Golden Retriever puppy
Discussion
Hi everyone please be gentle on me here I am a novice dog owner and Diane my wife and I have taken on a dog for the first time.
Brinkley is now 18 weeks and a lovely dog except he seems to becoming a little aggressive.He bit me last night drawing blood whilst trying to take a chew off him whilst we had a dog trainer here,and he has been mildly aggressive when you try to put on his lead.
we have read books spoken to owners and trainers and seem to have nothing resolved and a shed load of contradictory advice.He will sit go down and stay and is house trained all reasonably well.
Brinkley has always mouthed your hand but only playing but sometimes the play turned a bit too much so we were put onto a dog trainer who came to the house.She did an assortment of things and gave advice but the he snapped at her when trying to take this chew and then he did me.I tried again this morning and the same nastiness but I had him on his lead to prevent a bite.
It has shaken my confidence in him and my wife is now slightly scared.
So what do you do? we are considering giving up mostly because we feel like we are useless at this and poor old Brinkley deserves better parenting I just wondered if anyone has an insight into this.
john
Brinkley is now 18 weeks and a lovely dog except he seems to becoming a little aggressive.He bit me last night drawing blood whilst trying to take a chew off him whilst we had a dog trainer here,and he has been mildly aggressive when you try to put on his lead.
we have read books spoken to owners and trainers and seem to have nothing resolved and a shed load of contradictory advice.He will sit go down and stay and is house trained all reasonably well.
Brinkley has always mouthed your hand but only playing but sometimes the play turned a bit too much so we were put onto a dog trainer who came to the house.She did an assortment of things and gave advice but the he snapped at her when trying to take this chew and then he did me.I tried again this morning and the same nastiness but I had him on his lead to prevent a bite.
It has shaken my confidence in him and my wife is now slightly scared.
So what do you do? we are considering giving up mostly because we feel like we are useless at this and poor old Brinkley deserves better parenting I just wondered if anyone has an insight into this.
john
Edited by apotek on Sunday 25th March 09:08
For a start - dont show any fear (to an 18 week old puppy?)
Im not an expert, but Im sure others will be along to advise better than I can, but you need to get on top of this situation now.
Are you sure it is aggression and not over excitement ? Puppy teeth are like tiny needles and will easily puncture skin?
Im not an expert, but Im sure others will be along to advise better than I can, but you need to get on top of this situation now.
Are you sure it is aggression and not over excitement ? Puppy teeth are like tiny needles and will easily puncture skin?
I'd invest in a dog behaviourist rather than a trainer.
Taking chews off some dogs is just a no go area.
Did you stop the play biting when it was happening?
Hopefully Nick or Mrs G will see this and offer good advice.
Whilst you don't want to show fear, he may only be young but can still cause a lot of damage.
Be careful not to take all advice from here as some will be very wrong and very detrimental to your pups future behaviour.
I'm off too work so sorry can't give more help right now.
Taking chews off some dogs is just a no go area.
Did you stop the play biting when it was happening?
Hopefully Nick or Mrs G will see this and offer good advice.
Whilst you don't want to show fear, he may only be young but can still cause a lot of damage.
Be careful not to take all advice from here as some will be very wrong and very detrimental to your pups future behaviour.
I'm off too work so sorry can't give more help right now.
well im no expert either but have done work with golden retrievers as a volunteer for guide dogs, and we are given set ways to respond to all issues. so I will tell you how Guide dogs teach us to deal with things!
what we did to teach the pups how to "leave" was use a toy and play with them so they had it and wanted to keep hold of it, and then get a treat and offer the trade with the "leave" command. when he drops the toy he gets the treat, and after lots of practice (take ten minutes a couple of times a day and a handful of small treats) he will soon learn all he has to do is leave the toy/chew etc and he gets something more exciting, a treat! or alternativly lots of praise and fuss! do this for a few weeks/months and use this to take anything off him, after a while he will have learned the commans and not need the treats... if you put the time into training him the command this should work!
im thinking this command may work as he is giving it up of his own will and not having it taken against his will and so may stop the aggression?
aww don't give up! clear commands and consistancy you will get there!! 18 weeks if still young!! we have the guide dog pups from 6 weeks to around 13 months, so with us for the first year living in our homes and its amazing how they seem to come on leaps and bounds all of a sudden!
apotek said:
Brinkley has always mouthed your hand but only playing but sometimes the play turned a bit too much so we were put onto a dog trainer who came to the house
Ok guide dogs do not allow mouthing at all, and we are taught that when the pups start to mouth you simnply take your hand away and put one of his toys in his mouth instead, of course they are allowed to chew, just the correct things and not you! apotek said:
She did an assortment of things and gave advice but the he snapped at her when trying to take this chew and then he did me.I tried again this morning and the same nastiness but I had him on his lead to prevent a bite.
have you taught him to "leave" ? this would be very helpful, (or "drop it")what we did to teach the pups how to "leave" was use a toy and play with them so they had it and wanted to keep hold of it, and then get a treat and offer the trade with the "leave" command. when he drops the toy he gets the treat, and after lots of practice (take ten minutes a couple of times a day and a handful of small treats) he will soon learn all he has to do is leave the toy/chew etc and he gets something more exciting, a treat! or alternativly lots of praise and fuss! do this for a few weeks/months and use this to take anything off him, after a while he will have learned the commans and not need the treats... if you put the time into training him the command this should work!
im thinking this command may work as he is giving it up of his own will and not having it taken against his will and so may stop the aggression?
apotek said:
It has shaken my confidence in him and my wife is now slightly scared.
So what do you do? we are considering giving up mostly because we feel like we are useless at this and poor old Brinkley deserves better parenting I just wondered if anyone has an insight into this.
nooooo she cannot appear scared, even if she is she needs to use a firm voice and speak to him, even if his teeth are bared and snarling he needs to know you are boss! even if from a distance if she is really scared! So what do you do? we are considering giving up mostly because we feel like we are useless at this and poor old Brinkley deserves better parenting I just wondered if anyone has an insight into this.
aww don't give up! clear commands and consistancy you will get there!! 18 weeks if still young!! we have the guide dog pups from 6 weeks to around 13 months, so with us for the first year living in our homes and its amazing how they seem to come on leaps and bounds all of a sudden!
Edited by Mubby on Sunday 25th March 09:42
The key to this is what you do to let the dog know that a certain behavior is acceptable or not. It's not a game, any human should be able to take a treat / bone / toy from your dog and it still be happy.
Dogs are no different to humans in this respect, they need to learn your boundaries or they will set their own.
If this occurred with a 'dog trainer' present and they have not let you know that then I would call into question the advice they are giving you.
But don't give up, 18 weeks is young to have learnt all life's lessons yet.
Dogs are no different to humans in this respect, they need to learn your boundaries or they will set their own.
If this occurred with a 'dog trainer' present and they have not let you know that then I would call into question the advice they are giving you.
But don't give up, 18 weeks is young to have learnt all life's lessons yet.
Don't give up 18 weeks is too young for a 1 way trip to the vets which if an older dog was snapping at me is what I'd do in a heart beat.
Don't let it mouth you replace your hand with a toy or use an older method of rolling its lips onto its teeth as its mouthing so it thinks its nipping its self.
If it bites you scream with pain, I have a 3 scale thing as puppies nip to get their litter mates to play and provoke a reaction. Once I had to go to 4 on the scale and nip mine back, never had a problem after that.
Just as a matter of interest is this a pedigree dog have you spoken to the breeder for advice?
Don't let it mouth you replace your hand with a toy or use an older method of rolling its lips onto its teeth as its mouthing so it thinks its nipping its self.
If it bites you scream with pain, I have a 3 scale thing as puppies nip to get their litter mates to play and provoke a reaction. Once I had to go to 4 on the scale and nip mine back, never had a problem after that.
Just as a matter of interest is this a pedigree dog have you spoken to the breeder for advice?
We are having good contact with the breeder who is nothing but very very helpful.From the begining she has said she would want him back if we could not keep him.A one way trip to the vets is and was never on the cards.In eight short weeks we love him dearly and other than the problem he is a joy!
He is a pedigree from two very gentle parents which we met, I just wonder that WE aren`t doing the right thing for Brinkley
He is a pedigree from two very gentle parents which we met, I just wonder that WE aren`t doing the right thing for Brinkley
apotek said:
We are having good contact with the breeder who is nothing but very very helpful.From the begining she has said she would want him back if we could not keep him.A one way trip to the vets is and was never on the cards.In eight short weeks we love him dearly and other than the problem he is a joy!
He is a pedigree from two very gentle parents which we met, I just wonder that WE aren`t doing the right thing for Brinkley
Sounds like a very reputable breeder and very odd for a GR as they are usually just massive slobbery lumps.He is a pedigree from two very gentle parents which we met, I just wonder that WE aren`t doing the right thing for Brinkley
Why not PM mrs grumpy for some advice
Hi John - Brinkley looks super handsome!
It's really positive that you're willing to try every avenue before even thinking about giving him back to his breeder.
Don't despair, though - as others have said, at 18 weeks, he's still got ages to get all his life-lessons and behaviours established.
As you've found out, puppy teeth are like razors!
Mrs Grumpy is really good with dog behaviours - hopefully she can offer some guidance.
In the meantime, though - our English Bull Terrier pup was very, very "mouthy" - for quite a while. There's a couple of methods you can try.
The easiest to start with is, when playing with Brinkley, any time his teeth touch you, simply disengage from the game. Remove your hand, get up, walk away.
He'll soon learn that teeth means no-one to play with!
If the object needs removing because it's not actually a toy, simply substitute for a chew toy - a lovely, stinky-bacon, super-duper chew toy (for example!). Then he's not associating "hand near toy" with "no more toy"; he's getting "hand near toy" = "arrival of awesome new food/toy".
As Mubby said, you can also start to teach him the "leave/drop it" command using the above principal.
Hope you get on OK. Our "pup" (she's now just turned 1!
) got there eventually, despite a couple of weeks of despair!
It's really positive that you're willing to try every avenue before even thinking about giving him back to his breeder.
Don't despair, though - as others have said, at 18 weeks, he's still got ages to get all his life-lessons and behaviours established.
As you've found out, puppy teeth are like razors!
Mrs Grumpy is really good with dog behaviours - hopefully she can offer some guidance.
In the meantime, though - our English Bull Terrier pup was very, very "mouthy" - for quite a while. There's a couple of methods you can try.
The easiest to start with is, when playing with Brinkley, any time his teeth touch you, simply disengage from the game. Remove your hand, get up, walk away.
He'll soon learn that teeth means no-one to play with!
If the object needs removing because it's not actually a toy, simply substitute for a chew toy - a lovely, stinky-bacon, super-duper chew toy (for example!). Then he's not associating "hand near toy" with "no more toy"; he's getting "hand near toy" = "arrival of awesome new food/toy".
As Mubby said, you can also start to teach him the "leave/drop it" command using the above principal.
Hope you get on OK. Our "pup" (she's now just turned 1!
) got there eventually, despite a couple of weeks of despair!Have just been for a ride with Brinkley to my uncle a lifelong retriever owner he seems to think overexcited puppy whose owner has managed to put himself in harms way for no reason.We had panicked that here we have a vertually finished article and too late for training,from you guys and my uncle I realise he is still very young and we have plenty of time with a bit of must try harder.
Our 4 month old Kangal puppy 
is known as by the neighbours as "crazy dog" because of his incredible surplus of energy. Mouthing is absolutely forbidden, and he has to be shown dominance, i.e. hold him tightly and force him to lie down, and only release him when he shows a submissive response. He is already extremely strong, at just four months, and extremely protective, but is learning he is not 'top dog', but I absolutely love his ability to herd cats: we had 15 feral visitors, not now 
is known as by the neighbours as "crazy dog" because of his incredible surplus of energy. Mouthing is absolutely forbidden, and he has to be shown dominance, i.e. hold him tightly and force him to lie down, and only release him when he shows a submissive response. He is already extremely strong, at just four months, and extremely protective, but is learning he is not 'top dog', but I absolutely love his ability to herd cats: we had 15 feral visitors, not now Apotek, our GR Murphy was a little sod as a puppy and we too thought we might have a problem.
We contacted a dog listener here who came to see us and observe him (and us!) in order to give advice. With time and effort Murphy turned into what everyone would expect of a GR, he's as soft and patient as they come
We contacted a dog listener here who came to see us and observe him (and us!) in order to give advice. With time and effort Murphy turned into what everyone would expect of a GR, he's as soft and patient as they come
I know the experts tell us that we shouldn't take food/treats off a dog. Consider this then .In a pack,it'd be the lowest member and any other pack member would discipline it for refusing. I've never had a dog that objected to having anything taken off it . With young kids around, it'd get taught the error of it's ways. Teach them young,that any member of the family can remove it ,but reward them well when they do . As for "bites" from pups. Most are too young to realise that it's not acceptable,and the teeth are razor sharp, and the pups excitable .Perhaps rawhide sticks might solve the problem. And if the pup gets used to it being held for it ,it adds to the trust the pup gives you over food.
karona said:
Our 4 month old Kangal puppy is known as by the neighbours as "crazy dog" because of his incredible surplus of energy. Mouthing is absolutely forbidden, and he has to be shown dominance, i.e. hold him tightly and force him to lie down, and only release him when he shows a submissive response. He is already extremely strong, at just four months, and extremely protective, but is learning he is not 'top dog', but I absolutely love his ability to herd cats: we had 15 feral visitors, not now
That's a fantastic looking dog! is known as by the neighbours as "crazy dog" because of his incredible surplus of energy. Mouthing is absolutely forbidden, and he has to be shown dominance, i.e. hold him tightly and force him to lie down, and only release him when he shows a submissive response. He is already extremely strong, at just four months, and extremely protective, but is learning he is not 'top dog', but I absolutely love his ability to herd cats: we had 15 feral visitors, not now I've been looking into buying a Kangal pup for the last two years and have been speaking to Seacop in view of buying one later in the year. I did pop to Crufts in view of meeting the breeder buy sadly I missed them.
I'd be keen to hear who you got the dog from and your experiences so far.
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