Our loving Golden Retriever puppy becomes obsessed with certain toys and will growl when we are near her. Yelling at her doesn't work. Do you have any advice?

Question

Dear Ed,

I have spent a LOT of time searching and perusing your website. It has excellent articles and advice. Of course, we all think that our question is just a little different and we should ask it... I didn't find exactly what I was looking for so I thought I would ask you directly. I totally understand if you don't have time to answer but I would appreciate your advice.

My husband and I brought home our new golden retriever puppy, a female, and the obvious leader of the litter in August, 2009. She is now 8 months old. She is a white golden retriever and we were able to meet both of her parents. Echo is warm and loving but has a tremendous amount of energy. We make sure she gets as much exercise as she wants and needs. We love her and treat her with all the love in the world.

From the beginning, when Echo starts to chew on a toy -- whether it's a stuffed toy or some type of hard chew, she becomes obsessed with it ... it doesn't happen with all toys though. When we try and get her attention or call her, if we start to walk toward her, she bares her teeth and growls. This morning I walked near her and she raised her head, bared her teeth and growled at me.

This is so upsetting and disturbing. I've never had a golden retriever behave this way -- but, I must admit, I've never had the leader of the litter either.

Having her have a "time out" doesn't work. Yelling at her doesn't work. It's too scary to try and pull the toy or chew away... I've already been bitten in the hand once when she was just 4 months old.

I will not do anything drastic (putting her to sleep) until we've tried everything to correct this behavior -- but I don't want to do things that an experienced trainer such as yourself know to be incorrect.

Could you please give me some very much needed and sincerely appreciated advice? We love Echo so very much.

Thank you,
Mary

Accepted Answer

When dogs act like this they lack leadership from their owners. In other words their owners don’t understand how important pack drive is in how they raise their dogs. Whether it’s a Golden Retriever, Chihuahua, German Shepherd or Beagle the advice is going to the same.

Owners of dogs like yours underestimate the genetic power of "PACK DRIVE." Pack structure is not something new and it is not optional, and if you don’t provide the structure and leadership a dog NEEDS then he or she will behave as canines have for thousands of years and will structure your family and household their own way. Your dog is not behaving this way to be mean or spiteful; your dog is simply being a dog, a dog that needs some guidance and rules.

If you want to fix a problem like this you can but it takes some work. I’d start out with our groundwork program. I’d also recommend the video that picks up where the groundwork article leaves off, Pack Structure for the Family Pet.

Here is a DVD that I would also recommend titled Dealing with Dominant and Aggressive Dogs. If you go to the link on this DVD you can read about what it covers. You will also see a detailed outline of what’s in the video.

The biggest problem you are going to have is changing your attitude towards your dog. Love is great, but dogs need structure and leadership. You can’t love a dog into behaving the way you want; they just see your love and kindness as weakness unless it’s accompanied by rules and structure. She is running your house. She growls and shows teeth, you leave her alone. You have effectively trained your dog that she is in charge. This is how she would behave to have her way in a group of other dogs, unless you show her now she is allowed to behave she will continue to do this and it will escalate as she gets older.

You will get results if you follow the advice given in the articles and videos.

Cindy