Learning about Aggression Toward Humans

This month on "A Dog's Life," I'm going to tell you how I learned a lesson about dog aggression. That means that I was snarling, growling and snapping at people, including Mary and Dwight. They were very upset that I would display aggressive behavior, which I've never done before this hot, humid summer. It has been a trial for me to withstand the heat wave that has hit our area this summer. This type of weather is referred to as Dog Days. Let me tell you about how I turned from a passive dog into an aggressive dog and how Mary and Dwight solved the problem of aggressive behavior.

One day, Dwight and I were out in the yard. He was sitting on the porch reading and I was lying on the cool grass under the shade tree. We were thoroughly enjoying ourselves and I was excited when Mary brought me out some milk bone treats.

Mary had just gone back in the house when the power man came to read the meter. All of a sudden I jumped up and lunged at him, snarling and growling. I ran toward him as fast as I could and hit the end of my chain with a snap. My front end went down, my backend went up and I stopped. Luckily, that power man was out of my reach. Mary was very angry and scolded me and reprimanded me.

Mary and Dwight couldn't understand my behavior. Mary said it was because the man didn't speak to me or acknowledge that I was on the lawn. However, the problem didn't stop there.

Another day, Dwight had given me some milk bone treats outside when a young boy of approximately eight years old came up the steps to deliver our new telephone book. As he approached, I lunged at him, growling. It scared him quite a bit and Dwight was there in a split second to scold and reprimand me. Mary came out of the house and she was very angry. She took my chain off and took me into the house. She told me that if I was going to act that way, I wouldn't be able to lie in the yard. That was hard to take because I love lying in the yard.

Mary and Dwight discussed my behavior. Since I had never acted aggressively before, they knew that they were doing something different. Mary told Dwight that she thought I was protecting my food. She knows about dogs protecting food, because she was bitten when she was three years old by a family pet that was protecting his food. Dwight and Mary agreed that I could no longer have treats when I was outside.