We rescued a stray lab puppy who ran in traffic on a busy street two weeks ago. He is a neutered male, 4-5 mo, and 35 lb. We tried reuniting if possible but realized he'd been dumped. He is very sweet and great with our other dog and all adults. He is learning fast and has already become comfortable obeying the gentle leader, voice and hand signals, etc. The problem is that he shows aggression towards my toddler (18 mo) whenever he is near the bed, dog bowl or a beloved toy/bone. He will lick my son and be gentle sometimes, but other times will be moody and growl. I'm concerned because I've trained enough dogs to know the warning signs before a bite and know this dog missed key socialization that is probably causing anxiety, but my son is just too young to understand the difference in how to play with him compared to the other dog (esp since our other is super docile and very patient with him). I want to know how trainable this behavior is--we're pregnant with our 2nd kid and I just can't risk a bite. Plus, this dog will be huge! I also want to know how to rehome this dog peacefully for him, so he can have a great life.
Hi Boiler and welcome to the forum. Are you definitely wanting to re-home or are you hoping you can manage his behaviour and keep him? Well done for rescuing him from danger in the first place. I'm not great at training tips, but you might be describing resource guarding, or this might just be part of the croco-pup stage. I hope some other member who have worked more recently to overcome this can chip in. It's definitely a worry when you have children around. For starters, I would make sure the pup is fed way away from your toddler, as well as ensuring he has a safe place to go to, such as a crate, when he needs to get away, and make sure your little boy understands that is a No-Go area. Have you read this article on the main site about aggression in puppies? http://www.thelabradorsite.com/help-my-labrador-puppy-is-aggressive/ It might be a good starting point. jac
Hi there, well done for rescuing this puppy from the street. If he is indeed 4-5 months old, then this is hugely unlikely to be aggression to your toddler - most likely it is play, but of course puppies of that age do nip and bite in play, and quite hard too, so it is always a challenge with small children. If it were me, and I were determined to keep him, I would use a baby gate or big crate to create a safe area for the puppy where his bed is, and where he is fed, and where he keeps his beloved toys, and keep your little one out of there. With those points of contention out of the way, they will probably be fine - but I would never, ever leave him, or any other dog, alone with your toddler. However, your son (and unborn baby) have to be your priority, so if you feel the situation is too uncertain, then it would be better to look for a new home for him. But you are giving him a good basis after his horrible start in life (what sort of person dumps a puppy on the street???), so don't feel bad. Your family has to come first.
Thanks for the advice. I love this dog, but I'm just sorting out if we're his forever home before I get too attached to this sweet puppy. He is gated off from my son to take breaks when needed but we don't have a crate (just a doggy area in the kitchen). He does sometimes growl at my son just for petting him. For example, the dog came up and curled up next to him while Sesame Street was on, and my son was properly petting his back very gently. Then after a minute, he snarled at him. I just don't understand why there was a sudden change towards him-I was watching the whole time and it was very appropriate behavior. Other times he comes up to my son with a toy and licks him to play. I want to know what is normal for a lab? I've rehabbed one fear aggressive adult giant Schnauzer and I've seen that behavior, but not from a puppy. I've also noticed very fearful behavior towards very tall white men (hair on back stands up, teeth bared) which I thought was unusual for such a young dog, but it's also evident that the person who dumped him was a tool, so it might be related.
Have you checked out with a vet whether there might be a physical reason? It sounds a little bit as if he might be hurting somewhere - if petting his back was in some way causing pain, that would account for a growl-from-nowhere? Well done for rescuing him, that is such a great thing to have done.
Hi @boiler10 - how wonderfully kind of you to be giving this poor pup a home - -even if it isn't his forever home. The behaviour you have mentioned regarding food, toys and his bed are all 'guarding' issues - he doesn't want any one to come close to what is very important to him at certain times. You've already been taking measures to reduce the risk with your little one but there are training methods you can use to him the pup to overcome his fears that you are going to take away his prized possession, the explanation of which is quite long so won't bore you here - but it is normally curable it is just an investment in time and some tasty treats As @Rosie says, I would also take him to the vet for a check up to rule out any injury etc. which may be causing him pain if he snarled when you little one was stroking gently. It is possible that he may be fearful of tall white men due to an unpleasant experience but again this can be helped with some training, willing tall white men and some tasty treats.
Interesting. I actually never thought of asking the vet, but I'll bring it up at our appointment next week. Are there any sites/books you know of for how to train against resource guarding? He does not resource guard around my husband or I, but definitely does to my toddler son. In fact, the only aggression he ever shows is to the toddler. My husband and I talked it over this morning and we agreed to give the dog up to a new home, but we are keeping him until we can connect him with a suitable family (not giving him to a shelter, but "fostering" until we find someone). I have absolutely no doubt he will be a great family dog, but I'm too nervous that we'll lapse on training and run into more problems around the time the baby is born, when he'll be 8 months old. In the meantime (because it could be several weeks/months), we really need to stop this behavior, and the local behaviorist is $300 (!!!) which just isn't in the cards if we're not going to commit to a forever dog. Can you point me in the direction of any resources or do you have any advice for training techniques?
Here is a good start - it's about food, but the techniques can be extended to other things: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-stop-your-dog-growling-over-food/
