Hi, my 7 month lab has started jumping up and trying to bite my husband when they are in the yard and will approach him while he is sitting on the couch and snap at him instantly or after a few seconds while he pets hers. We have been advised to take her calmly by her collar to the ground until she settles (usually a few seconds). Otherwise trying to get her indoors or to her crate can be difficult. She sometimes plays dead so we generally leave her until she gets up. Other times we attach her leash to the door handle until she settles down. She is mostly this way with my husband (the most loving and laid back) but over Christmas she was "snippy" with some our visitors, some more than others. No rhyme or reason. We've tried holding her, crating, door handle, ignoring her, redirecting, giving her treats for good behaviour... We anticipate the behaviour (and advise others) so she hasn't actually "connected" in a while but we feel she will at some point. She rarely snips at me and even if she brings her teeth in my direction while petting, I either say no or remove myself from her vicinity. Unfortunately this does not always work with others. Suggestions?
Hi and welcome . Can I suggest you take a look at the pinned articles at the top of this section , on Behaviour and Problems ? You should find some useful information here . I don't know who has advised you to take her by the collar and hold her to the ground but truly, this is totally the wrong approach , its a dominance theory and completely outdated . This approach will only lead to worse behaviour from your puppy , so please go down the route of positive training methods as much as possible . She is still just a puppy, and finding her feet , training is the key here as not only is it good for the dog to learn boundaries , but it really does help to build a great bond between owner and dog ! Have a good read of the articles and maybe also purchase The Happy Puppy Handbook by Pippa ( owner and editor of this site ) it really will help such a lot , good luck !
Yup, gotta agree with Kate, pinning the dog to the floor is a bad idea. You may have actually used a good solution but did not realize it would take patience. You said you would say no or remove yourself. A lot of the other things you did may have reinforced her behavior, but it is virtually guaranteed that removing yourself (see this as ceasing participating) will get results, maybe not as fast as you like, but it will work. The reason I say this is because these dogs want to please. Now, if your dog is not getting enough exercise/mental stimulation you will be fighting an uphill battle. So, my advice is to make sure she is getting enough good exercise and stimulate her brain (challenge her, have her find things for you like her favorite toys or your OH) You might find this behavior will become less frequent and when you disengage completely she will learn there is no "reward". Here is an interesting thing, some people feel that owners should not play "tug" with their dogs. Murphy will play it at only one time during the day, in the evening. He gets a hold of his favorite blanket and will shake it furiously and pull. These are very short, repeated episodes as we play. Couple of shakes and he is ready to have it tossed somewhere again. When Murphy the "scoundrel" comes out (he nabs a sock and parades around with it) he does not play tug with it. We ask him to have a seat and then ask him to give it to us. He does. I am not sure why some feel it is not a good thing to do? Possibly they view it as being too "violent". Anyway, I do not want to start an argument about whether it is a good thing to play tug or not!
Oh, one other thing, you might want to see what your hubbies behavior is in the yard with his arms. If he is doing what a lot of folks do with dogs, that being holding a toy low and then teasing the dog by lifting it up in the air he is encouraging the dog to jump. Pretty simple, dog wants the ball, the ball gets raised in the air, what are rear legs for anyhow? Answer: jumping! It can also cause them to be frustrated, now the teeth will come more into play, the dog wants the ball. We use a "chuckit" and pick the ball off the ground with it and Murphy knows that the very next to happen will be a throw, so he gets ready for that. It removes the whole arm going up in the air problem. It might be fun to watch them get all excited as you hold the ball in the air but it is not a good idea. Edit: Sorry about that Hubbies! I am sure you only have one hubby. LOL
Thank you for your reply’s. This behaviour is very recent and snapping at visitors just a few days ago. My dog will be a future dog guide and as this behavior is newly escalated we haven’t reached out to them as they are closed for the week. We have seen the dog guide trainers use the hold technique. We do not play fetch nor do we play tug of war as this is discouraged. We do not “pin” her to the ground. We hold her at arms length to avoid being bitten. I saw posts to step on leash but very difficult to do so quickly and she doesn’t usually have one in yard or indoors most times. We do tons of positive reinforcement. She generally is great. I can see him/her from the window and can see no reason for this behavior. He was ignoring her behavior initially but her aggression worsened. Luckily, so far she has not snapped at others on the street or indoors at a mall, etc as we discourage petting (unless we are working on greetings). We will review the posts pinned for ideas and check with the training facility next week. Thanks again.
I don't think she's being aggressive, she's just trying to engage your husband and your visitors in play in the only way she knows how at the moment. I'm sure your training facility will give you helpful direction. What sort of games is she allowed to play?
I would be concerned about her snapping wen being petted. This would suggest that she's not happy with the petting and is saying back off and has escalated to the snap if earlier signals (a body freeze or growl) has received no response. Holding her body to restrain her could make the situation worse . You really need to speak to the guide behaviourist asap.
When outside we do recall for the most part. She stays...then runs to us when called and generally gets a good treat. She plays with a ball and often runs with it. We have a detailed listing of games to play. As for blowing off steam, sometimes we feel that when she is over tired, that is when she can get manic running circles in the house or in the yard. We used to think this was so cute although now we see that she can beover stimulated (like a toddler) as it can end badly. Yesterday morning my husband took her for a 1/2 hour great walk, they arrived home and he let her run around the yard while he put the garbage bins to the front of the house. Upon returning to the yard (a minute later), walking to the back doors is when she started to jump and snap. This doesn’t happen all the time but when it does, it seems over the top. I will video her behavior for the training specialist.
