Hi, I have a 5.5 month red fox american labrador. She exhibits behavior I never seen in a labrador before. I have had 2 english labs in the past and I never seen this behavior. I also have had other breeds from a puppy and never had this issue. 1) Since 8 weeks old she has been somewhat guarding of her food and can be aggressive if she doesn't want to do something. I always made sure to stick my hand in her bowl after she has been eating and scold her no and take away the food if she acts aggressive. She seemed to be doing well but this week she is really aggressive. I gave her a marrow bone and I reached for it after she was chewing on it and she growled and actually bit my finger drawing blood. I immediately scolded her, took away the bone. 2) As a puppy she has always jumped up on people and bites their clothes. We tried various methods of facing our back to her and ignoring her, having her on a leash and ignoring her until she calms down. Now with my wife and I she doesn't jump or bite but with my daughter, who refuses to discipline her, will bite her and jump on her constantly. She will stop if I tell her "no" but will continue when I leave the room. She also jumps on female strangers and visitors and nips at them even if I tell her no. She is 50lbs now and this can be dangerous for people especially elderly people. 3) My old labs needed alot of exercise. So I walk 4 miles a days in the morning and run 3 miles off leash with her at the end of the day so I dont think its an exercise issue. I can run 3 to 4 miles with her and she is not a bit tired after. My other labs use to go home in sleep. 4) With playing my old labs loved fetch and it would wear them out. This lab only like tug of war and shakes the toy in her mouth. If I throw a ball she totally ignores it. I even tried rewarding her with treats if she drops a stuffed animal toy when I throw it but she only wants to play tug of war with it and will not give it up. I would appreciate any advice on how to deal with this aggressiveness. She almost seems untrainable and I am frustrated.
Hi Just on the issue of exercise. You are giving your young lab too much. This is the kennel club recommendation. A good rule of thumb is a ratio of five minutes exercise per month of age (up to twice a day) until the puppyis fully grown, i.e. 15 minutes (up to twice a day) when three months old, 20 minutes when four months old etc. Once they are fully grown, they can go out for much longer. It may be that she needs more down time or more activities that use her brain like scent training.
Good article in resource guarding here : https://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-stop-your-dog-growling-over-food/ Your puppy doesn't sound aggressive to me - just boisterous and probably over tired. Scolding dogs and taking food off them just makes them feel they have to fight harder I think.
