My own Pit Bull, who is 9 months old now and raised "The Cesar Way" recently passed his Canine Good Citizen Test and is training for his American Temperament Test now. When he 1 year old, he will also test to become a certified therapy dog. Thanks again Cesar!!

I have a male mixed beagle, Chamaco, which is very sociable with most people and very friendly also with other dogs. But it happens that when we're on a walk and at a distance he glances another dog --it doesn't matter if the other dog is coming or going, you barely can tell because he's too far away-- well, Chamaco goes crazy and there's almost no way you can make him calm and to stop barking. I've tried punishment collars, zapping his head with a magazine, electro-shock collars, knuckling him in his forehead, giving him commands (sit, stay, quiet...), nothing seems to work. I noticed that hitting him very hard in the head with the leash handle, made him look at me and stopped from barking but as soon as he saw me, he continued barking, and also I don't want to be too aggressive on him. Normally what I do is try to shut him down giving him commands and turning around, but as we walk away, he keeps barking for a little while more.

I don't know what else to do and I don't want to stop walking him out. Can anybody suggest something for this behavior?....

Thanks y'all!

I have a female Border Collie mix. (Wilma). She is not aggressive, but she is the Alpha Bitch. We go to a dog park weekly. She was attacked by another female dog and it turned into a very unpleasant situation. I managed to separate the dogs before either one of them was seriously injured. Wilma had a few teeth marks, nothing significant. The other dog required stitches on her leg. I know I could get bit, but I don't know how ilse to handle the situation. I would love some tips, or if there has been an episode on this topic I would like view it.
I'm a new watcher andI have learned so much from Cesar's amazing rapore with our canine compainions, his unique talents and ability to teach us humans.
Thanks you so much Cesar. Conni

I have a Female Red Heeler. She has always been a great dog and very protective over me and my two toddlers. She always loved playing with other dogs and other people outside our family. but 4 months ago we moved in with my in laws and they have a bird dog. for the first 2 months she did really great with being around other people and other dogs. but one day a close friend of the family who is 8 was playing with my kids and i let my dog into the house and she ran into the living room where the kids were playing and she bit the 8 year old on his side. luckily she didn't draw blood. but he did nothing to provoke her. then a few weeks later i had both dogs outside on their chains while i cleaned the house and a male dog down the street was walking past the house for some reason she doesn't like this dog and she broke 3 of her choke chains trying to get him. so one of the local farmers suggested that we try a pinch collar. so we took her down to our local IFA and bought her a pinch collar. when we got home my father in law opened the tailgate to let her out of the truck and at that time the dog down the street happen to be right there behind him as he let her out of the truck and my dog jumped out and went after him and attacked him and the dog is 3 times her size. . but he wouldn't fight back he just kept walking. i took me, my husband, father in law 10 min. to get her away from him and into the house.. she didn't even hurt the other dog at all. so since she was being so aggressive we decided to move her chain into the back yard. we have a 1 1/2 acre lot . me and my two toddlers are always outside playing with her and taking her for long walks. she is only chained up when we are going to be gone for a couple hours or if i am deep cleaning the house. and at night we put her in her kennel while we are asleep. but today I was outside playing with the two dogs and my dog walked up on the porch to get a drink and next thing i know my dog and my in laws dog are fighting. i ran up on the porch and tried pulling them apart but they would stop. so my brother in law heard the dogs fighting and ran outside to help me. it took us 5 min to get the to let go of each other. and I had to pick my dog up and take her into the house. none of them got hurt. but i am so upset and wondering what has gotten into my dog. and what i can do to help her stop. She is such a great dog I don't want to get rid of her or put her down. I would like to know what i can do to stop her aggression and get her back to being the sweet ,love-able , nice, fun dog. I have heard a lot about the dog whisperer through friends and family. but i have never seen the show. and we don't have cable TV or satellite TV so i cant ever watch it. if there is any suggestions that would help me out please let me know.. Thanks so much

I recently attempted to bring a 7 month old rescue dog into my home (pit bull mix). I currently own an 11 month old boxer and an 11 year old husky. I socialized the dogs for two days at the shelter with little to no issues. The rescue - Lacey - and my boxer - Tipper - hit it off immediately. The husky - Kona - displayed what I and the animal control officer saw as dominance. When my boyfriend came down to spend time with us the girls scuffled and he saw it as aggressive behavior. The following day I went back to the shelter again to reintroduce the dogs. Within minutes they were laying down. I decided to take the puppy home with me. The car ride was fine. All in the backseat. Later that night they were all playing in the front yard and before I knew it my husky was trying to chase the puppy down (which is amazing with her arthritc leg). Barking and scruff up within seconds the they were on each other and could not be taken apart. Needless to say, the puppy was blamed. I blame myself for not stopping the behavior soon enough. Is there a way to make this work? I made an amazing connection with this animal. She is loving, affectionate, and worthy of a second chance at a good home. If there is any way that you could suggest to help me to get my older dog to accept the new dog into the pack I would be forever greatful...my heart is broken that she is currently back at the shelter.
Thank you for all you do.
Your show has made me a good pack leader and I feel this is why this animal has chosen me to give her a second chance.
Please help.

I have recently rescued a wolfdog from my local pound that was about to be euthanized. This dog has issues. Apparently, animal control had to seize it from an abusive home where it was left chained to die. When i brough him home, he had a plethera of issues. He's affraid of everything, and snaps when I come near him during his food time. It's been 3 monthes, I don't want to have to send him back to the pound, he'll be euthanized for sure, but my house is chaotic. I have been watching cesars show since day one, and I tried some of his methods, but it didn't work. I also tried hand feeding him but I think it's made his poor behavior worse. ANY ADVICE, this show gave me hope.. but i'm not too sure now

Hi Zoedil!
I have a 2 wolfhounds. And my friend has 5 currently. I think they are a wonderful breed.Thank you fro adopting them. My suggestion to call a wolfhound breeder. I don't have her number on me, but I can get it. Her name is Sue Lapinsky. I may have spelled it wrong. She is WONDERFUL By far the best for wolfhounds. Please do not give up hope. Thanks
Tara

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