Other Threads You May Find Helpful The Forum RecommendsHow To Stop Your Dog Stealing Blacky ,my beautiful Blacky is 18 months old.He is loved ,well fed and exercised he has been going to obedience training since he was 6 months old.He is normally well behaved around other dogs and adores everyone.The problem is that on ocasions he becomes agressive towards us ,his family.It usually happens when he is reprimanded for stealing some object .He lets us touch his food and his toys with no problem,but if he has something "illegal" in his mouth and we try to take it from him,he snarls and growls,he has actually bitten me once. When i discused this with the dog trainer ,he recomened that i insist with the obedience clases and try to spoil him less,he compared Blackys bad behavior with a tantrum of a spoilt child. My vet thinks that neutering him could help.He has been checked for any underlying physical cause.He is a large dog (35kg) and my children and i have become a little afraid of him.It woild break our hearts to part with him,but i cant have a dog that i dont trust.Please help.
I would teach him a good 'leave it'. The way to do this is using a 'swap' technique. Use a mixture of sometimes kibble and sometimes very high value treats and swap the object for a treat. Once the dog is doing this introduce the cue words 'drop it' or 'leave it'. Then practice many times, especially with things you don't actually mind him having. I would never force anything out of a dog's mouth - this will be counter productive and make him want to keep it even more. Reprimanding does not work either, it means nothing to a dog and simply confuses them. Neutering doesn't change behaviour and dogs can't have 'tantrums' - they are not human and don't deliberately go against us - simple, kind, training works every time.
Dogs can and do sometimes take an illegal object and try to use it to get you to play with them. For dogs snarling and growling can be part of play, biting too. This is not appropriate play with humans of course. Labs are rarely aggressive and since you say you can touch his *food and toys then inappropriate play might be it. I suggest don't take a chance, if it is aggression it's serious. Calling in a dog behavourist to observe might be a good idea. * Why do you touch his food? This can lead to food guarding. Give him his food and let him eat it in peace.
Thank you for answering.We dont usually touch his food,but when on ocasions I have had to move his bowl for some reason he hasnt minded.I agree,we let him eat in peace. Im totally sure that there is no intention to play during these episodes.
Don't chase him to try to get the object. The "swap" is the best approach. When my Lab was very young and confined to a cage due to a broken elbow, a friend suggested I give him a bone for some amusement, when I went to take it off him later, he was like a snarling wolf! Of course I was upset and phoned my friend who is a behaviourist, she just said 'swap it for something equally as good' and he did He has been fine ever since. PS. He is now eleven years old, so it does work!
Just to add, heartily agree with swapping and with me it was a treat. Once I knew my dog(s) were only taking the object to get attention or a play I just let them have it. Huge caveat here, I've never had a die-hard chewer. Then, you know What? Sometimes they were right, it WAS time for a play and some attention so I would oblige and we'd run around the house chasing each other. When I wanted to end it (always it was me who ended it. LOL) I would ask them to GIVE. Later I upped the ante and asked them to deliver it to me in another room, not always the kitchen where the treat was stored. To me the dog's need for fun, play and exercise is key to some behaviour issues like stealing objects. I think.
We still have this on going shoe & sock stealing game with Max but only if he hasn't had a proper walk and by proper I mean 2 hours at least! He's not a dog for running unless he's with his friends so pottering around outside is his favourite past time Any who back to the sock & shoe stealing, it's his way of getting my attention. Only I can retrieve the item (nobody else in my house can!) What we've done is...if he takes an item he shouldn't have (and it won't hurt him) I go and sit down on the sofa, hold my hand out, and wait for him to place it in my hand. I did this is small stages using a clicker Stage 1 is don't and I mean DON'T chase him, I learnt this the hard way, It only encourages him to run off with it (didn't know much back then, max is my first dog) Stage 2 if he knows what a clicker sound means it's usually "YAY yummy food", soon as I'd click the clicker he'd immediately drop whatever he possessed and come running for a treat! Typical greedy lab Stage 3 was getting him to bring the item and drop it on the floor by my feet which I'd then take my foot to cover the item then reward him for bringing it back...i covered it over with my foot as he's so darn smart he'd try run off with it again to try get another treat! Stage 4 was holding my hand out and as soon as whatever item he had touched my hand I'd click and reward, slowly but surely he'd place the item in my hand Now I don't use or need the clicker. I just hold my hand out and be brings whatever clothing item he has This clicker training also helps him to help me, if I've dropped something I can call him over to pick the item up for me, or to empty the washing machine and put clothes in the basket for me. Keeping his brain active is most important! I tried to teach him to open and close doors however he's a bit heavy pawed! Almost broke the door hahaha I hope that makes sense and good luck!
Resource guarding is very common. I have seen no evidence that neutering has any effect at all on changing this behaviour. The use of the word 'illegal' is interesting. I think a lot of people would regard this as 'stealing' and you might find this article helpful https://thehappypuppysite.com/how-to-stop-your-dog-stealing/
You've already received some good advice about teaching Blacky to give back 'stolen' things. I've heard that if a dog growls it's best to listen to them and take a step back. This is because dogs have several levels of warning you that they are uncomfortable. It can start with freezing and holding their head still, then the next level of warning is a growl, then if this is ignored they might snap at the air or even bite. It's important that they learn that freezing/growling is an effective way of communicating that they are not happy with a situation, otherwise they might go straight to snapping or biting because they have learnt that growling doesn't work.
Hey guys, I am glad I have found this post but I am still confused. My lab is coming up to 13 months. If I give him a bone he usually happily sits there to eat it until it's gone. As it was a rather small one I gave him another, but this time he just sat there holding it in his mouth for ages which looked to me like he was guarding it. I was talking to him and when I came near him he started growling and went to snap at me. That really shocked me. Is this teenage behaviour then or just animal instinct? He has, for the past few hours just sat beside it, licked it a few times and gone to sleep but every time I get up, he's guarding it. I stood by his bed, hand in left pocket and was on the phone to my friend and shuffled my foot closer and he growled again. Now I'm just leaving him be. But as he is still a puppy I wonder how I should deal with this in the future. Surely swapping for something else, not sure what could be more valuable than a big bone would help? As the leader of the pack should I not not decide when he can have it or not? Or could it be an underlying problem? What do you think guys?
I don't think any of the Labs we have or have had would ever bite us, though Cooper might play keep-a-way. Years ago I had a Malamute, that was serious about resource guarding. Kibble and Toys were no problem, but If I gave him a big juicy bone, I could not get near him until he had cleaned it. He would growl, snap and if pushed, bite, but only enough to get me to back off. (only pushed the issue one time) We just lived with it, but had to be careful with him around other dogs or kids. We just accepted that if we gave him a big butchers bone, we had to leave him alone. Other than that he was a pretty mellow dog, as long as you weren't a cat, or other small animal.
