Payton is a two year old miniature Australian Shepherd. His owners contacted me because over the course of the past year he has bitten three people. When I first arrived Payton seemed unsure of me, but once we applied a leash to him he quickly warmed up to me and just wanted to be patted. Payton's owners described his previous incidents of aggression in much detail, so it was fairly easy to assimilate them. We did so but with leash control. Payton immediately reacted with aggression. I immediately got his mind on me by walking him around on lead and rewarding him every chance I got when he ignored his "triggers"of door knocking and strangers with hats. Payton's behavior is predictable and he is fairly easy to redirect. With practice and over the course of several weeks we will be able to change his behavior into something acceptable to his owners. I firmly believe as most trainers do that punishment only temporarily stops unwanted behavior. By training Payton to respond in a different manner to the things that overstimulate and frighten him we will be able change his behavior into something acceptable and rewardable.

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