Growling Lab

My 1 year old lab has developed a bad habit that I am seeking advise on.

When I am home she is golden & behaves very well. Probably because I am the one who did all the obediance training with her. I have spent many hours with her training & I execise her for a min of 1hr a day off leash in fields or the bush & she behaves very well & take her rabbitt hunting. She is a champ of a dog in the field.

When I am not home she is a total bratt. She finds something to steal like a sock/pillows/eye glasses/laptops or basically anything she can carry & plays keep away with my wife & daughters. She knows these items are off limits & she clearly knows this gets a rise out of them.

I have taught her the "leave it" command & if I am home I give the command & she drops whatever she has.

When I am not home she will stand her ground & growls @ the girls. She eventually gives up & drops it but I am afraid she will bite one of these times when they go to grab the item.

She is a smart cookie & knows when I am not around.

Has any-one ever experianced this before & what did you do?

It sounds like a classic power struggle. She recognizes you as being the alpha, and of course will behave for you, but being female, she's actually trying to compete with the other females in the home to determine who's dominant.

My wife had the same issue a few years ago with a pointer I had. Part of this training is ensure that when you're home, your wife and daughters spend time training her ( not just you). She needs to understand that they are going to be higher than her in pecking order. This includes making sure that if she is to receive discipline, that they deal it out with you present, so she understands that this is your will as well.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bluebulldog

It sounds like a classic power struggle. She recognizes you as being the alpha, and of course will behave for you, but being female, she's actually trying to compete with the other females in the home to determine who's dominant.

My wife had the same issue a few years ago with a pointer I had. Part of this training is ensure that when you're home, your wife and daughters spend time training her ( not just you). She needs to understand that they are going to be higher than her in pecking order. This includes making sure that if she is to receive discipline, that they deal it out with you present, so she understands that this is your will as well.

---

What he said ^^^

Your dog is at the age where it is trying to establish dominance and typically children and sometimes wives aren't as alpha as you. I would buy an e'collar and have it wear it and anytime it shows any type of attempt at dominance or growls ZAP it hard. You need to break this habit immediately.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by terrym

What he said ^^^

Your dog is at the age where it is trying to establish dominance and typically children and sometimes wives aren't as alpha as you. I would buy an e'collar and have it wear it and anytime it shows any type of attempt at dominance or growls ZAP it hard. You need to break this habit immediately.

---

...I didn't want to mention the e-collar, but using that, as well as making my wife actually physically push the dog onto the ground and hold her neck actually breaks it pretty darn quick.

My golden has been growling at my daughter who has been rough housing the dog since they were both babies. It really worried me in the beginning and I tried to train it out of her by having my daughter be dominate in my presence and correcting both of them along the way. This was to no avail. It turns out its just how my dog likes to play. 8 years on, and the dog has never bitten my 10 year old daughter, but still growls when they play. Of course there has been incidents where they were both reaching for a ball or when pulling on a toy and the dog tries to re-grip. These have only been little scuffs or abrasions on my daughters fingers all done by mistake on the dogs part, and carelessness on my daughters part.

Be careful and don't assume you can trust your dog as I do mine, make sure the dog knows who's boss.

I use to have my daughter feed the dog, and interrupt the dogs meal by taking away the food, a lot in the beginning, and occasionally throughout the years, just to be sure all is good.

Good Luck!

MC

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mastercaster

My golden has been growling at my daughter who has been rough housing the dog since they were both babies. It really worried me in the beginning and I tried to train it out of her by having my daughter be dominate in my presence and correcting both of them along the way. This was to no avail. It turns out its just how my dog likes to play. 8 years on, and the dog has never bitten my 10 year old daughter, but still growls when they play. Of course there has been incidents where they were both reaching for a ball or when pulling on a toy and the dog tries to re-grip. These have only been little scuffs or abrasions on my daughters fingers all done by mistake on the dogs part, and carelessness on my daughters part.

Be careful and don't assume you can trust your dog as I do mine, make sure the dog knows who's boss.

I use to have my daughter feed the dog, and interrupt the dogs meal by taking away the food, a lot in the beginning, and occasionally throughout the years, just to be sure all is good.

Good Luck!

MC

---

I agree with what you are saying. There is playful growling and agressive growling. My dog will growl with me when roughhousing but it isn't an aggressive move at all. But if that is not the case with this lab then it's a big problem. My dog will grab his chew toy bring it to me with tail wagging and growl. That is him saying "I'm bored, bring it on" and then we have at it.

Try looking into a good positive reinforcement training club or ask for some advice from a real trainer. Some of advice being offered here is just downright scary to say the least.

Involving your family in the training sounds like a good idea, but based on your description, it sounds like the dog doesn’t follow their commands. I doubt that training her when you are around will change that; i.e. dog will look at you and you have to confirm the command before he will obey (to you). Therefore, you would have your family train the dog without you – and depending on what they do, it may change how the dog reacts to your commands in the field.
The e-collar is a good back up plan. However, again if the dog doesn’t follow the command because of the pecking order there is some limitation and a risk that it's use could be counterproductive to your training. Although, good for the back pocket, not the primary solution IMHO. Additionally, the e-collar raises the whole question of how you dicipline your dog. Not getting into this here...
On the other hand, you can’t go wrong with food. Let only the ladies feed the dog! Make sure that the dog realizes who is feeding him (not you). Not a fast solution by any means, but easy & fool proof.
Perhaps, combine all three and stop #1 and #2 if anything appears to be just slightly off when you are with her.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bluebulldog

It sounds like a classic power struggle. She recognizes you as being the alpha, and of course will behave for you, but being female, she's actually trying to compete with the other females in the home to determine who's dominant.

My wife had the same issue a few years ago with a pointer I had. Part of this training is ensure that when you're home, your wife and daughters spend time training her ( not just you). She needs to understand that they are going to be higher than her in pecking order. This includes making sure that if she is to receive discipline, that they deal it out with you present, so she understands that this is your will as well.

---

Good advice... Another thing you could try to rearrange the pecking order is skip feeding the dog for a couple of days and then have your wife or daughter take over feeding the dog - then feed him a bit less than he's used to for a few weeks so he learns to appreciate who's providing the food for him.

The food suggestion worked in our household. The dog wanted to dominate the two teens but once they started serving the dish, making him sit and stay, shaking a paw, etc. before he was allowed to touch his food resolved the situation. He soon realized he better behave with them or else it was going to be an empty and "growling" stomach.....lol