Kristen623

I posted this question the other day, but forgive my absent mindedness. I can't find the post.

Anyway, my pup, Mason is 7 months old now & is starting to guard his toys from my kids. Two boys ages 8 and 11. He's growled at them & even tried to nip at them. I took the toys away from Mason & now I will make sure he only has his toys in his crate (advice from a friend). I know I have a lot of work to do to correct this issue. I'm worried.

scerv

wow, not good...he is starting to come into the part of his life where he is going to try to test dominance usually 8 mo to a year. This is not acceptable behavior at all. i would give a correction and take his toys away. what did he do to earn his toys anyway? Do you make your kids work comands with the pup? the pup needs to know where he stands in the pack...i have always made my sons work my dogs, feed them with a sit and wait command (with me there of course) so the dog knows the kids call the shots also. im not sure if im of any help..performance helped me work through some mild DA issues when my pup was just little..a verry smart person when it comes to dogs hopefull u get her/his reply.

performanceknls

Put him on leash give him toy, let the kids walk by, AT A SAFE DISTANCE do not put them in harms way, and if he growls he gets the correction of his LIFE on that leash. HE needs a few come to jesus talks! lol By just taking the toys away you are not fixing the problem, there is a reason he is growling and it's because he feels he is in charge not you and the kids. My other suggestion is to take him to a good trainer for classes. You need to get a handle on this right away and doing obed and making him follow your commands is going to be important. Also get the kids involved in his training so that he learns he has to obey them just like you. Don't go to a petsmart trainer, got to a real trainer and if you need help finding one post the city, state, and zip code you live in and i'll look for you.

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Kristen623

Well, the boys have done some basic obedience with him. Sit, down, wait. A little bit of leave it & drop it. They both have fed him & taken him outside to potty too. Sometimes he goes up to the boys with a toy in his mouth wanting to play with them. He cuddles with them a lot. It's like random times that he eventually growls if they take a toy from his mouth. It just started happening recently too.

Kristen623

""Put him on leash give him toy, let the kids walk by, AT A SAFE DISTANCE do not put them in harms way, and if he growls he gets the correction of his LIFE on that leash. HE needs a few come to jesus talks! lol By just taking the toys away you are not fixing the problem, there is a reason he is growling and it's because he feels he is in charge not you and the kids. My other suggestion is to take him to a good trainer for classes. You need to get a handle on this right away and doing obed and making him follow your commands is going to be important. Also get the kids involved in his training so that he learns he has to obey them just like you. Don't go to a petsmart trainer, got to a real trainer and if you need help finding one post the city, state, and zip code you live in and i'll look for you.""

He doesn't do it with me. He is definitely testing the kids. What is the correction I should do at that moment? Yank his leash? Push him down on the floor & say no? I've heard different things. He has taken obedience classes at Petco but I need more advanced classes, preferrably with someone who knows the breed. I am in Gloucester MA, 01930

dday

IMO you should be worried, this is not acceptable behavior, especially in this breed. You need to nip this in the bud asap, especially since you have two young children. PK gave good advise, you need to make it REAL clear to him that you will not tolerate agressive behavior towards anyone in your family for any reason, under any circumstance. A good trainer should be able to help with this. Personally I don't know if I could fully trust a dog that ever growled at me or my children, ever!

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Kristen623

I know everyone is saying nip it in the bud now... but what do I do exactly to correct it when I see him do it? And to say you would never trust a dog that growls at you, that confuses me even more. If that's the case, then it can't be corrected?

scerv

performance would be a better source to answer this ...but i would put his pinch collar on him...when he even got hard eyes in the kids direction i would pop that collar hard as hell...alpha roll him with a very loud ahh no. maybe performance should answer..jm2c

i will never except any sort of HA just the way i am, DA i understand but not twards humans to scary

EckoMac

Leashed in the house during play time. A nylon slide leash would be perfect. He makes any sort of sign of dominance, or aggression towards the children, pop the leash. A quick pop to the side for correction.
I'm sure PK will get back to you with a trainer in your area.

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performanceknls

I would NOT put a prong on a puppy of 7 months old around the kids. Dogs can react with aggression with a prong and that's not safe with a kid and all the dog might need is a correction on the soft collar.

This thread talks about how to make a correction and in your case you need to put the dog on a long leash (15-20 feet), give him a toy and be on the other side of the room ready to correct. He growls and you should go right in and tell him no, give a good correction on the leash and he should be jerked off of where he was, like the couch or dog bed. That is not ok at all and he needs to know it. HE might be so surprised by all this that only a few corrections like this might sole your problem. Yelling at him saying no without any type of correct by leash is going to do nothing.
Extremely stubborn

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performanceknls

Oh and if he growling at the kids then he doesn't respect him. Going to training at petco is not real training.

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scerv

performance you rock...your help has taught me alot and this is my favorite quote ever...again thanks for all you do

Kristen623

Performance I agree, great quote. I've been going back & forth with the Alpha role scenario and reading up on it. Some say it's good, others say it's bad. I was confused. But if I did "grab his ear" would that make him fear me or resent me in any way?

Tonight I worked with him with leave it and drop it commands. I had both kids involved & it went pretty well. I'm hoping with the kids working with him it will help Mason respect them. I didn't allow him to have any toys unless he was in his crate this evening either. It's strange, I'm trying to find a pattern, like a specific toy, a high value toy vs a stuffed toy... etc. Mason had a stuffed squirrel in his mouth & went over to my 8 year old wagging his tail. He nudged him as if to say "pay attention to me". He's very cuddly with them most of the time. I'm thinking the stuffed toy isn't as valuable to him as his antler. I called his vet and got the name of a trainer. I've heard really good things about them & they work with resource guarding. The trainer is coming to my house this week for a 2 hour session. I hope I am moving in the right direction.

performanceknls

lol don't take my "grab him by the ear" comment to heart. I know and when to make that very tough correction without getting myself bit and without making the dog cower. An "ear pinch" has been used in dog training for ever and is the ultimate threat to a dog when done right. Again it's an advanced correction for a very specific reason.... What I should have said is I would have scruffed the puppy and have a serious come to Jesus moment. When it comes to any type of dominance or serious problem that could lead to someone getting hurt I take that very serious. I don't beat my dogs.... But a well placed correction that says I'm in charge not you is sometimes needed. You know a "Come to Jesus moment" Kind of like when your mom said, I brought you into this world and I'll take you out? lol Some of the fur mommies in the world think you should never correct a dog... at all..... positive only.... If you never told them that was wrong how are they ever going to learn? At the same time I'm not saying go out and beat your dog..... There is a middle ground, firm but fair. A dog growls at my baby.... WATCH out! That is NOT allowed. It's happened at my house before too. A puppy of mine thinks the baby is not above him but below him. Correction made, the pup NEVER does it again or maybe I have to make one more correction then it's done. That's how a normal dog should react. Now I also had a dog who had a temperament issues that only came into light when my son started walking. She was going to kill him. Guess what I did?? I put her to sleep. I'm not going to tolerate a dangerous dog or a dog who could be dangerous if not corrected. You shouldn't put up with it either.

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Kristen623

Thank you for your sugestions!!