My two year old yellow lab Duke has been getting aggressive when he doesn't want to listen for the past six months or maybe longer. For example, if we try to move him off the bed at night he will growl and snap (if we tell him to get off the bed, he just ignores us and if we try to physically move him off the bed, that's when he snaps and growls- very afraid of being bitten, that's how aggressive he gets). He'll also do it if he's getting into something and doesn't want to come to where we are- he'll just stare at us/ignore us when we tell him to come and if we move towards him at all he gets tense. In those cases, he'll usually end up moving once we get over to him but he does look like he could snap at us at any second. Any ideas on what we can do? I know he KNOWS what these commands are, because if there's food involved he will do it in a heartbeat (he's incredibly food driven, which is kind of a pain because he doesn't want to do anything without a treat reward).
Duke is not being aggressive. He is asking you in the only way he knows not to man handle him off the bed. There he is, nice and comfy and you come and physically start moving him off. If you were warm and comfy in bed would you be happy if someone came and started pulling you off. Probably not. You are actually very lucky that Duke is still asking you to leave him and back off otherwise he would already have bitten as he is having to escalate his behaviour as You aren't listening to him. Duke is resourcing guarding the bed and my advice would be to get some professional help to resolve the problem and rebuild your relationship with him. Again it sounds as if there is some resource guarding going on as he's potentially showing a freeze and tense body or it could just be his reaction to your voice and body language. Again this really needs the input of a professional who can see and advise. If Duke doesn't respond to a cue it's because his training hasn't been reinforced, reinforced and reinforced in dozens of different situations and environments. If he requires a treat before he does anything you are effectively bribing him not rewarding him. Reward based training allows treats to be phased out while maintaining a schedule of intermittent reinforcement to maintain the behaviour. If a 'learned behaviour slackens off it's because you haven't been rewarding it.
I’m not a behaviourist but I have been reading a lot on resource guarding and what you are describing sounds like that’s exactly what he’s doing. Get yourself a copy of “Mine” by Jean Donaldson, it’s a very informative and quick read.
It may be a relative quick read but the action plan to resolve resourcing guarding isn't a quick fix if completed correctly and regularly maintained thereafter.
My Malamute would guard fresh bones. He bit me once, but only after warning me in no uncertain terms that it was his bone. He only bit enough to make me believe him and back off. Since we did not have any kids and he was in a fenced yard, we just lived with it. He did not guard anything but fresh bones, so we just stayed out of his space when we gave him a new bone. It would not be a good solution for most cases. With our Labs, I could take anything away from them without any concern. If it was food they might eat it before we got it, but they would never bite.
I know, I just wanted to ensure that it was clear that application of methods was not quick as the reading .
