3yr old golden getting aggresive

[KristinaMarie]

DH and I have a 3 yr old golden named Kodi. We are expecting our first baby anytime now. The problem is our gentle dog has become a growler. He is fine if its something that belongs to him. If he gets something like a rattle and we try to take it away he chomps down and starts growling. The only thing that seems to work to get him to let go is to divert his attention ir make him think we are going somewhere. He has plenty of his own toys, stuffed animals that look brand new cause he doens't destroy any of his toys.

We went into the grocery store and left him in the excursion with the windows down came back to find that he had shredded the atlas. My husband went to clean it up and the dog went for his hand and started growling.

It has me worried with the new baby coming as to how he is going to react. He does have seperation anxeity, but it seems to be better now that I am not working. Any ideas or tips would be great.

[gingerstar]

There are many more experienced dog people here, but your dog is resource guarding, and you should immediately institute Nothing In Life Is Free. I personally would also find a reputable trainer, with the baby coming.

Hopefully others will chime in now....

[greenmagick]

Start working on drop it. Give the dog a medium to low value toy....say "drop it" and offer and super yummy treat. When the dog drops the toy give the treat and praise, and then give the toy back. Keep working on that, always trading up. After they start getting it you can stop giving the original item back.

[Mama2Jesse]

I think you have a bigger problem than swapping toys is going to fix (no offense meant at all).

You honestly need a trainer, now. If you wish to keep this dog, I would consider this as important as making sure you have car insurance and a carseat. Put him through every bit of obedience training you can get your hands on, and treat him like a dog. I don't mean poorly, I mean, don't treat him as a human child. He isn't a human, so communicate with him how he can understand.

Your dog does not see you as his alpha, and with a baby coming, that's particularly bad timing for this to rear it's head... but better now than after the birth.

I am not trying to frighten you at all, I just don't want you to blow this off and think "Well, if we just let him have what he wants, then it won't be an issue" as so many people do. Fine and good till his behavior escalates or your toddler tries to get their lovey back.

Anyway. Buy a crate and start using it. Hire a trainer, one who will be honest with you and not put the dog over the baby. Take the dog to the vet to rule out any medical issues on the off chance, but I think he's just testing the waters to see how far he can go. Oh, he is neutered, yes? If not, do that asap. Makes a huge difference in a dog.


I'm not a trainer. I've just had alot of dogs come through here and had to figure out how to keep harmony in an ever changing pack, as strays arrived, were cared for and cleaned up, and found new homes.

I have had a dog with escalating aggression issues. We did not have a happy ending, but he was much worse than your dog sounds and we had outside factors (neighbor egging their bulldog on to fight him, their dog digging under the fence and our dog winning and getting very confident).

[SkylarVT]

Gingerstar is right. Start NILF today and then call a canine behaviorist, (someone who specializes in working with behavior problems, not an obedience trainer). You do need to work on this before the baby comes. Also, never leave the baby unsupervised with Kodi especially once the baby becomes mobile. If you got Kodi from a reputable breeder, you will want to notify them as well. This is not a correct Golden Retriever temperament.

[greenmagick]

[QUOTE=Mama2Jesse;14196487]I think you have a bigger problem than swapping toys is going to fix (no offense meant at all).



/QUOTE]

If the resource guarding just started, and you nip it in the bud, it may not turn into a bigger problem. That is where I would start...you train out of resource guarding by getting them to understand there is no reason to guard, and you start that by swapping for a treat. There very well may be deeper issues going on, but it is not all about who is "alpha" and more dominant. Dogs do need boundaries of course and a behaviorist (not trainer) would probably be a good move in this case, especially witha baby coming.

[SkylarVT]

If the resource guarding just started, and you nip it in the bud, it may not turn into a bigger problem. That is where I would start...you train out of resource guarding by getting them to understand there is no reason to guard, and you start that by swapping for a treat.

This is a three year old Golden. The above may be true in a different breed or with a puppy in training, but this is VERY serious especially combined with the history of separation anxiety, which would lead me to believe that this is not a simple resource guarding problem. Even if this is just a hierarchy issue the problem may manifest itself in a different way later if they are able to reduce the behavior by swapping treats. The op needs a behaviorist ASAP. I don't "talk business" on these boards, but my DH and I are both behaviorists and be breed, show and specialize in Goldens and this would be very concerning to me. The op needs to work with this dog a ton before the baby becomes mobile or the dog will end up in rescue with a bite history.

[KristinaMarie]

Thank you for all your great replies. I will make sure to show my husband them as well as he seems to only do it to him. With the rattle last night I tried to take it away, and he was just laying there with it in his mouth. Then my hubby came in to get it and thats when the growling started. After Kodi let go of the rattle he seemed to sense that he had overstepped his boundaries by trying to get my husband to pet him and was looking at him with the "i'm sorry" eyes.

The problem with a trainer or behavior specialist is that we live a minimum of 3 hours from one. There is a trainging facility that we can drop him off at for a week, but I don't see the good in that. Correct me if I am wrong.

I know that my husband and I have babied him. My husband more so than I. He thinks that we can't go anywhere without the dog.

I will look further into all your suggestions, and make an appointment at the vet to make sure that there isn't an underlying cause.

We were also thinking of getting another dog come October, but now I am hesitant.

Again thanks..

[KristinaMarie]

Gingerstar- Nothing in life is Free sounds like a great place to start...but where do I find it? Is it a book, magazine article? I went to amazon and there was nothing that resembled dog things. Thanks again.

[Catubodua]

if you do a google search on NILF dog training there are tons of links to follow and read

http://www.pets.ca/articles/article-dog_nilf.htm

[gingerstar]

Nothing in Life Is Free - just click those words.

Also, since it is your husband he clearly doesn't respect, your husband should read and implement her Social Isolation (again, click those words) for a couple days. It worked amazingly well with our pushy dog - dogs just like to know where everyone stands, status.

And yes, I mis-spoke (typed?) you do want a Behavior Specialist - many of them will work with you over the phone - not ideal, but better than nothing.
Here is some information about them - I tried to link their directory, but it must be having issues right now. Keep trying it, maybe they'll fix it - but at least you have this page, and you can access a list of people from the menu on the left of this page.

Other resources worth looking at are The Monks of New Skete dog training books, like How to be your Dogs Best Friend and Divine Canine.

Good luck!