How do I correct my golden retriever puppy's aggressive behavior?
Hello,
My 12 week old golden puppy is really uncontrollable. He jumps aggressively at people, including myself. He's constantly biting at hands, feet, the furniture..everything. When my friends come over, they think he's really cute until he nips at them constantly for five minutes.
I've tried correcting his behavior. I've tried putting him in timeout and/or ignoring him. But nothing is effective so far. Friends who have goldens have told me it's atypical behavior, even for the breed.
Help?
Answers ( 1 )
It is unusual for a Golden puppy to be aggressive, but there are instances of such- especially if the puppy has been abused or comes from a more dominent bloodline.
NEVER physically abuse your dog- puppy or adult. Do not hit, smack or yank at your dog- no matter what age; that kind of interaction is not one dogs understand- it is not canine behavior.
It sounds as if you have not been consistent in your training the puppy; sometimes he gets away with poor behavior, sometimes he is punished, but even that, I bet, is different. The Golden is a very intelligent dog, but Golden puppies are !SQUIRREL! dogs- when doing something they haven't much interest in, they have the attention span of a butterfly with the hiccups.
So, as the human, and the smarter one in the relationship (for now, anyway) you are going to have to consider how you are going to consistently train the dog to do things your way, rather than his way.
The first command your dog needs to learn is "Sit". You must have a solid "Sit" command- meaning the dog follows it instantly and stays put until released. To do this, you likely want very small training treats readily available- as in, in your pocket (and he will smell them) and plan on this command to take two weeks to be fully absorbed by the dog. You will train him three to four times a day, the same way each time, until he gets it- and you will use this command to get him to pay attention to you when he is learning other commands. Say, "Sit" and point at his back end. He will likely wriggle around, try to lick your fingers- be a puppy. Say "Sit" again, and this time use your pointing finger to push his back end dowqn into a sit; immediately praise: "Good job! Good sit!" and give him a small treat. He gets up, wriggles around a bit, and do it again: "Sit" and point at his back end. Do this three or four times in a session, and then take a good break from it. Have three or four such sessions a day, but only one command to learn a day.
As soon as the puppy even tries to sit when told, praise the ever-loving stuffing out of him: "Oh! Great Job! Great sit! Wow! That is such a good job!" and be sure to give him a treat right away. Try to use the same words for praise over and over; when he is more advanced, you will not have to give him treats, but the praise will work just the same. You have to be absolutely consistent, and you have to do this each day, a few times a day. After a few days, when you have a good Sit command, you can move on.
A dog mother, to stop a puppy making noise (which could alert predators to the pups) will brush her paw down the nose and mouth area- it works from humans, too, as long as you immediately "reward" the puppy for becoming quiet- even if that is just for five seconds. Stroke down the nose, saying, "Quiet- no barking/whining/whatevering" followed by, as the puppy is quiet from sheer surprise, pat-pat-pat, "Good job- no barking.whining/whatevering," and a treat. Consistently, until all you have to say iis "No barking" and the dog stops barking.
You can do the same thing with any behavior- for instance, the jumping up. That is a difficult behavior for many dogs to give up because that is a sign of a happy dog meeting another happy dog, but humans do not do that, so dogs have to learn to not do that, too. The dog jumps up, you place your hand out flat, palm down so the dog's head bumps against your hand, and say, "No- no jumping" and, give the Sit command. The dog sits, pat-pat-pat, Good sit, Good no jumping, treat. Over and over. And over.
If, when company is over, your puppy is unruly, the better part of dog training is to place puppy in his crate, in a quiet room. No anger- no remonstrance, just allow the dog to calm on his own, and do it before he becomes out of control unruly. You wouldn't expect your two year old human child to not get all wound up if a lot of people came over and talked and laughed and called the child over-- well, it's no different for a puppy.
You are using only positive reinforcement to teach the dog what you want him to do- and not to do. And it works- IF YOU do the work of it.
Goldens are said to not grow a brain until they are two years old, and that's somewhat true- they are easily distracted and LOVE fun and games. So make sure you provide your puppy consistent training, lots of exercise opportunities, and praise-praise-praise for doing anything at all right. If you do not have time to train the dog in this manner, you may have to ask yourself why you got the dog- nearly all pets take time and attention- even when they are trained and older.
If you find that the puppy is not responding to your consistent training routine, you may want to actually have a trainer come and check out your routine, see if you can improve your dog-communication skills; dog trainers are usually very much in-tune with dog's non-verbal communications, and can help break bad training habits early. Pay attention to what the trainer tells you- or else why pay at all?
Good luck; use consistent commands, consistent training methods, and practice daily. It will take about six months, but you will have a model of canine behavior if YOU do the work.