The cure involved re-educating Pookie s owner regarding natural dog behavior and how her actions were actually causing Pookie to develop fear aggression. The domestic dog does not force another to the ground and into a rollover position. Rolling over to expose the belly is a voluntary behavior in the domestic dog and is a signal of submission. The valid response to this offered posture is to back away in acknowledgment of the sender s self-imposed surrender . When a human forcibly places a dog on his back, straddles him and growls, the owner is giving the dog signals that the owner doesn t play by the rules.
Active submission is no longer a behavioral option for the dog.
The only thing left for the dog to do is fight. I instructed Pookie s owner to immediately stop the Alpha rollover . Using a clicker, we taught Pookie to play games with his crate. Slowly we taught him that any interaction with the crate earned a click and treat. We easily had Pookie happily going into his crate, which had been a source of fear for him, for clicks and jackpot rewards.