Hi. We have had our lab around 4 months, he has just turned 1, we rehomed him from another family who were unable to care for him due to illness. He currently barks/lunges/growls at visitors to the house although he didn’t do this when we first had him but we obviously haven’t had many people around. It’s mainly my sons friends he does this to so I keep him on a lead when they call to the house and don’t let him into the garden when they’re playing there. He doesn’t do this if we see them when out on a walk. He is fine with my mum and dad who come over regularly. He does on the odd occasion do this to my youngest who is 11, it is quite random, sometimes if he just enters a room or when he is coming down the stairs (we have a stair gate). Other times he is absolutely fine with him. My youngest doesn’t interact with him massively, he’s often out with friends or upstairs in his room. He plays mainly with my eldest 13. What’s the best way to combat this?
I suggest you seek the assistance of a force free dog trainer. Look for a certified BAT trainer. The trainer has to observe your dog and see what is going on. Something is reinforcing the undesirable behaviour. And then recommend a counter-conditioning program.
Hi there!! My 8 month girl is the same. Had her since 8 weeks old. She was always shy but since around 6 months she barks at strangers on walks. And goes crazy when a stranger comes to the door. I'm trying to use treats on walks and hope she grows out of it.
Our 13 month old lab behaves strange with some visitors too. Obviously we haven't had so many people come over lately so I'm a bit anxious about whether we will be able to entertain guests when it's possible again. She's very excited when someone comes over, the whole-body-tail wag and and walking around with something in her mouth. With some people she jumps up and licks their faces. We then try to advice them to ignore that behaviour. It's never threatening in the beginning but there is a nervous energy to it. The problems usually begin when they stay for a while and we sit around the kitchen table. We often give her a bone or something to chew, but when its finished she runs up to the table and continues the nervous behaviour. Especially with people who have loud voices and especially laughs, she just cant ignore them. She gets more nervous when they interact with us with a loud voice, so could it be protective behaviour? Sometimes she ends up jumping up towards our guest and teething their hands, in a way that we must tell her to stop immediately. Sometimes we even have to put a leash on her to better control the situation, or put her to another room. It doesn't always help, especially when ppl are laughing loud she finds it especially alarming and becomes very restless, scratching the door. The strange thing is she doesn't do this with everyone, but certain ppl. I'm anxious about inviting ppl over, especially if they're loud and dominating. Last time she even did this to my mom who was accompanying the loud person. She has taken care of her for days at her house, but doesn't often visit us so it was a different situation.
Growling when visitors arrive is an issue, but excitability and barking (not jumping up on people) is normal dog behavior. Our lab will go nuts when family or others show up at the door and we've learned all they need to do is acknowledge his presence. It's the "I'm the center of the universe" attitude so say hello. Once that's done he's off under the table taking a nap.
