I have a lab puppy that is about 14 weeks old. I am slightly concerned about her aggressive behavior. There are a few things that she is doing that I am hoping she will learn to grow out of. The first thing is that she is quite defensive when she is in trouble. If we scold her and then reach for her, she will nip at us which I get is a defensiveness but we also have to be able to discipline bad behavior by scolding her. The other thing and a much bigger concern is how she is with strangers who come to our door. First, I have to say that she loves people and so far has only behaved this way when she is home alone with me and a man comes to the door. She LOVES my husband and doesn't have an issue with men in general. BUT....she tried to eat the Schwan's man and a tech for my internet came today and the same thing happened. I had her by the collar when the Schwan man came to the door and she lunged at him and growled. This time I put her in her kennel before I let the tech in because I was worried how she might be. She barked and growled the entire time he and I were talking for probably at least 10 minutes and he kept speaking gently to her and telling her it was alright to try to calm her. I kept telling her to stop her behavior. When he got ready to go he walked slowly toward her kennel speaking to her with his hand out for her to smell. She lunged, growled and lifted the kennel right off the ground with her hair on end ready to attack him. She gets tons of love and attention here and has had no issues when we are all home at night and someone comes to the door. This only happens when she is home alone with me during the day. Is she really old enough to know the difference in a protective way at this point and if so, how do I teach her that once I let them in and speak with them that they are safe and she needs to calm down? I am concerned she will hurt someone Any advice and thoughts are welcome and appreciated. Oh and this is not our first lab. We had a male that recently passed and got him even younger than her and never had this trouble.
Hi and welcome to the forum. I have never scolded my boy - he is now 19 months old. If he is doing something that I do not want him to do, I redirect him into doing something safe and acceptable. It sounds also as if your pup may be shy of hands coming towards her face - you may need to take this slowly with her and get her used to this movement. At 14 weeks I personally would be surprised if there was genuine aggression from a puppy - is she a nervous pup in general when out and about? There is a wealth of information on the main site - here is the link to the training section https://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-training/ which I found invaluable when we first got Bailey at 8 weeks old. I am sure that somebody with much more experience than I have will be along shortly with some sound advice.
Hi there and welcome... Have you had your puppy long? Where was she beforehand? It sounds to me like she is a nervous little character, and I do understand that as my older dog, Poppy, is nervous by nature and as a puppy would growl and bark at strangers. It was worrying and embarrassing at the same time. We found that scolding her only made her worse, but that she reacted very well to positive training - slowly building up positive associations when strangers appeared (think pieces of cheese or roast chicken!). As you are doing, I would keep her well away from the front door when people come in, in a completely different room with the door shut would probably be best. Build up her confidence, and teach her what it is you want her to do, rather than confusing and worrying her (and thus making her nervousness work) by telling her off for breaking rules she probably does not understand. She is very, very young, and I can assure you that with love and patience you will get a lovely dog.
Hi and welcome. Think if your puppy as a toddler - they don't understand what you are saying when talking to them, whether it is scolding them or reassuring them. You need to show them what you want them to do and really praise them when they do a behaviour you want.
Thank you for all of your responses. She has no issues with people reaching for her normally and no sensitivities. We all play with her and rub her head and ears and things. I spoke with my vet who feels this is a territorial issue and agrees that she should not be this aggressive at such a young age. She is quite concerned by it and suggested a behavioral specialist to contact so hopefully we can get it worked out. She is normally very sweet, cuddly, and normal acting. We tested this again the other day to see how she would react. I answered the door to a man who came in and was chatting with me and she was freaking out. My husband walked in from the back and she settled right down. Just seems weird to me that she would be this protective and territorial of me at such a young age. And she loves my husband so it isn't men in general:/
Please don't let people approach her and especially when she is in the kennel. Some view thekennel as a trap and the only option open to them is a good offense. This could be a fearful reaction on her part when people come to the door as well. Are you taking her to training class? I agree with the behaviouralist and hope it is a fear reaction that you can overcome fairly easily by not letting her approach or be approached especially by strangers.
