Aggressive Weimaraner
Weimaraners were originally bred as big game hunting dogs. Their powerful build, high energy levels and extreme athleticism are a testament to this fact. However, hunting also required Weimaraners to be aggressive and fearless in approaching animals often much larger than themselves.
Unfortunately, aggressive Weimaraner tendencies are still apparent in the dogs as they exist today. In a normal, household setting, these tendencies can be a big problem if not addressed and corrected appropriately. And in some cases, Weimaraners will continue to exhibit aggression in an unacceptable way regardless of training, socialization and conditioning.
Starting Early
The best thing you can do to help prevent aggressive Weimaraner behaviors from becoming a problem for you and your family is to get started with training and socializing your dog from a young age. From the first day you bring home your Weimaraner puppy, make sure you engage in consistent and age-appropriate training.
Establish Yourself as the Alpha
Aggressive Weimaraner behavior often emerges as a result of the fact that the dogs don’t recognize an alpha in the pack and feel that they need to fill that role themselves. In the case of a Weimaraner you have as a family pet, your family is the dog’s pack and that alpha leader must be you.
Dogs are inherently pack animals, and this means that they will always interpret their social relationships in this context. In order for a pack to function and survive in the wild, there needs to be one leader and all of the other pack members must follow that leader’s direction.
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If you are not the alpha, then in your Weimaraner’s eyes, you are a follower and he is in charge. He will attempt to assert his dominance and you will be locked in a power struggle. It’s easy to see how aggressive Weimaraner behaviors could result from this. However, when you are able to clearly set your Weimaraner in its place from an early age, your dog will be much more receptive to your direction.
Consistent Training
Once you have established yourself as the pack leader, your next step in the battle to eliminate aggressive tendencies in your Weimaraner is to train the dog properly and consistently. Weimaraners are remarkably perceptive and they want to please you, a fact which actually makes them rather easy dogs to train provided they’re already inclined to listen to you.
Early Socialization
Another important step to take when it comes to subduing naturally aggressive Weimaraner behaviors is to socialize your dog early.
Enrolling your Weimaraner puppy in a pre-training play group with a certified trainer is one excellent way to help your dog learn how to interact with other dogs and unfamiliar people appropriately.
Organized meetings like these are helpful because they allow your Weimaraner to interact with other dogs and people in a supervised setting. However, exposing your puppy to as many different settings, people and other animals as possible can be very helpful when it comes to keeping aggressive Weimaraner behaviors at bay.
Too Ingrained
Unfortunately, there are some Weimaraners for whom the tendencies towards aggression simply cannot be adequately controlled. For these dogs, the best thing is to be removed from the situations in which they exhibit aggression and then slowly reintroduce the triggering stimuli in a controlled way.
This type of training is challenging and highly specialized and is not likely something you can do on your own. With some professional help, however, it may be possible to recondition your Weimaraner so that he can become a well-adjusted member of your family.
Keeping the Peace
Aggression in most dogs comes out when they are scared or unsure of their place in the pack. Aggressive Weimaraner behaviors are no different, and although these dogs are generally more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior that some other breeds, they can still be trained to behave appropriately and become happy and productive members of your household.