Hi, my 1-yr old labrador started to become aggressive with me on walks about 2-3 months ago in very specific situations: - If I try to practice recall, he stays still until the command but instead of coming to me and stopping, he runs past me and gets into some kind of zoomies. If I calmly catch up to him and try to regain control of the leash and ask him to stay, he snaps/bites me. He jumps on me and snaps, tries to bite my legs... My nails have bled 4 times already because of him. - If he suddenly decides to lay down during the walk and I ask him to keep moving, I gently try to raise his belly up, and he snaps again, just like in the situation above. What troubles me a lot is that he is totally unrecognizable during these episodes. I can see fury in his eyes, he seems to respond to his natural instinct and will not listen to anything. Looking more like a wolf than a dog. We trained together with his trainer from 3 months old until 9 months old. No issues. He knows well and learns quickly. At home, if I do the exact same commands and games than outside, he obeys perfectly. Even if I do it 30 min after the issues. I already checked with the vet and he is healthy. He has never been aggressive towards other dogs/humans. Please let me know if you have ever experienced something similar and what you think. Thank you in advancd!
When you say "we trained together with his trainer from 3 months old until 9 months old", how did you train with this trainer? What methods or equipment were used, to train the recall? How were these behaviours (recall) trained in the first place?
It was a Petco with a traider that I think is great: positive reinforcements, treats, games. No clicker, no e-collar, no violence towards him. We worked on recall within the store many times and he did well. He did not run away, he did not jump on me, he patiently waited until i called him and stopped right at my feet. He still does this perfectly at home today.
Hmm, in that case it is hard to tell, from your description, what is happening - words are very difficult to capture behaviour with, sometimes. And the advice would vary quite a bit, depending on the emotional state which is behind the behaviour. Owners often label things 'aggression' when they (from the dog's perspective) are actually intense and misappropriate play. When you describe the recall, for example, and the dog running around doing zoomies and then the jumping on you and snapping at you - to me (reading between the lines) that is far more an over-excited dog, trying to play with you as if you are another dog, and not able to respond to your cues because their head and brain is away in play-fight mode and they are over-aroused. It would be pretty much unheard of for a previously well-adjusted dog, with no sign of reactivity before, to suddenly become aggressive to their owner in the context of a recall exercise(!)... It may feel and be experienced as 'aggressive' to you, because you have a large high-energy dog mouthing and jumping on you - but that doesn't mean the dog's intention is to be aggressive or reactive, and it's that which we use when we discuss the behaviour - not your experience of it. When practising the recall, it is best not to practise it out of a stay - by the way - because 1) you will destroy your stays if you frequently call a dog out of them and 2) when you need a recall in the real world, you don't need it to work out of a stay... With the lying down on walks, often touching a dog's belly like that, is enough (if you have a high-energy and excitable dog) to send them into a play-fight mode - they may think you are trying to wrestle with them. If I walked up and poked you in the belly, you'd probably think the same thing! Dogs also have quite ticklish spots on their belly, too... So that's one idea. Another way of understanding it, is that he just doesn't like his belly being touched and is sensitive about this area and that it's a handling or socialisation issue. I'm inclined to think the former though. I wouldn't recommend physically trying to pick a dog up if they've decided to lie down on a walk, instead to think about why they are lying down and address that: Are they hot? Tired? In pain? I would try using higher value treats: Whatever treats you are using for the recall, it sounds like the dog is currently finding it more reinforcing to run zoomies around you and leap on you, than to at least show interest and motivation in your food. You need to be using things like frankfurters, cheddar, - high value food reinforcers - when you are off your property. HTH
Hi there, and welcome to the forum . Just to add to what Jo said, it sounds as though you might be hoping that your dog will respond in the same way outdoors as he does in the 'store' - I'm guessing this is an indoor training area? Whereas, when you take your training exercises outdoors, where there are lots of distractions, you need to make everything much easier to begin with, and as Jo says, make your rewards much better
Thank you both for your answers. We also trained outside and he was doing totally fine until about 3 months ago. My guess now is that as you said, he is too excited as he is growing up so we are working on that!
If this is happening due to excitement, I would suggest thinking about how you are delivering your treats. For example, if you recall your dog and, just as they approach you (not too early), you throw a chunk of cheddar behind/past you, as the reinforcement - the dog is going to run past you and go eat that cheddar. I can guarantee it. Rolling treats for a delivery, takes the dog's focus off you, and also gives them something to chase and an outlet for that instinct. Second, if this is happening due to excitement, your dog would probably love a good game of tug instead of mouthing your arm. If you can get the dog to tug instead of mouth your arm at these times, then you can use the tug as a reinforcer - "Sit">click>tug game, for example. All this will teach the dog that reinforcement is contingent on their behaviour and not something they can just help themselves to - it's better to earn it from you than leap all over you in this way....
