Puppy Food Aggression And Jumping Up

[baileythelabrador]

We have a 16 week old labrador pup who is very well behaved in many ways, however we have a few problems which im worried will get out of hand. We have tried to assert ourselfs as leaders, he has to sit and look at us before meals etc and he has been to puppy school.

Our main problems are:

1) Food aggression - He hasnt been aggresive at any other time however if we give him a bone or any other food treat he becomes very protective, growls if you go neer him, and he bit my partner the other day when he wene to get the bone off him because he was growlling. This is the only time he has growled / bit until last nite when i asked him to drop a sock and he growled at me. showing his teeth. What should we do?

2) Jumping up (at children especiouly) - He wont jump up at me or my partner but he getts exited and jumps up at visitors. Also if he is at the beach he jumps up at people, especially small children, and he has very sharp claws. How do we train him not to jump up at other people?

3) Toilet training - At night He has been sleeping in a small crate in the bathroom up until now, but the crate is getting a bit small and i dont want to keep him in a crate for much longer. I tried leaving the crate door open the other night and he had pood and weed on the floor. How do i get him used to sleeping out of a crate if he is going to wee / poo when i know he can hold it? Also in the day he has the bathroom and hallway to run in when were at work and wees on newspaper. If we are home and we dont have newspaper down he goes on the floor. How do we get him out of this habbit when we are home?

Would really appreciate your advice.

Thanks

[huski]

Hi bailey

Have you thought of getting a trainer or behaviourist in to give you some guidance? This helped me when my beagle was going through a very challenging stage as a pup.

I have a crate for mine, have you thought of getting him a bigger one that will fit him when he is an adult? I find it very useful to have a crate and my dog is lost without it. As for the jumping up, I taught mine to sit when people came to the house and she wouldn't get a pat or any attention from the visitors until she had her butt on the ground. It was the same for when I came home - she must sit before getting attention, now I have a dog who runs to me and sits automatically waiting for a pat

I use a training program called the triangle of temptation at feeding time, it can help with dogs who resource guard:

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=64101

You might also find the "nothing in life is free" method useful too:

http://www.k9force.net/index.html?row2col2=nilif.html

[poodlefan]

We have a 16 week old labrador pup who is very well behaved in many ways, however we have a few problems which im worried will get out of hand. We have tried to assert ourselfs as leaders, he has to sit and look at us before meals etc and he has been to puppy school.

Our main problems are:

1) Food aggression - He hasnt been aggresive at any other time however if we give him a bone or any other food treat he becomes very protective, growls if you go neer him, and he bit my partner the other day when he wene to get the bone off him because he was growlling. This is the only time he has growled / bit until last nite when i asked him to drop a sock and he growled at me. showing his teeth. What should we do?

This is resource guarding. I suggest you get a trainer/behaviourist in to give you some expert advice. In the meantime, if you want somethign off him, offer him something better - like a treat. He can be taught to "give" items.

2) Jumping up (at children especiouly) - He wont jump up at me or my partner but he getts exited and jumps up at visitors. Also if he is at the beach he jumps up at people, especially small children, and he has very sharp claws. How do we train him not to jump up at other people?

Initially, keep him on lead so he can't get close enough to jump. The lead goes on when visitors arrive and doesn't come off until he's sitting calmly to be greeted. Don't let people rev him up - they must ignore him until he's calm. Keep him onlead and away from people at the beach until you've trained him to reliably come when called and stay close to you when you ask him to.

Work on teaching him to sit for pats.. no bum on ground, no pats.

3) Toilet training - At night He has been sleeping in a small crate in the bathroom up until now, but the crate is getting a bit small and i dont want to keep him in a crate for much longer. I tried leaving the crate door open the other night and he had pood and weed on the floor. How do i get him used to sleeping out of a crate if he is going to wee / poo when i know he can hold it? Also in the day he has the bathroom and hallway to run in when were at work and wees on newspaper. If we are home and we dont have newspaper down he goes on the floor. How do we get him out of this habbit when we are home?

He's getting inconsistent messages. It's not OK to pee on the floor in the bathroom but it is OK to pee on newspaper on the floor during the day but not if there's no newspaper.

You need to make it more simple.. eliminate outside or eliminate on newspaper. If you want him to toilet outside you have to get him out there and give him access 24/7. If you want him to toilet on newspaper then he needs access to that 24/7 My guess is that he has no idea what you expect of him.

Would really appreciate your advice.

Training your dog doesnt' stop with puppy preschool. You've got an intelligent strong dog that can be a challenge as an adolescent - my advice is to find a decent dog training club and keep him in training until he's at least 18 months old. He needs a job and mental stimulation. You will get a lot of help on bread and butter issues like these. For the resource guarding I'd suggest professional help.

I'd also suggest you buy a crate big enough for him to sleep comfortably in as a adult and use it. Crating him when visitors arrive would be one very effective way of eliminating unwanted behaviour from him and unwanted encouragement of that behaviour from your guests ( and that will happen)

Thanks

Edited February 26, 2009 by poodlefan

[baileythelabrador]

Hi huski, thanks for the advice

Yes i may have to get a trainer in but we dont have much money at the moment so thought i would ask for advice here on things i can try at home first.

I do want to get him out of the crate as we have a small house and there just isnt room to keep a crate, especially a bigger one.

I have already looked at the NILIF and try to use this as much as possible.

Great idea on teaching him to sit to greet, i will try this one. Do you find he sits to greet guests/ strangers aswell then? what about in the park, does he still sit if he runns up to strangers? How do you train this?

Thanks

[sandgrubber]

We have a 16 week old labrador pup . . .

1) Food aggression - if we give him a bone or any other food treat he becomes very protective, growls if you go neer him, and he bit my partner the other day when he wene to get the bone off him because he was growlling.

2) Jumping up (at children especiouly) - He wont jump up at me or my partner but he getts exited and jumps up at visitors. Also if he is at the beach he jumps up at people, especially small children, and he has very sharp claws. How do we train him not to jump up at other people?

3) Toilet training - At night He has been sleeping in a small crate in the bathroom up until now, but the crate is getting a bit small and i dont want to keep him in a crate for much longer. I tried leaving the crate door open the other night and he had pood and weed on the floor. How do i get him used to sleeping out of a crate if he is going to wee / poo when i know he can hold it? Also in the day he has the bathroom and hallway to run in when were at work and wees on newspaper. If we are home and we dont have newspaper down he goes on the floor. How do we get him out of this habbit when we are home?

I breed Labradors.

1. Food aggression is unusual (unknown?) in my lines. I would seek advice from someone who can observe and give recommendations . . . I don't feel comfortable making a recommendation without observing . . . could potentially escalate to something you wouldn't want to live with. Good to get a handle on this one.

2. Jumping up is a problem in most all Labbie pups. Teaching them to sit when greeting people is a good solution. The problem tends to fade as the pup ages unless it is encouraged by people who "reward" the pup for jumping up.

3. Toilet: I wouldn't worry about occasional messes at 16 weeks. That's like expecting a kid to be toilet trained at 2 years. Take the pup out to the lawn at regular periods . . . before or after feeding . .. give it some time . .. . lots of praise when it does its business. Ignore the mistakes. In my experience, Lab pups want to be clean from as soon as they are old enough to walk to the other side of the whelping box. But sometimes they can't hold it or forget.

[poodlefan]

Great idea on teaching him to sit to greet, i will try this one. Do you find he sits to greet guests/ strangers aswell then? what about in the park, does he still sit if he runns up to strangers? How do you train this?

Thanks

Don't allow him to run up to strangers. He is greeted sitting calmly by your side or not at all.

[huski]

Hi huski, thanks for the advice

Yes i may have to get a trainer in but we dont have much money at the moment so thought i would ask for advice here on things i can try at home first.

I do want to get him out of the crate as we have a small house and there just isnt room to keep a crate, especially a bigger one.

Sometimes it is a good idea to decide where you want the dog to sleep and be consistent with this from the day you bring him home. He has been accustomed to having a crate and now you will take it away, you will have to retrain him to get used to a bed or whatever it is you want him to sleep on. Crate training has many benefits, but if you don't want to use a crate for whatever reasons, start training him to get used to a bed now.

Getting a good trainer in may not be as expensive as you think. It is an investment to get his behaviour under control now, than have it escalate and have to get someone in down the track when the problem is a lot worse than it is now. Whereabouts are you located? Maybe someone can recommend a good trainer or obedience club (the cheaper option) in the meantime?

Great idea on teaching him to sit to greet, i will try this one. Do you find he sits to greet guests/ strangers aswell then? what about in the park, does he still sit if he runns up to strangers? How do you train this?

I don't let my dogs run up to strangers in the park. If we pass some kids or people who want to pat her, she has to be sitting calmly next to me and then she can have attention. If you have him off leash in the dog park, and can see a person coming in the park, call him and put his leash on him so he can't rush up to them.

And yes I make sure she sits to greet visitors, although it is hard with those friends or family members who encourage the dog to jump up on them As Poodlefan said, it is really helpful to put a leash on him so you can control his behaviour. I would also make sure that he learns that he does not get to greet guests before you. You say hello to your guests first, and then when he is sitting calmly, he can have a pat

Edited February 26, 2009 by huski

[poodlefan]

Oh, one more thing.

Under no circumstances should a resource guarding dog be put in a situation where there are children and food. It's a bite incident waiting to happen.

The easiest way to manage (not fix) the issue is to feed him in a crate and put him in one whenever you have children with food in the house.

Edited February 26, 2009 by poodlefan

[Dogsfevr]

and he bit my partner the other day when he wene to get the bone off him because he was growlling. This is the only time he has growled / bit until last nite when i asked him to drop a sock and he growled at me. showing his teeth. What should we do?

Obviously this isnt acceptable behaviour but often humans create the situation by there actions.

Your pup sounds very confused in all aspects .

Firstly if your pup is jumping up on people at the beaches its because its not under control.I presume your pup is offleash & doing what it pleases??This means your pup see this behaviour as acceptable as no one is stopping it & he visit the same routine applies,off we go for a free for all with no training,restraints or acceptable behaviour.

If your pup is onleash then you need to be in better control.

As already said you need to set the greet routine whether that being sitting,standing or what ever .You need to take charge before the guests arrive so place pup onlead.ask it to sit,ask people to walk straight through & ideally ignore pup.Generally when a pup is around everyone dives straight in because its cute & encourage certain behaviour,normally some people are worse than others.

Mine are taught that jumping up is acceptable on command,for them been greeted standing is normal & jumping up is a treat.

Being pups they will have there moments but aslong as your consistent pup will grasp it quickly but if you make it hard confusing it will take forever.

Toilet training unless you dont have a backyard the paper should be an emergency measure.

when your home you need to take pup outside often & ideally have access to outside himself.You need to teach him that outside is for toilets .

He obviously doesnt understand whats expected at present but nows what area he should pee in.It will also become a habit so you need to introduce outside yourself.your pup wont tell you unless you teach him.Crates are great but you still need to use toilet training.Taken outside etc etc.

Growling is a big nono but i would say again pup is confused .As already said you need to offer something higher & use your obedience .

In the situation you have describe hubby went to take object but pup won the battle.He then followed it through with you.Pup doesnt understand that is naughty just thats what happened last time & he got a better result.

Do you have an obedience club in your area??

[APBT]

to be honest, ive had dogs all my life and have had this problem with a few in my times,

Edited April 28, 2009 by APBT

[Cosmolo]

APBT- that is potentially dangerous advise that may make the problem much much worse. I have seen many resource guarding situations that have been made worse because someone has corrected innappropriately- ESPECIALLY a puppy.

Is there a good training club near to you that might be able to help? A private trainer to come out to you may not be 100s of dollars- miht be $70-$90 well spent though.

[poodlefan]

to be honest, ive had dogs all my life and have had this problem with a few in my times,

you don't need to waste money on a behaviorist and all that crap,

next time your pup is eating a bone or his meal, place your hand hear the food and if he growls at you and becomes aggressive immediately slap him across the face.

say what you like but i can guarantee he will never do it agen, he knows who's feeding him and who's boss.

The last person I know who tried something similar got 20 stitches and taught her dog that biting makes him win.

Meeting aggression with aggression doesn't always make the human the winner APBT. What happens when another person approaches that dog with a bone?

[huski]

to be honest, ive had dogs all my life and have had this problem with a few in my times,

you don't need to waste money on a behaviorist and all that crap,

next time your pup is eating a bone or his meal, place your hand hear the food and if he growls at you and becomes aggressive immediately slap him across the face.

say what you like but i can guarantee he will never do it agen, he knows who's feeding him and who's boss.

You can't be serious?

I feel bad for your pup if that's how you handle them How absolutely disgusting

Edited February 26, 2009 by huski

[VJB]

to be honest, ive had dogs all my life and have had this problem with a few in my times,

you don't need to waste money on a behaviorist and all that crap,

next time your pup is eating a bone or his meal, place your hand hear the food and if he growls at you and becomes aggressive immediately slap him across the face.

say what you like but i can guarantee he will never do it agen, he knows who's feeding him and who's boss.

I think you may benefit from getting a behaviorist session for yourself. Positive re-enforcement will always win hands down, although some dogs need a firm leader, dealing

with it in this way will surely harm your relationship with your dog rather than enhance it.

[Erny]

to be honest, ive had dogs all my life and have had this problem with a few in my times,

you don't need to waste money on a behaviorist and all that crap,

next time your pup is eating a bone or his meal, place your hand hear the food and if he growls at you and becomes aggressive immediately slap him across the face.

say what you like but i can guarantee he will never do it agen, he knows who's feeding him and who's boss.

Very dangerous and deleterious advice given there, APBT.

[baileythelabrador]

Thank you all for your advice. (but not sure i agree with the slap on the nose method, i dont want him to be scared of me)

I think we will get a trainer in for the resource aggression problem as i really want get it sorted it out for good as i do not want an aggresive dog. As he has shown signs of aggresion is this something we can completely elliminate or is he always going to be like this in some way? Are many dogs like this and can it be 100percent fixed? I am just worried when we have children, i dont want to have to worry about an aggressive dog. He is not aggressive in any other way and is just like a normal loving pup 99percent of the time.

Does anyone reccomend a good trainer/behaviorist on the sunshine coast?

As for jumping up he will be kept on a lead at all times in public from now on.

Thanks

[APBT]

Thank you all for your advice. (but not sure i agree with the slap on the nose method, i dont want him to be scared of me)

I think we will get a trainer in for the resource aggression problem as i really want get it sorted it out for good as i do not want an aggresive dog. As he has shown signs of aggresion is this something we can completely elliminate or is he always going to be like this in some way? Are many dogs like this and can it be 100percent fixed? I am just worried when we have children, i dont want to have to worry about an aggressive dog. He is not aggressive in any other way and is just like a normal loving pup 99percent of the time.

Does anyone reccomend a good trainer/behaviorist on the sunshine coast?

As for jumping up he will be kept on a lead at all times in public from now on.

Thanks

im not talking a hard slap, like you want to hurt him, just enough so he knows who's boss, otherwise if he knows your scared of him and he will put it over you, he is the dominate one, not you but you can change this quite easily

[huski]

Thank you all for your advice. (but not sure i agree with the slap on the nose method, i dont want him to be scared of me)

I think we will get a trainer in for the resource aggression problem as i really want get it sorted it out for good as i do not want an aggresive dog. As he has shown signs of aggresion is this something we can completely elliminate or is he always going to be like this in some way? Are many dogs like this and can it be 100percent fixed? I am just worried when we have children, i dont want to have to worry about an aggressive dog. He is not aggressive in any other way and is just like a normal loving pup 99percent of the time.

Does anyone reccomend a good trainer/behaviorist on the sunshine coast?

As for jumping up he will be kept on a lead at all times in public from now on.

Absolutely it can be fixed! He's only a pup and once he learns the right behaviour I am sure he will turn into a wonderful family member

I know someone in Brisbane who I will PM you the details of, not sure how far up the Sunny Coast she does but I am sure she can refer you to someone if she doesn't.

im not talking a hard slap, like you want to hurt him, just enough so he knows who's boss, otherwise if he knows your scared of him and he will put it over you, he is the dominate one, not you but you can change this quite easily

There is no time that it is ok to slap or hit your dog. I agree you can change the behaviour fairly easily, but NOT with your recommended method - unless you want to make the dog's behaviour worse.

Edited February 27, 2009 by huski

[Lab lady]

to be honest, ive had dogs all my life and have had this problem with a few in my times,

you don't need to waste money on a behaviorist and all that crap,

next time your pup is eating a bone or his meal, place your hand hear the food and if he growls at you and becomes aggressive immediately slap him across the face.

say what you like but i can guarantee he will never do it agen, he knows who's feeding him and who's boss.

OMG i nearly fell off my chair, no wonder you have had this aggression problem a few times. Never never correct aggression with aggression :rolleyes:

[baileythelabrador]

Thank you all for your advice. (but not sure i agree with the slap on the nose method, i dont want him to be scared of me)

I think we will get a trainer in for the resource aggression problem as i really want get it sorted it out for good as i do not want an aggresive dog. As he has shown signs of aggresion is this something we can completely elliminate or is he always going to be like this in some way? Are many dogs like this and can it be 100percent fixed? I am just worried when we have children, i dont want to have to worry about an aggressive dog. He is not aggressive in any other way and is just like a normal loving pup 99percent of the time.

Does anyone reccomend a good trainer/behaviorist on the sunshine coast?

As for jumping up he will be kept on a lead at all times in public from now on.

Absolutely it can be fixed! He's only a pup and once he learns the right behaviour I am sure he will turn into a wonderful family member :rolleyes:

I know someone in Brisbane who I will PM you the details of, not sure how far up the Sunny Coast she does but I am sure she can refer you to someone if she doesn't.

im not talking a hard slap, like you want to hurt him, just enough so he knows who's boss, otherwise if he knows your scared of him and he will put it over you, he is the dominate one, not you but you can change this quite easily

There is no time that it is ok to slap or hit your dog. I agree you can change the behaviour fairly easily, but NOT with your recommended method - unless you want to make the dog's behaviour worse.

Thanks Huski - I will send her an email. Very good to hear it can be fixed. Thank you