I have a Red Fox Lab that I have had as a puppy. She is now a year and a half. I have had many labs before and she has been the most challenging to train. She had food aggression which I worked hard on and she is okay now with dry and wet food now. I use to give my other labs marrow bones but I never give this dog bones because she will bite (drawing blood) and growl at you if you take them away. If she does something bad and I scold her, she will show her teeth to me and growl. The issue I am having with her now, is she is growling at my kids and me if we touch her while she is sleeping. I scold her and make her go to her mud room bed but that doesn't seem to solve the situation. She is a good dog except for her aggression. She is actually really whimpy around all other dogs and usually runs away from other dogs when they come near regardless of their size. People with pugs and shit-zus laugh when a 95lb lab runs away scared from their dog. She gets along well with cats. I bought this dog at 12 weeks and no one has ever hit her or been aggressive to her. When she is aggressive to people, I usually scold her and send her to her mud room bed. If the incident happens close to a meal time, I will hold off the food for a couple hours. I welcome advice on how to deal with aggression. To repeat, if I scold her with my voice besides doing a simple "no" she will growl at me and show her teeth.
Hi Trying to dominate your dog by scolding it and punishing it by withholding food isn’t the way to go and you are probably making the situation worse. Have a look at this article from the main site. Hope it helps. https://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-stop-your-dog-growling-over-food/
Scolding is not working. And I can't see how it could because it does not tell the dog what you want her to do. If I were you. I would seek the services of a force free/positive reinforcement behaviourist.
I talked to my daughter yesterday and I guess the dog at night has been taking over more and more of her bed. She said lately the dog has been growling if she tried to move the dog. I am pretty sure that thats the issue. Its more her behavior than the dogs. I am a firm believer of the pack theory of dog training. That doesnt mean I believe in physical dominance but I strongly believe the dog needs to know its place in the family/pack. I couldnt imagine training any dog if I could not say "no" or "go to your bed"
"Go to bed" is fine. Bed is better. Dogs don't understand English grammar. The cue tells the dog what you want the dog to do. When the dog does it then you can reward the dog. Bingo. If you reinforce the behaviour, then you will get more of that behaviour. No is so extraordinarily vague that it's pretty pointless for dog training. Imagine the situation from the dog's perspective. Does No mean stop doing X. Or No, stop sitting/standing. Or does it mean stop being in the room. Or does it means stop looking to the left. To the Right. The dog does not know what you want her to do. Instead tell the dog what you would like it to do. And reward the dog when she complies. In doing so, you are being a clear leader. But leadership here has nothing to do with being the leader of the pack. Most dog trainers have abandoned the misguided notion of the pack theory of dog training. It was based on an erroneous study of wolves in captivity. I would avoid the problem by cueing and rewarding the dog for sleeping on her own bed.
