Six ways to prevent “surprise aggression” with your dog.

1. Give your dog lots of opportunities to blow off steam with physical exertion. Fenced in yard, dog park, on dragged long line, dog daycare
2. Give your dog plenty of time alone to rest and recover from social interactions, don’t allow social opportunities to go on and on for hours. Put the dog away. He can chew on his bone while you party.
3. Use positive reinforcement, rather than punishment, to teach your dog to walk nicely on a head halter or flat collar and to relax in a crate, on a mat, in a kennel or on a tether.  That’s so you CAN put the dog away, and so your dog won’t hate you.
4. Choose natural food with 20% protein, not super high protein crazy-making formulas. Dogs evolved on human garbage. They are a lot more relaxed on lower-protein diets.
5. Be aware of the times your dog gets “frustrated” and focus your training and management plans on reducing frustration and increase your rate of reinforcement for calm, relaxed, self-controlled behaviors.
6. Evaluate your expectations of your dog and yourself. Why do you have a dog? What do you want from your dog? Are your expectations reasonable?