The lab mix puppy we recently adopted has been exhibiting some aggression which is quite unusual. I am wonder if we are handling this situation correctly and are open to suggestions.

Question

Dear Sir:

First, let me say that I appreciate your site very much. I have found it to be very helpful and informative. I also enjoy looking at your beautiful dogs! They are wonderful.

I know you are terribly busy, but I hope you can help me with a puzzle.

We adopted a lab mix puppy last year. He will be 2 years old in April. He is a great dog and very smart. He learned the general obedience commands easily and has several other tricks we taught him. However, he has taken to exhibiting some aggression that had us puzzled for a while. I finally figured out that it was territorial aggression because he spends so much time in the den with us and not in other parts of the house that he thought he owned the den. This translates to growling at my husband when he enters the den and growling at my daughter when she tried to get him to leave his bed in the den.

We use the ?No, 1 ? second pause, correction.? We removed his bed from the den. This was just a comfy spot for him, he has a kennel he sleeps in at night and when we aren?t home. Now I am working on spending more time in other areas of the house with him. However, now when we try to play with him in other areas of the house we have submissive urination, trembling, and slinking away; refusing to heel. I repeat in a calm voice ?no? as I go towards him until I can get the lead, pause and correct gently. This works and he then does what he is supposed to do. I am keeping a short handle lead on him in the house at all times.

I also changed his prong collar to a nylon choke today. This seemed to make him much happier and calmer, so I think it was overexciting him. There has been no growling for a couple of days now.

I am just concerned that we are handling this correctly. Our last dog was a beautiful 170 lb. rottie that was almost perfect, so I am not used to dealing with this type of problem. I would appreciate any suggestions you might add and some reassurance if we are doing the right thing to correct the problem and just need to give it time.

I thank you in advance for any help you can offer me. Again, I understand that you are very busy.

Sincerely,
Serena

Accepted Answer

Your dog is now becoming mature and trying to move up in the ranks to a leader position. I don’t believe that he is understanding what is happening, and while you have some good ideas it’s not clear to him. I’m happy to hear you’ve taken his bed away and are keeping him on leash all the time. This is perfect. Here is what I would recommend.

I’d start with our Groundwork program and the video that picks up where the article leaves off - Pack Structure for the Family Pet.

I believe that this DVD could really help you. It’s titled DEALING WITH DOMINANT AND AGGRESSIVE DOGS and was a 5 year project.

You already have the obedience commands under control, but like many people you are finding out that normal dogs (even obedience trained dogs) will try to take over the family if they aren’t given clear and consistent leadership.

I would direct you to the search function in the upper left corner of the website for any additional questions you may have. If you type in your key words it will guide you to articles, Q & A’s and posts on our forum.

If you are new to our website, you may be interested in taking a look at our weekly newsletter.

I hope this helps.

Cindy