I have a lovely 7 months old black lab. Super family pet. However just recently we have noticed some "Aggressive" behaviour. I know this word can be used too much out of context but as a first time dog owner I need some advice. A few times when my yoing boys try to retrieve a football she is playing with or chewing she has snarled at them. And perhaps gone to nip or bite. She does not do that at all when in the same situation to me or my wife. On the other occassion when walking at the park or beach she has barked or growled at an adult or child. Once again it's hard to determine if it's aggression. She is generally very well natured. Could this just be a passing phase ? She rarely barks too. All help really appreciated. Thanks Tony
Hi there @Tony Adams and welcome to the forum. Although It's not possible to say for certain what is definitely going on but it sounds very much as though your pup is resource guarding toys with your children. Dogs have several stages of warning which starts with a body freeze, the head if resource guarding is often over the item, if this signal is ignored the dog will growl, then snap and finally if all other signals have been ignored will bite to get the human, other dog etc to move away. Best advice is find a good positive, reward based, force free trainer/behaviourist who will assess the behaviour and begin a behaviour modification programme with you and your family. The best book that covers resource guarding and it's modification is 'Mine' by Jean Donaldson which may help you but with the behaviour directed at children and not at adults I would definitely consult a professional to ensure no signals are being missed. The growling at adults and children when out in different places sounds like fear based reactivity - most of what is labeled as 'aggression' is a fearful dog growling/barking/lungeing at the cause of their fear to stay away. Again a professional can help modify this behaviour and there are several ways or combinations of methods for approaching the problem.
Thank you for your reply. Most helpful. This has only started recently. The barking is random and doesn't happen all the time. But it is embarassing! Our dog has been integrated with children from the start. School pick ups etc. Never been a problem. The growling only seems to happen with the football. This is the most concerning aspect. Could it be sibling rivallary with my children?
I agree, hard to tell if it’s over stimulation and excitement or early stages of resource guarding. Dogs will sometimes extend the guarding to a person or “spot”. It’s nearly impossible to say what’s actually happening by your description but as Jojo says, a reputable behaviourist would be your best bet. If you think it’s becoming a possible danger you can in the meantime eliminate any triggers that cause the behaviour. Good luck.
No, rest assured It's not sibling rivalry. It relates to the possession of the ball so as @Johnny Walker says until you have a professional assessment remove the triggers (balls/footballs) and ensure that no-one attempts to just take anything away from you pup. Even a well socialised puppy can become reactive to people or objects - it just means that possibly something happened at some point in time which your pup wasn't happy with so now tries to keep the 'scary thing' away.
Hi and welcome to the forum. Imagine this, you are having a fantastic game of football, you run into the box and are just about to shoot and score the winning goal when ... someone runs onto the pitch and takes the ball away!! How do you feel? I'm not condoning your pup's behaviour but I do think, if you look at it from his perspective, there is a trigger. As the others have said, you may need the help of a behaviourist to move forward with the pup's training in this area. In the meantime, I think it would be helpful if you explained the situation to your children and asked them not to take the ball when the pup is playing with it - this will stop the unwanted behaviour from being repeated.
Thanks for the posts and advice. She is adorable and the snarling is completely out of character. That's what's strange. However I understand the comments above and they make sense. Ball removed and we will see how things progress. Nothing else seems to be an issue. She plays well with my kids and socialises very well with other dogs.
Good morning @Tony Adams. I was thinking about your situation this morning and wondering what your pups body language is saying when you hear her snarl, this would tell you how she is feeling about it all. Does she have her front legs down and out in front and butt up in the air with her ears forward and eyes looking big and up at the kids or is she going stiff and head down looking ahead or downwards? Might be that she’s trying to engage the kids in a game of harmless tug if it’s the former. That’s a playful posture. The stiff position says back off.... mine.
Snarling is a totally normal canine communication and is usually part of the warning escalation if other signals gave been ignored. Snarling can also be part of play - there is no real way of knowing unless the behaviour is seen in context with a full view of body language etc.
