Hi, I am new to the site. I have a 7 month old male golden retriever. He had 6 weeks of puppy class at Petsmart. That was a joke. They want you to ignore bad behavior. I tried this and all my dog did was to ignore anything I told him. He also had private lessons for about 8 weeks with another trainer. I still cannot get him to do a reliable down stay. He jumps up on us and makes it miserable when visitors come into the house. He jumps on them and won't leave them alone. I have purchased a prong collar for walks because he drug me up the street the other day. Literally pulled me off my feet and drug me. He weighs 70 lbs. and is very strong. He was recently neutered. He has now decided to mount everyone in the house. After visiting you site I started squeezing his paws when he jumps up on people until he yelps. This seems to help immensely. I also have started tying him to furniture and forcing him to do a 30 minute down stay. I also got this advice from your website. I have seen a great improvement already. I still haven't been brave enough to attempt another walk with him yet since i still have about 100 bruises from the last outing. But, I will say that what I have tried from this website has definitely worked so far. Any other advice on how to deal with this hard headed dog would be greatly appreciated. We really do love Bailey and want him to be a great family pet. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

He doesn't sound dominant, he sounds like a normal, healthy Golden Retriever puppy. Is this your first dog?

Hi: Your pup doesn't sound that difficult. Most of his behaviors are verrrry normal. Most folks think that neutering the pup will cure the mounting problem. Well, you can see that a complete cure isn't instant. As the pup ages, the amount of hormones will decrease due to the neutering. Most of this behavior will taper off, however, in our experience, it never stops 100%. Such is the life of a male dog (and his owners).

I think a bit more patience is necessary, along with an understanding of puppy behavior. Our german shepherd is 9 mos. old now and 93 lbs. He can be difficult to handle, especially when happy. Just give him time to grow up and don't make him neurotic by trying to stop him from demonstrating natural behaviors.

I bet he'll be just fine. Good luck.

Candy, if you haven’t tried walking him with the prong, when you do you’ll see that that it will help immensely. Be sure not to let him keep constant pressure on it though. When he tries to lunge ahead simple turn around 180 degrees, take several paces in that direction, then turn back around in the original direction you were heading (this will put you in the lead momentarily) and continue walking. If he pulls ahead again, repeat the procedure. Eventually he should start staying close to your side or at the very least, not pull on the lead.

Practice this at home first in you garage or basement – then outside on your property until he gets the hang of it. Then you can try going down the block and so on.

BTW – did you see the page on this site about how to fit a prong collar?

Just give him time to grow up and don't make him neurotic by trying to stop him from demonstrating natural behaviors.

I disagree with that, I think you should start Obedenice training without compulsion for now.

It's my opinion that its easier to stop this as a puppy then it is when the dog is a adult. Its your job to make the puppy understand the rules of the house. I agree that he is acting like a puppy, but as you know, what is cute when he 9-12 weeks old and 7-35lbs is not cute when he's 70lbs, but still acts like a pup.

I'd think the appropiate actions would be to teach him when to sit and down, its ok to act like that sometimes but not all the time.

When you have company, you may have to crate him until you get him under control. Slowly introduce him to your company, if he acts under control then great, when you thinks it time for him to sit or lie down you do that. You or Your company should not have to endure this puppy jumping and mudding up their clothes.

Take control Now!

I'm sorry he already been through Ob classes if he knows the commands it time for proofing and leash pops. Some people disagree with complusion but this dog may just need some direction as its called.

It seems like you are curving his reaction now you need to polish it with stren OB proofing.
You need to show the dog whoes is the Alpha.

Hang in there, Don't worry be happy. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I don't think anyone is saying not to obedience train this dog, but rather that these behaviors are normal puppy behaviors, he's not being a bad dog, and that training takes time. You're not going to see instant results. It takes patience to shape and mold the behavior that you want to see when it is so contrary to puppy instinct; especially with a breed as enthusiastic and energetic and large as the Golden Retriever. Stressing out over it will not hasten the process. Just keep working on teaching him what you want and he'll get there.

Another handy tip for preventing jumping up on visitors is to leash him before you allow company in the door, and stand on the leash so that they can pet him but he is prevented from jumping up. You can also take advantage of his retrieving abilities and teach him to grab a toy when he's excited. If, on occasion, you don't feel like dealing with him or are logistically unable to, put up a baby gate and block him into the kitchen or hallway so he can see the visitors but can't get to them. When he is calmer (usually takes 5-10 minutes after the arrival of the guests) let him out to greet. He'll be less likely to jump up. A lot of this is preventive management, not neccessarily training, but you can use preventive management in conjunction with training with some pretty good results. Preventive management can be a wonderful thing!

Also, it sounds like this pup is really high energy and needs tons of exercise. At least two thirty minute retrieving sessions per day would go a long way to tiring him out. You can also take advantage of his retrieving instincts to use retrieving as a reward/motivator in your obedience training. As horrible as tennis balls are (choking hazard, glue, etc.), my Lab just LOVES his tennis ball on a rope, and is putty in my hands when I use one to teach him a new behavior. One look at the toy, and his eyes are like saucers and he's ready to go! Once he knows the behavior, he doesn't need to see the ball, but I still reward him with praise, a treat, or a play session as frequently as possible to maintain his level of enthusiasm. As a water retriever, he'll do just about anything I ask if we're near a body of water and I have a floaty toy (Kong on a rope is my favorite). This kind of situation is great for teaching/reinforcing "stay" (toss toy into water, have dog mark location visually and wait until released with a command to go get the toy). My Lab practically quivers with excitement when I make him stay, and it takes all the restraint he has to stay until released.

I could go on and on about how great retrievers are: Basically, you have a wonderful opportunity to work with a dog who is really easy to motivate, and you can get really great results with tons of positive reinforcement once you figure out how to motivate your dog. I don't think he needs compulsion at this point; just proper motivation.

Hi Don: I don't mean to convey that behavioral training is unnecessary. My comment regarding not making him neurotic had nothing to do with not training the pup. I agree that to fail to train a pup would lead to much greater problems later on. But, if to much correction is applied the dog can become confused on how he is to act. Pups need to be allowed to mouth (appropriate items) and to be rowdy (under your control), but to attempt to take all the normal doggy behaviors out of a puppy will make for a mighty confused dog.

For folks who have never owned a dog, or who have only owned soft dogs, having a more headstrong male can be quite a surprise. They also seem more surprised when neutering doesn't cure all of the problems. It never will. Good training, understanding, consistency, firmness, love and the willingness to seek advice will make for a great family dog, strong headed or not.

Thanks for listening.

Linda & Lisa I understand now that you were not giving special treatment to the Golden. Like some people they get these type dogs and because they have heard or seen such wonderful things about them. They forget that they are still dogs, that will take advantage if given then chance. A retriever that has been brought up with the right socailization, obedeince and companionship is a great dog.

But you have the more driven sport dog, the pretty show dog (could be both) and pet quailty dog in these breed also. Trying to live with a driven or routy retreiver and just waiting until he he mellows out ain't gonna happen in most cases. They have to shown whats acceptable and whats not.

I understand that Ob is not the absolute fix all. And a dog with attitude, will have to be shown the error of his ways. OB gives you some control. But sometimes when a dog wants your attention, my dog will will run at me and just miss me, I will bump with my thigh or forearm and tell him to "Enough". The contact is what he wants. Ob is what makes him quit, because I know he/we like the accidental rough contact. His ears up, tails up! As he swings back around to face me, Like oh yeah, my turn.

The few times that I have ignored him or turn my back without saying "Enough", he'll will bump me and grab my shirt or pants leg. They will rough house with ya, if you let them. Ob stops the tug of war, with me as the tug.

I beleive we should stop the behaviors you don't want, and praise the ones you want. Let them play but be able to control it, even if its play.

Don,
I don't tend to put "attitude" and "Golden Retriever" in the same sentence. To me, Goldens are like the blondes of the dog world; they just have more fun. I'm not quick to jump to the conclusion that the dog is dominant or stubborn just because he's exhuberant and acts crazy sometimes. It could be that he truly doesn't understand what's expected of him, or that his enthusiasm outweighs his good sense, or more likely a combination of both. That's not to say in any way that he doesn't need training, but I wouldn't be so quick to jump to compulsion if motivation hasn't been fully explored.