Click-Wrong-No! Remember those?
To work with an aggressive dog, you need to create your tools. It’s just like any other dog. No tools, no control. This process may include several obstacles but it is not insoluble. Safety is your first concern. If you cannot be in the same room as the dog, you have to be creative. A safe way of creating the pairing is to have a barrier between you and the dog. I am fond of sliding glass doors. There are other ways to limit a dog’s access to your flesh, however.

The Cane Corso Experience:
I once worked with a five-year-old, intact, male Cane Corso. He had an interesting history. He had never been around anyone other than his owner, his owner’s brother and their mother. Then, the owner got a girlfriend. The dog wasn’t having any of it. Let that be a tip for you mothers who never want your little boy to have a girlfriend or parents who want to limit their daughter’s choice of boyfriends.

Cage and a Doggie Door:
The owner had been smart. He bolted a wire cage to the inside of a wall, in front of the doggie door entrance/exit. The dog had limited access to the house and still go outside whenever he wanted. In Arizona it’s a good idea. The dog can stay inside in air-conditioned luxury but can still go to the bathroom outdoors. This was very good for me. I could enter the house and not be directly exposed to 120 pounds of teeth and nastiness.

The first time I entered the house, the dog went ballistic. That was his normal behavior. He was throwing himself at the front of the cage, pawing at the door and making all kinds of threatening noises. I ignored him. We went to the kitchen (fully visible to the dog) and cut up a bunch of hot dogs. I was concerned that the cage wasn’t strong enough to contain him but had to trust to my luck.

Once I had a large bowl of hot-dog pieces, I sat down next to the cage – facing away. He was still aroused to the point of unthinking violence. I clicked my clicker and tossed a hunk of hotdog so that it arced upward, dropped downward and hit him on top of the head. He was still aroused and paid no attention to the hotdog. He was making all kinds of nasty threatening sounds while lunging and gnashing his teeth on the cage, directly in line with me. This went on for about ten clicks and treats. All the while he was threatening me. I prayed the wire cage would hold.

On repetition 12 or 13, he noticed the hotdogs lying at his feet, inside the cage. He gobbled them up. His arousal had decreased to the point where he was observing things beyond ‘intruder in the house’. I then experimented with a more direct interaction. The owner said he knew ‘sit’. I asked him for it. I didn’t make eye-contact or face toward him. My only movement was tossing the treat over my shoulder to fall into the cage. He sat. I did several more of those and then I was ready for step two. Within five minutes, he laid down in the cage. His shoulder was pressed up against the wire. He wasn’t aroused any more. I had other fish to fry so slowly stood up – still not facing him. He flipped the switch and became ‘demon dog’ again. I ignored his behavior and went to the arcadia door. I had achieved a ‘down’ from this dog. If I could do it once, I could do it again. I achieved my ‘proof of concept’. Now I could move to stage two.

The “Arcadia Door”:
Apparently, arcadia door is another name for ‘sliding glass door’. It comes from the definition of arcadia – a region or scene of simple pleasure and quiet. That leads to the compound word, “Arcadia Door” – a sliding glass door or patio door, a type of sliding door in architecture and construction is a large glass window opening in a structure and used as a door.” By the time I got to the arcadia door, the thing I didn’t see was a scene of simple pleasure and quiet. I saw a again aroused Cane Corso lunging against the glass. I decided to let the door live up to its name.

After I pacified the dog with clicks and treats in his cage, I went to the arcadia door and opened it about 4 inches. I propped my foot against the door to prevent it from opening. Note: You can get arcadia door locks at a hardware store if you want extra protection. You can also get telescoping tubes intended for the same purpose. Caution: They are not fool, dog or burglar proof – their intended purpose. However, they add a touch of security to the process. A determined dog can lunge hard enough to force their way through. Test them out in advance to know their limitations.

Back to the Cane Corso…
When he saw me get up and move to the sliding door, he started getting a little agitated and blasted out the doggie door to confront me anew. He cleared the corner of the house and saw me at the glass door. Remember, it was open about six inches. As he came around the corner of the house, I clicked and tossed a treat in an arc over his head. He paused for a second. I was prepared for another round of threats – but they didn’t happen. Being an opportunist, I said “Sit” – he sat. I clicked and tossed another treat. I continued this process until he was anticipating the sequence and would immediately sit after getting his treat. He never got within four feet of me. He was content to sit at a bit of a distance. I had my scene of pleasure and quiet.

Note: Very few pet owners can get a dog to do anything at a distance. The dog’s hesitation about approaching me and his knowledge of ‘sit’, generalized the behavior so that it worked from a distance. That made the transition for other behaviors easy. Since doing behaviors at a distance is a logical criterion for functional obedience, that is always my end game. As often happens, I got it for free.

That was my introduction to the Cane Corse. After he settled down, I stepped outside. We finished the session with no barrier between us. He keep his distance of about six feet and I felt comfortable with that. The introduction was smooth and easy, but I knew I would not be safe until I paired “No!” with a tangible punishment. He had to know that I was the author of that punishment. For a first step I was satisfied. I had two-thirds of my tools in place. Click and Wrong. Soon enough I would have ‘No!’ While the majority of trainers and behaviorists will argue this conclusion, they are ill informed. Remember, positive reinforcement does not create inhibitions. A dog without an inhibition to attacking you is capable of offering that behavior – usually when you start feeling comfortable. The positive reinforcement suppresses the warning signs of aggression. The dog is all ‘waggy-tail’ until it’s not. Make the wrong move and the bite happens very quickly. I was recently bitten in the hand by an adult Rottweiler. It wasn’t my mistake, but I was the closest target. I yelled “NO” at the instant of the bite. He backed off instantly and laid down about six feet from me – the first behavior I taught him with positive reinforcement. Had I not associated the “NO” with the bonker, he likely would have continued the attack. Note’ Two bites in 40 years, neither requiring stitches is a pretty good record, in my book.

Third Times A Charm:
It wasn’t until the third session that I set him up to be bonked. I was concerned primarily with safety and success, not speed. If I am concerned that a dog might bite me, my immediate concern is to associate the word “NO” with a bonk. It is my preferred tool of choice, for several reasons. First, I don’t trust shock collars to stop aggression. A dog prone to violence can become aroused in less than a second. As they get jacked up, their sensitivity to pain drops dramatically. Shock collars work because they cause pain. Therefore, they don’t work well to curb aggression. Even if the dog does sense the pain, it is as likely the aggression will escalate rather than diminish. I think they are the wrong tool for aggression, in most cases.

Second, the bonker is demonstrably more powerful than a shock collar. Since few shock collar trainers understand the use of the tone-function (Meaning they don’t understand the necessity to pair “NO” or an equivalent signal with the tangible punisher) and it is rare to find a trainer that uses the tone at all. No tone? No way to interrupt the aggression and limit the arousal.

Third, the bonker provides a visual cue that triggers a powerful instinctive reaction – a projectile flying at the dog’s head. As I said in my “Andy Wolf” hunting example, dogs are incredibly sensitive to things coming at them – even at the point of their greatest arousal. There is no greater arousal than a wolf trying to rip the throat out of a bison. Yet, every video of wolves hunting shows examples of wolves breaking off an attack in a heartbeat. They have to. The species wouldn’t have survived if they recklessly continued an attack to the point of likely death or crippling injuries.

As for the thump that goes along with the bonker, it provides an additional feature that only a few dogs ignore. If you use the word “NO” correctly and don’t immediately bonk, there is a sense of dread that goes with the process. (which gives you time to better aim) Yes, you can get that with an e-collar, but since almost nobody uses the word “NO” before the shock, the overall estimation of the tool yields a lesser potency. This is a critical process that cannot be skipped if you want to do good and safe work.

Pairing “No”:
My goal is to do the heavy and precise lifting necessary to fix a problem…and then pass the baton to the owner. If I don’t do that, it’s almost a waste of time. This is the problem with the ‘board and train’ model. The owner doesn’t really know what the trainer did. They don’t have the skills to maintain the behavior. I guess that makes them dependent on the ‘board and trainer’. Perhaps that’s the goal. I make sure that the owner’s voice saying “NO” sends shock waves through the dog. That is the golden parachute. In an emergency, the owner can freeze their dog’s actions. Without that, the dog is autonomous in crisis situations. Not good. This is especially necessary if the owner is physically challenged. I have the owner say “NO” and then I bonk the dog. The owner gets the street-cred. Subsequent bonks can be less powerful and still maintain an inhibition. This is confirmed in the ‘scientific’ literature – which is an unnecessary confirmation.

During the third session with the Cane Corso, I started with him outside the sliding glass door. He reacted a bit when he saw me, but much less than our first or second go-round. There were even a few tail-wags thrown at me. I opened the door, clicked and tossed a treat past him. He instantly spun around and went for the treat – a good sign. He remembered the pattern.

We ran through some ‘downs’ outdoors and then I moved to the kitchen bar, about eight feet away and we let him in. I faced away from him and stood quietly at the bar. I said, “Down” – at the moment, the only behavior he was likely to give me. Whether or not he truly recognized the cue or not was irrelevant. I still used correct procedure – say “Down”, he goes down, click and treat. If he doesn’t go down within about 30 seconds, I said “wrong” and he got nothing. This wipes the slate clean and allows us to cleaning start another repetition. If you do not have a signal for ‘end of behavior’, the dog perceives that you have said the command more than once. You are creating endless ‘do-overs’ in a stream of rewards. That doesn’t work well.

Back to the action –
We did some more ‘downs’. I can’t stress enough that developing a ‘positive’ relationship of compliance does a great deal to diffuse a dog’s tendency to attack you. They all have normal relationships with people and there are always people who are immune to attack. By clicks and treats for behavior – virtually any behavior – you help the dog realize that you are not dangerous and that what you are doing is similar to what they do with ‘protected’ humans.

I waited until he was looking away from me. I had the owner put a sandwich down on a coffee table. As the dog approached the plate, I had the owner say “NO”. Then I threw the bonker from about 15 feet away, slightly to the rear. He never saw it coming. It hit him square in the side of the head, with force. If you are flinching as I say that, remember, he weighed over 100 pounds. He had never been this close to a stranger in his life. I had two responsibilities – to create an inhibition…any inhibition…and associate the word “NO” with a bonk. For gravy, I connected it to the owner’s voice at the same time I paired the word with the punishment.

This event put him in a common classification. Underneath his aggressive exterior, he was a snowflake. He had never been punished by the environment before. He wasn’t tough. He was like the Denver Broncos in Superbowl 48. The Seahawks mauled them. The Broncos came in with swagger and left with their tails between their legs. And so it went with the Cane Corso except that their tails aren’t long enough to tuck. I then added my name to the list of ‘people not to be challenged’.

After the first bonk, indoors, we put him outside and I did it at the sliding glass door. I had the owner go outside to get the dog slightly away from the door. I opened it up broad enough to allow me to throw the bonker, said “NO” and let him have it. Then I closed the door. I repeated that twice more. I was pairing the word ‘NO” to the bonk with me as the author. Then I went back to clicks and treats outside, with no barrier protecting me. While there is some risk to that, you must weigh the risk with getting the job done. I don’t take unnecessary risks, but I have a lifetime of knowledge of what dogs are likely to do. If you do not have similar knowledge, this formula may not work for you. That usually means blood.

Non-contingent Punishment:

Though behavioral scientists have distorted any study of this behavioral effect, assume that non-contingent punishment means ‘without a clear connection to a specific behavior’. This is common in nature. A hunter may decide that a particular area has little game and abandon that hunting ground. The choice of that location is ‘punished’ by consequences, but no specific behavior was punished. In essence there is no behavior connected to the punishing event. It just happens. That is especially frightening. OMG, I said “frightening’. That means fear!! OK. I promise you that the Cane Corso had already scared me, so this was simple payback with a purpose. I was going to prevent him from scaring and injuring people in the future. To correctly evaluate this, you must weigh his momentary fear with his ability to totally screw up the owner’s relationship with a woman he loves. Fix the problem or the dog or possible future wife goes away. The fear is purposeful and necessary because it helps fix the problem. If the dog is afraid to attack the girlfriend long enough for them to bond, it’s a win-win. If the dog is not afraid of the girlfriend, you run the risk that she will accidentally trigger a bite. Better to be safe than sorry.

To transfer the control to the girlfriend, I repeated what I did in the first place. She stood near his cage and clicked and treated. Then we did it at the side door. The dog was fine with her presence, but I knew we weren’t done yet. We had click and wrong, but not “No!” Until that happened there would be no inhibition in place as a check on his behavior. That is because positive reinforcement or the removal of positive reinforcement cannot inhibit any behavior. Are you getting the hint that is only a part of the solution? As a safeguard to arousal that might turn nasty, it’s a waste of time and an assurance of risk laced with a good chance of disaster. Don’t take that bet.

In the end, the girlfriend was accepted. If you think this is formulaic, I don’t do recipe-driven solutions. I did stick to my formula of building tools – click, wrong, No! – before I started attempting to change behavior. Yes, you can use a butter knife to remove a screw but a screwdriver works better and doesn’t get you in trouble with your wife. What I did was analyze what needed to happen. I needed to reduce the dog’s arousal to allow a punisher to be most effective. Then I needed to create a tool to perpetuate ‘no arousal’ connect me as the source. That is what the clicks and treats in the cage were designed to do. I then shifted to a place where I was still protected (the sliding glass door) until I felt comfortable enough to give the dog direct access to me. I used ‘sit’ as the platform for this. To reset the behavior, I tossed the treats on the ground to get the dog to release the ‘sit’. This pattern made it easy to pair sit to the behavior by making the cycle easily predictable.