What to do if your dog is aggressive towards strangers

Put your dog on a leash, with a head halter or well-fitting collar to help control his movements and prevent the dog from attacking your assistant. Slowly, have your stranger approach your dog. When the dog shows signs of fear or aggression, have your assistant stop and wait. Wait until the dog relaxes.

However, there’s no guarantee that an aggressive dog can be completely cured. In many cases, the only solution is to manage the problem by limiting a dog’s exposure to the situations, people or things that trigger her aggression. There’s always risk when dealing with an aggressive dog.

Anxiety-based aggression often grows from fear-based responses or harmful mistreatment. Visitors ‘invade’ a dog’s territory so sometimes aggression to visitors is a form or territoriality or protective aggression. However territorial and/or protective aggression is just a form of anxiety.

A dog that has a general fear of all strangers—rather than a specific fear of men or children, for example—may be genetically predisposed to being fearful. A lack of proper socialization as a puppy is another reason some dogs fear strangers. … Dogs with a history of abuse may also be afraid of strangers.

The actual root cause for this behavior is surprising to most dog owners (and to many dog trainers for that matter). The real cause is fear. … Avoidance and aggressive behaviors are collectively called distance increasing behaviors. In both cases, the dog is trying to create more distance in order to feel safe.

It is very common to hear stories from dog owners about their dog sensing someone with negative energy or bad intentions.