Last Saturday we took our dog Cali to a class for dog-aggression. This is a free class given by an animal shelter in Berkeley where they help dogs to be less aggressive toward other dogs. Cali, has a serious problem with dog-aggression so we thought she might benefit from this class.

Naturally, we were worried about taking her to a class with other dogs around. I had my reservations right up until we arrived. I was sure as soon as we got Cali out of the car she would be snarling and pulling to get at any other dog she saw. However, much to our pleasant surprise, she was actually quite good. She stood by us and sat when we told her to sit and basically kept her mouth shut most of the time. Granted we were very cautious and kept about a six foot space between her and any other dog at all times but she was still amazingly well behaved considering there were twenty other pit bulls were roaming around.

The first thing the instructor did was tell us how to get our dogs to obey the “look” command. Basically, you hold a treat up beside your eye and say “look”. The dog looks at the treat — and coincidently your face — and then you give them the treat. Over time the dog learns to look at your face when you say “look”. This increases your chances of diverting your dog’s attention in a volatile situation. Of course, Emily and I were unprepared and didn’t have any treats for Cali so we just had her relax and do the “sit” and “lay down” commands. We’ll work on “look” at home during the week.

The next exercise involves dogs and owners forming a wide circle. One dog and its owner gets in the middle of the circle. Then four or five other dogs are walked around the center dog. The owner of the center dog does everything possible to keep their dog’s attention focused of themselves instead of the dogs walking around it. This teaches the center dog to ignore and be relaxed while other dogs are milling around close by. Cali got a chance to be the center dog and she performed really well for us.

The last exercise had us pair off with another dog. We were told to find a spot and get our dogs to relax while being in somewhat close proximity to the other dog. Again, Cali did really well in this exercise and only growled a little when the other dog came over to sniff me.

We’re going to try to take Cali to this class every week and see if we can get her to be a little more friendly to other dogs over time. Plus, it should be a great way to meet and talk with other responsible pit bull owners.