Question about a growling dog
Comments (0)Question: We adopted a 1-1/2 year old Shepherd/Labrador mixfrom a pound. He was very friendly with us (my husband and two teenagers ). Recently he is”challenging” visitors by staring, growling at them, and we have to pull him away. He did this with my youngest son once also. This scares out guests. All involved were petting him on the head from a sitting position on our couch at the time. He does not take this stance with myself or hubby or older son. We seem to be pack leaders and are very forceful with our commands. The way we are forceful is speaking in LOUD voices ( not yelling or losing control ) more like a DRILL SGT….kind of voice…like ” Buddy…COME HERE”…Buddy, SIT….Buddy, STAY…etc……..My youngest son is more soft spoken and I think that is the problem.Our youngest son seem intimidated by the new dog, and perhaps this is what the dog felt …fear? Any advice how to handle the dog better around strangers? I like company, and don’t want to have to lock him up all the time!
Answer: Thanks for the question. There are a couple of ideas I wish to impress upon you that I think could be helpful.
1- I always teach my clients to NOT use strong, loud voices with their dogs. Why? What happens is that the dog’s obedience becomes dependent on your emotion. It also means that the dog is only obedient to those who are capable of speaking in such a tone. Obviously these are very limiting factors. I, for one, don’t want my dog to obey because I have to shout or say things very gruffly. I want my dog to obey because he respects me and understands the commands I have taught him.
2- You aren’t the pack leader over your dog. No one is the pack leader over their dog. Your dog doesn’t live in a pack. Your dog lives in your family. I always encourage people to not use the term ‘pack leader’. I know it is just a phrase but what it tends to foment is this idea that we have to be very ‘canine’ in how we communicate. Understand, your dog doesn’t believe for one second that you are tall, upright, sparsely furred dogs. He knows that you are a different species. Having a well trained dog means training your dog to fit into your family, not becoming an ‘Alpha Dog’ or a ‘Pack Leader’.
My experience in seeing those who want to be a ‘Pack Leader’ is that they are prone to performing behaviors that are mistakenly believed to be what canine pack leaders do. These behaviors include speaking in rough tones, staring down a dog, flipping a dog on his back, even biting a dog on the neck, etc. These are all things that humans don’t need to do and are counter-productive to training goals. Train your dog to fit in with your goals and don’t be a dog in how you communicate.
In order to solve your problem I have two recommendations:
1- You need obedience training. This is how you gain trust and respect from your dog, not from raised voices. The more he listens to your commands that are said in a calm and normal tone the more respect you will get from the dog.
2- If this behavior only happens while your guests are sitting on the couch the solution is easy. Have him lie down and stay on the other side of the room. If he is 10 feet away it is impossible for him to growl while getting pet on the head.
Aggressive Dogs
Comments (1)Aggressive dogs sure get a lot of attention. The media covers them. Bloggers write about them. Television shows attempt to teach you how to fix them. I tend to hear two prevailing schools of thought when it comes to dog aggression:
1- Certain breeds of dogs are just aggressive. If you have a Pit Bull or a Rottweiler or a Doberman you have your work cut out because they are genetically fierce and vicious.
2- Only bad owners have aggressive dogs. Dogs like Pit Bulls and Rottweilers only become aggressive if they are the product of neglectful or abusive owners or owners who train them to fight.
Who is right? If this were a competition it would be tough to determine who was more wrong. Let me debunk both of these schools of thought.
1- Myth number one, certain breeds are aggressive. This just isn’t true. Breeds such as Pit Bulls often get a bad wrap. Pit Bulls, as one example, have a reputation in the dog world for being one of the most patient and loving dog breeds. In generations past they were referred to as ‘Nanny Dogs’ for their tender ability with kids. They are legendary for being tolerant of kids and adults alike.
Do Pit Bulls, along with Rottweilers, Dobermans, and other breeds attack humans at times? Absolutely. As do Poodles, Labradors, Jack Russell Terriers, and Golden Retrievers. The media loves to report when certain breeds attack but is this indicative of bite propensity? I think not. In my Salt Lake City dog training business I get several people a week calling me with aggressive dogs. How many of them are owners of Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, and Dobermans? Some, but very few. For every aggressive Pit Bull client I get three aggressive Labrador clients. For every Rottweiler that has bitten I get four Chihuahuas that are chronic attackers. Does that mean that I’m about to declare a state of emergency against Labradors and Chihuahuas? Nope. It does speak volumes, however, to breed based stereotypes.
2- Myth number two, dogs are aggressive when they are abused or trained to fight. This is ridiculous. That’s like saying that the only kids getting into fights in the school yard are the ones who get beat at home. Even good parents get kids who do wrong things.
The same is true for dog owners. As I mentioned before I deal with a lot of aggressive dogs. Probably three or four a week. Never once have I come across an owner who needed to fix an aggressive dog because they trained him to be aggressive. Not even one time have I been called by an owner who is neglectful and abusive. Those types of people aren’t going to be paying a dog trainer. These are all dogs that come from owners who have done their best. Their owners really have tried to raise a well adjusted dog. Saying that aggressive dogs only come from abusive owners is an ignorant comment and insulting to thousands of dog owners across the nation who are doing their best.
So is it the breed or the owner that causes an aggressive dog? The answer may lie partially in both areas or neither. An aggressive dog is simply a dog that needs more training.
Dog Training Video
Comments (1)Just a quick video to show how much dogs can improve in a short time with the right methods. These Labradors have been in training for about two weeks at the shooting of this video. Before training they couldn’t even walk on a loose leash let alone follow along off leash.
