April 28, 2011

My new golden retriever is aggressive toward children, runs away when it gets outside and lunges at anyone who tries to take her from my bed. What should I do?

Full Question:
Hi, I'm a "new dog owner"(My dad had a dog while I was alive and she eventually became my dog, but she didn't need any training.) We put her to sleep and I bought a Golden Retriever puppy. She's approximately 6 months old. She's pretty good most of the time. She took a beginner's obedience class and is pretty well potty-trained. The major problem is that she is aggressive. I was hoping I could tell you about it and you could give me a suggestion. When I give her a pig's ear, or some other special treat, I, or any other adult can take it away no problem. But when anyone younger than 14 tries to take it away, she viciously lunges at them. My sister had to get stitches in her forehead. The other problem is that she lunges and growls at anyone who tries to remove her from my bed or punish her. (We normally grab her collar and put her muzzle on.) The other problem is when she knows she is being bad she bolts away when you even flinch in her direction. When she gets outside by accident she doesn't come to you no matter what. She just runs away. I tried treats, toys, soft voice, and many other things. The problem lies in the children. They can't punish for biting because they're too scared to even touch her. What are your suggestions? Thanks. Respond quickly as you can.

Blake
Ed
Ed Ed's Answer:
Read the articles on website about Dealing With a Dominant Dog. Your dog is not obedience trained. If you would like to learn more about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience video. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes. I think if you read the testimonials on that tape you will see that my customers feel the same way.

Most of these problems are correctable - most of these problems occur as a result of the mistakes made in raising this dog.

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Expert Dog Trainer Cindy Rhodes
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