# Golden Retriever Attacked Me



## Brunothedog (Aug 29, 2015)

hi. I have a dog named Bruno, he is a very nice dog and very smart. He is 4 years old. He has never bitten anybody. Although he gets very overexcited when he sees someone new, and he doesn't listen to me when we are at the park. Yesterday night he was upstairs by himself (which is unusual because he is always with us). And he was sitting on my sisters pillow which was on the ground (my sister just left for college). I came up and said hi, and he isn't allowed on pillows, so I grabbed for the pillow and he growled and jumped on me and bit my whole left hand and jumped on me, my dad ran upstairs and took him to his room, and left him there the whole night. This morning he is going upstairs every so often to find the pillow. I couldn't believe that he would attack me, he doesn't care when I take stuff from him. If anyone knows what i should do, please tell me!


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## ArchersMom (May 22, 2013)

You need to take this very seriously. This situation is very dangerous for your family, and for your dog. Get help from a certified trainer. We can't tell you whats wrong or how to fix this.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

He is resource guarding the pillow. Get the book Mine! by Jean Donaldson. That will help you learn how to deal with a resource guarder. If you can't go that route or don't feel comfortable addressing it yourself, then you need to find a very good trainer to help you with it.


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

I am not any kind of expert, and I know this is anthropomorphisinģ to ascribe human feelings to a dog, but.....

To me the explanation for his behavior seems to be that the pillow smells like your sister, that he is missing her, and was "guarding" that connection to her. When you took the pillow, you were taking something very valuable to him.

The one and only time my Brooks growled at me and acted wary, was the first time I gave him a meaty bone. I tried to get it back after he had it for a while, and he growled and took the bone further away. I decided he just wasnt going to get a meaty bone again! He never did it with anything else.

Years later I gave him a marrow bone, but already had read up on how to work with him to keep there from being a problem (note; he still really doesnt want to give it up, but I give him a command to drop it and also tell him to come get a treat, so he leaves the bone)


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Was he your sister's dog? With her being gone, he might be really messed up right now. If it's just the pillow he's being weird about, I'd let him have the pillow and not make a big deal about it. Try to get him through the stress.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

If he's growling and biting over the pillow, then the pillow needs to be taken away. Regardless of the reason for resource guarding, it's still dangerous and whatever the dog feels he needs to guard needs to be removed for safety reasons.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I think you should pick your battles and keep the dog's mental state in mind. If he is resource guarding an object that isn't likely to harm him if he keeps it (like a bone), I'd leave him be. Everyone in your family needs to be on the same page when it comes to approaching this dog when it comes to that pillow, if that is the only thing he is weird about. If he doesn't feel threatened when he has the pillow, he will relax. Dogs resource guard because they feel threatened. 

We had a dog (our first boy) who would resource guard everything because we were constantly taking stuff away or shooing off furniture. As we adjusted how we approached him and handled each situation carefully and fairly, he mellowed a ton - primarily because he no longer felt threatened - whether that was him knowing we would trade for stuff or he'd be rewarded after going somewhere else when on furniture. And there were some things we let be because it wasn't worth the fuss. A pillow that he was sitting on to me is not worth the fuss. And give the guy love right now because he is probably really stressed out.


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## Brunothedog (Aug 29, 2015)

Thanks for the answers. He is not her dog, he belongs to the whole family. But the thing is my sister has been gone for 3 days at a time, and he doesn't care, she has only been gone for 1 day. He seems perfectly fine now. If I give him the pillow, I think he would do the same thing if someone came close to him, because yesterday he attacked me even though I barely touched it.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Goldens are sensitive to changes in their "pack" and home. Most dogs are good at picking up on major stuff like that. 

You said you went to take the pillow away... whether that was approaching him with the hand reaching for the pillow or you saying something like "you shouldn't have that" where he recognized either words or tone that you were taking the pillow away - these are things your family needs to be on the same page about so he doesnt snap again.


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

Sorry this has happened, can certainly understand how frightening and upsetting this event has been for you. Though absolutely, these things 'shouldn't' happen, when they do our emotions run high and we tend to blame the dog. We need to understand, that it is how we 'behave' that impacts how our dogs behave towards us. From his perspective you were trying to 'steal' something of high value to him, something he felt was 'worth' keeping. 'Resource guarding' can surface at anytime in a dog's life, you mentioned you can take stuff from him, have you taken the time to teach him to 'Trade' ?- that when he gives up an item, he will be rewarded, and he most often will get it back? If you haven't, doing so would be a good place to start to minimize the chances of something like this happening again. He 'attacked' you, scared you, did he cause an injury that needed medical treatment, he could have if he intended to, or was it an inhibited bite with no treatment needed? Something to think about. Dogs don't bite without warning or without 'reason' and most often that 'reason' is because we have missed or ignored their warnings and inadvertently pressured them into 'biting' which is a last resort for most dogs. 

Take the time to consider how you responded when you saw him with the pillow, then consider how you might have responded differently. Keep in mind that even though you know he was not allowed to have the pillow, he is does not understand 'house rules', he is a dog. Perhaps called him to you to encourage him to move away from it, follow you out of the room for a reward of a treat, a ball or something else he likes. Then you could have gone back and picked it up or closed the door.


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## Selli-Belle (Jan 28, 2009)

I think there are a couple of things to look at here. I agree with Kate (Megora) that Bruno may be feeling unsettled because your sister left and I am sure he can tell the difference between her going away for a couple of days and her going away to college. Think about the difference in the amount of packing that happens for each situation. If having her pillow makes him happy, let him have it. 

However, and the is a big HOWEVER, his biting you is serious and should not be ignored. First since this seems to have come out of the blue, take him to the vet and make sure there is not a physical problem. Then ask your vet for a referral to a veterinary behaviorist or find a local Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist and see what you can do to help him.


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