More puppy help needed.

liger

Ok,

So i have a 4month old Goldy. All was good and well until around xmas. On his walks his sniffs everything and picks up everything. He was fine with letting things go until he found an old manky bone in the long grass. When i tried to get him to give that up he bit me.

So now everytime he gets something he doesn't want to give up he snaps. Tonight he grabbed a chipper bag and bit me again, I tried the offering treats, spraying water, anti chew spray nothing will get him to give it up.

I am due to bring him to training classes soon but in the meantime i am getting really fed up and he is going to be a big dog so don't want an agressive dog around the the family. I know he is only 4 months but his bite is nasty already. Tonight I have hit that point where i regret getting a dog.

marley123

wow really strange to see this behaviour in a 16 wk old Goldie toward everything he picks up..! @ this age to nip this problem in the bud distraction is the key! Everytime he picks up something you dont want him to have why not use a distraction technique , squeeky toy/ball etc?

Is he agressive with food in general? my chap was @ 17wks so what we did is hand feed him for a wk & never an issue!

Never ever use spraying water etc, if you r using the anti chew spray on furniture etc u need to understand dog is teething & you need to give him things he is allowed to chew on, have you got @ kong etc??

liger wrote: »

Ok,

So i have a 4month old Goldy. All was good and well until around xmas. On his walks his sniffs everything and picks up everything. He was fine with letting things go until he found an old manky bone in the long grass. When i tried to get him to give that up he bit me.

So now everytime he gets something he doesn't want to give up he snaps. Tonight he grabbed a chipper bag and bit me again, I tried the offering treats, spraying water, anti chew spray nothing will get him to give it up.

I am due to bring him to training classes soon but in the meantime i am getting really fed up and he is going to be a big dog so don't want an agressive dog around the the family. I know he is only 4 months but his bite is nasty already. Tonight I have hit that point where i regret getting a dog.

The Sweeper

For starters, at 16 weeks old you've a lot of time to address this. Your pup is resource guarding - he wants it, he doesn't want you to have it. It's a bit unusual for him to really go you at such a young age if you try to take something from him.

Questions - when do you get bitten? E.g. when the dog is holding the item, does he drop the item and bite you as you reach for it? Or is it when you have the item, you pull it out of his mouth and he goes to snap for it back and you get bitten? There's quite a difference and it's important. The first reaction is a bit aggressive - it's a pre-emptive warning shot to get you to sod off. The second reaction could just be clumsy puppy mouthing as he tries to get back the item.

At that young age, you can't take something from the dog without offering something better, because they learn that you'll come, take their prized possession and they'll get nowt. It's time to put treats in every pocket you have! If you don't have treats, respond when the dog lets go by making a total fool of yourself making a HUGE fuss of the pup. Always, positive association - he gives up the item, he gets something better in return.

You need to teach your dog the 'leave it' command. Start with something low value and make sure you have something high value as a reward. E.g. maybe he has an old sock and you have a pocketful of pieces of cooked sausage. Approach him while he has the sock. Get his attention by calling him - the idea is to get the dog to drop the sock and look at you, so e.g. he's lying down chewing on it, you approach him with smelly sausage and call him, he looks up, dropping the sock as he does so, you say 'leave it' and reward with sausage.

Repeat - hopefully he'll look up without needing his name called, you say 'leave it' and give him sausage.

Next step, (because now he'll be quite sausage focussed), throw the next piece of sausage a foot or two away from him, saying leave it so he totally leaves the sock to get the sausage - and then you pick it up with no risk of a bite. He should be able to see you pick it up.

If he comes for the sock and jumps for it, you make a 'NAH AH' noise, hold it up high and show a piece of sausage. If he responds well by sitting or hesitating, say 'leave it' and give him sausage and 'good boy' and so on.

Then give him back the sock and start over.

You want to get to the point where he has something, you approach him, you say leave it and he does, expecting a treat, so you can take the item even if it's still between his front paws and he won't snap at you.

Be careful of his body language - when you approach a dog to take something, they can freeze up - lips will stiffen, body will go still, and possibly you'll get 'whale eye', where he looks up at you without moving his head so you can see the whites of his eyes. The biggest mistake people make at this point is moving in more and more slowly, even if they're hardly aware of it, as a reaction to the dog's sudden immobility. This posture of extreme tension in the dog can be the calm before a snap. It can go freeze-growl-snap or it may just go freeze-snap. By slowing your approach you basically increase the tension and wind the dog up.

Hopefully with a 16 week puppy, you won't get that frozen posture because he'll be too happy-out being distracted with wondrous sausage treats.

liger

marley123 wrote: »

why not use a distraction technique , squeeky toy/ball etc?

Is he agressive with food in general? my chap was @ 17wks so what we did is hand feed him for a wk & never an issue!

if you r using the anti chew spray on furniture etc u need to understand dog is teething & you need to give him things he is allowed to chew on, have you got @ kong etc??

I always have a ball or a toy and treats with me. He just doesn't care when he has something off the ground thats new.

As for the teething, yes i understand the chewing helps him and he has a kong, chew toys and plenty to occupy him and he isnt left bored, i walk him, play with him, do training with him.

The Sweeper wrote: »

Questions - when do you get bitten? .

Yes, when he is holding the item, he drop the item and bite you as you reach for it. And when I walk near him without putting my hand down he will go for my runner. It defo not just puppy mouthing. It a different, snarly attack.

The Sweeper wrote: »

At that young age, you can't take something from the dog without offering something better,

You need to teach your dog the 'leave it' command.

I have tried with toys and treats, dropping his lead and running to get him to chase me and when he does make a big show and dance about it but whatever he has stays clamped in his mouth. I have tried some leave it training myself from you tube clips but clearly i need help. Hopefully when the training classes start it will work better but i will try until then myself.

just to add. he never is aggressive in house with his food. i make a point of petting him and sometimes feeding him some food from hand.

marley123

If you need any professional advice would highly recommend Suzi Walsh in Positive Dog Training Dublin

liger

Hi all,

Back again.


My Goldie is now 8months old. A great dog 90% of the time. Unfortunatly his tendancy for resource guarding when out has gotten worse.


on Saturady night I was in the front garden with him. He picked up a stick and was chewing it, I wasn't too bothered as it was only a stick but as I walked past him he lunged at my foot snarling. I was shocked because I made no attempt take the stick from him.

He has been to plenty of training with King of Paws and can sit, stay, wait, lie down etc. and when he is on the lead will "Leave it". but when he picks up something he doesn't want to give up, he gets aggressive. He has gone for my dad who walks him too and dad wont even try to take anything from him now.

I am worried that he will turn on one of the kids. I dont want to get bitten myself either. The weekend was spent thinking about what too do. Can this behavior be changed? He start it a such a young age. It would be heartbreaking to have to get rid of him but I don't want to risk the safety of the family.

Any suggestions?

Gran Hermano

I'd look at more training around the 'leave it' command. If he responds whilst on the lead maybe try some training with him on the lead but you not holding the lead.

As mentioned above you need some real high value treats - he needs to learn if he surrenders whatever he has he might get something much nicer.

liger

Gran Hermano wrote: »

As mentioned above you need some real high value treats - he needs to learn if he surrenders whatever he has he might get something much nicer.

With the treat thing, what he does is take the treat and try to dive back onto the other thing.

Just now i had him out for a walk. He pulled a tin foil take-away container from the long grass. The last time he got one of those he cut his mouth and tongue. tried to take it from him. got Snarling, Whale eye and frozen dog. So left him alone. he chewed it up and ate some of it.

I am using, Hot-dogs, freah chicken and cheese to distract and reward him.

I am worried about using treats to get him to stop being aggressive. I mean he acts aggressive and ends up with a treat, surely thats encouraging the unwanted behavior.??

andreac

You need a behaviourist asap!! One that comes to the house. This is getting very serious so you need to get it sorted now.

tk123

With my GR I always swap him for whatever he's robbed and he's usually happy with the trade in value he gets - so much so that he'll rob stuff for fun to get a treat out of us!:rolleyes: So start out with something low value like a ball/toy that you know he'll swap and work up.

We got over guarding by being consistent with his training so he has a fairly good "leave" and "swap" which is 90% if the battle. He's 2 now so over his teenage puppy phase which your guy is in now.

He was guarding bones/chews a there few weeks ago - like if you walked by him he growled. I kept dropping treats beside him and walking away and praising him when he took the treat. He went from being suspicious of me to looking up for his treat every time I approached him in about a week. Now I treat, pet him and walk away any time he gets a bone so he knows I'm just there to give him something and not take the bone. He's actually coming to me with the manky bone now when he can't get any more marrow out of it - gross!! :rolleyes:

marley123

As suggested couple mths ago please give Suzi a call, she will be able to properly assess the dog. this needs nipped in the bud before the problem potentially escalates.

marley123 wrote: »

If you need any professional advice would highly recommend Suzi Walsh in Positive Dog Training Dublin

DERPY HOOFS

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