Hi guys,

Had a bad evening last night. Have had probably the best week leading up to last night since we've had our now 9month old Golden Retriever pup, Alfie. He's been off lead for the first time and over the weekend we've really had great fun. He's been playing in the park with children and loads of other dogs and we were really amazed at how submissive he is towards others. Letting children run off with his ball and letting other dogs steal sticks that he had and so on.

Last night he was chewing a bone and a small enough piece to swallow snapped off. I went to pick it up (this has happened many times before so not a new thing) and as I bent down to take it he looked at me and growled. As I picked the bit up and went to stand up he snapped for my hand to get it back. I went and stood in the Kitchen to cool down as he's never even hinted at being like this before. We usually have to take allsorts off him because he's stole them from somewhere, i.e. slippers or clothes. He regularly puts his bones on the fireplace hearth which makes a horrendous noise so we simply take them off him and put them in the middle of the living room on the carpet to keep the noise down. We probably do this 3-4 times per day.

What caused this sudden and unexpected outburst. I was on the sofa with my partner and just got up simply to remove the broken bit and he turned. For me this is very serious and I'm now gravely concerned for his future. Remembering how other dogs and owners/children were picking up balls to throw for him and taking bits off him to throw for him makes me not want to let him off the lead again for fear of him attacking someone. For me, an inexperienced dog owner, a Golden Retriever should not exhibit this behaviour. I didn't correct at the time as simply I was so angry and shocked at the same time I removed myself. I went back 5 minutes later and removed the whole bone from him assertively without a reaction.

Is my dog aggressive and how concerned should I be? My partner thinks it's just a stroppy puppy but at 37kg with big teeth that's not the sort of behaviour he will exhibit in my house, play or not.

Your honest comments are appreciated.

I would'nt panic too much, he is just trying to stamp his authority. Have you had him castrated? An entire dog is likely to be far more dominent and less willing to please than one that has been castrated. Have you taught him to leave? I would be doing lots of work that put's you in control, for example: practice sit's, waits, recalls but especially practice leave, if you tell him to leave and he then allows you to take it (slippers, toys, or even his dinner) you then reward with a treat. He will still get the praise and so you make it worth his while in doing what you ask but he is living by your rules and is doing as you ask. The main thing is do not let him think he can intimidate you, if he grumble's at you and you let him keep something you are simply reinforcing that you find that acceptable behaviour. If you have a crate and he shows any unacceptable behaviour I would also put him back in the crate. Simple things like making him sit and you going through a door before him, or sitting for his food, make him work a little bit harder for his praise or treats so he respects you a bit more. Don't give up on him, he is just pushing the boundaries (just like my 5yr old son lol) and personally if he is not castrated I would get him done. If you are in need of guidance you can contact a behaviourist to help you, if you are not sure where to go try APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers)
Good luck

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Life is short, live it to the full

2 pets:
Bomber - DDB x Neopolitan Mastiff
Sooty - Cat

I had this issue with Oscar and he has NEVER reacted out in public.

It tends to be very high value items that sets this behaviour off. Basically he is resource guarding.

Over the next few days re introduce a bone but don't let him have it. Hold one end of it while he chews on the other then remove the bone after 10 minutes or so.

Progress to allowing him to have the bone and while he is eating it give him chhicken (or something really tasty) to desensitise him to your presence.

Do you have kids ????

I think you have to accept that some dogs need to have space when they eat and ultimately that should be given once you think he is happier.

Teach the "leave" command to re establish control over items.

Ensure all "resources" are in your control, toys off floor in a box etc and you decide when he can have them.

Watch his body language, study how he reacts around these high value items. You should start to see definate body language that he is uncomfortable.

If the growling persists you need to get ahead of this and give him a warning (a low no or ah ah) BEFORE he growls or snaps by watching his body language. Let him know you know exactly what he is thinking and it's not
allowed.

If this continues once you have tried the above you will need to get a behaviourist to asses the behaviour.

Oscar is absolutely fine now and we appear to have worked through it so it is possible but it needs nipping in the bud ASAP.

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"I am not perfect and i don't have to be, before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean" - Bob Marley

https://sites.google.com/site/blisschalet/

To be fair, he did intimidate me, I can't help that.

It's now got me questioning him and whether we should keep him or not if he's aggressive. We've done the best we can with him and everyone we've ever consulted tends to laugh at us for worrying. It's me he seems to have the biggest issues with.

Is this aggressive behaviour, is it serious, is it a concern? I marched back and took his bone away from him after he did it, I was just so stunned. He didn't mark the skin he barely touched me it's just the action that concerns me.

We have a local APDT registered trainer coming to see us on 20th October but she doesn't know about this yet as she was coming to address other behaviour issues and to give us some guidance. As you can tell we're doing our best but with what I deem as probably the most soppy and docile breed we're having problems, is it us or the dog?

He sits, stays, waits and most importantly leaves brilliantly. Before EVERY meal without fail he is made to sit and made to wait without touching for 20-30secs, when we then tell him it's OK to eat his meal. He never walks through doors first and ANYTHING he gets he is forced to sit and wait for else he doesn't get it...

Then he goes and does this?

Believe me if he has been going for you he would have marked the skin He was warning you off which in itself isn't allowed but not the same as an attack.

Only you can answer the questions you ask about him. Given his age and the fact you are getting help iy is unlikely to develop into aggression.

I asked myself all these questions with oscar and i have children and the guarding was levelled at my 5 year old

All i can say is i am glad i worked through it, it was relatively easy to resolve (compared to getting the little bugger to walk to heel or recall ) and we now have the most amazing little chap (he had no other issues though).

I trust him as much as any dog with my kids but i am careful like i would be with any dog.

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"I am not perfect and i don't have to be, before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean" - Bob Marley

https://sites.google.com/site/blisschalet/

Yes and No,

It changed my perception of him. All his little issues are being looked at by a behaviourist mainly because of his size, little problems become that much bigger when you've got a 37kg lump bouncing around as oppose to a Chihuaha. That said, I can't trust him as far as I'd throw him after that.

It's different to anything he's ever done before, everything else annoying as it may seem has been playful and boisterous play, this seemed different. I can't help but think he meant it and wanted to hurt me and I don't want a dog that does that. Me and my partner don't have children but we're 22 and it's something that will be considered in the upcoming years.

How can I trust a dog that does that with the possible arrival of children in years to come?

One snap does not make your dog aggresive and does not mean you should get rid of him.

Bones are a very high value item to dogs and all he was doing was warnng you to leave his posession alone, you ignored him so he reacted. But wheny ou marched back in, you obviously had confidence about you so he hade no move.

I agree with the advice above about introducing a bone but holding onto it.
The 'leave' command is a very useful one, so work on that with various items.

ps When I give my dogs a bone, they have it in their crates and are left alone to enjy it in peace. (also I don't want that all over my floor!) if I want them out of thei crates for any reason while they have a bone they are asked to leave it an the crate is locke to stop them bringing it out or stealing the other ones bone.

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But one snap is a lead to further snaps.

If he's done it once the ability is there to do it again. Perhaps I'm obsessing over this but hes a big dog and he'll do a lot of damage if he ever wanted to, my overriding concern is that he is now getting the feel for wanting to.

As regards commands, well I feel that's something that gets practised daily. He's been able to sit with digestive biscuits on each paw without touching for 2-3minutes since he was 4 months old. Leave is something he's got hammered.

Why oh why do they do this, is really changes your perception and an animal you trusted I now can't and don't know if I ever will, which will affect my relationship with him.

I really do understand. I remember the feeling of shock.

To be honest it is likely to happen again while he tests the waters and you tell him it's not on.

As i said Oscar has shown no other signs of aggression outside of the guarding and i would have expected you to have had it sorted by the time children arrived.

I am a childminder and i now have no issue with Oscar round the children supervised but i would be careful with ANY dog because dogs are dogs and are unpredictable.

Seriously though only you can decide if you can give him a chance to resolve this. I would seriously step back and think though. One snap really doesn't mean he is aggressive.

Dogs need to be taught what we expect of them, they don't come pre programmed. He needs to be taught that he is not allowed to guard just the same as teaching him to sit, heel, recall etc.

In his own family if somone had gone for his bone he would have been allowed to react like he did especially as he is maturing now.

__________________


"I am not perfect and i don't have to be, before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean" - Bob Marley

https://sites.google.com/site/blisschalet/

All my puppy Goldies have tried this on at some point during maturing, if you do not allow it to escalate, it shouldn't impact on the rest of his life.
This is just a reaction rather than a temperament issue normally.
You did exactly the right thing by taking the bone away,but it would probably be best to give it back fairly quickly if it ever happens again, otherwise you will be making the bone even more precious