# Aggressive or normal?



## Siandvm (Jun 22, 2016)

I can't speak to the second situation you refer to, and will defer to those with more experience. However, the first situation sounds all too familiar! Our trainer gave me advice on this and it has worked. I also like her explanation. She said that we should consider Rayder's ability to focus and behave to be like a glass of water, finite. Everything that happens on the walk, including just walking nicely, but also meeting other dogs, people, etc., takes something out of that glass. When it is empty, he loses it because all his reserves are gone. So, counterintuitively, the shorter the walks, the better the behavior. We had been taking him for longer and longer walks, trying to walk it out of him, but it was actually making him worse! Since we have shortened his walks and really focused on rewarding the good behavior or even just normal neutral behavior, our walks have been much better. He still sometimes loses it, but much, much less often.


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

Sadie is 'talking' to you, 'listen' to her. A few things to consider on your walks, are you always taking the same route? Her behavior could be a result of boredom, is she getting plenty of time to 'be a dog', sniff and investigate? Consider ways of making the walk more interesting for her, perhaps let her lead the way, chose the direction and just follow her, making use of obstacles, up on a bench, or under, weaving in and out amongst trees, pausing for a little play session, perhaps take along her favorite toy. Could also be if the behavior is happening at the same location, that she is smelling, hearing sensing something you are missing? 

She is telling you she is not liking being handled the way you have been handling her, being lifted up like that may feel threatening to her, may be painful, or at the very least uncomfortable, that is a pretty sensitive area, try to avoid repeating _your_ behavior, so that she is not in a position of feeling the need to repeat her behavior. Consider trying another way to help her choose to move into the x-pen when it is time for bed, calling her to you, make it good thing, build a history of rewarding her for going into the x-pen when it is not bed time, surprise her with some high value treats, maybe a Kong with a little smear of 'something' to lick out, lots of reinforcement when she does go in. Continue work with her, take your time, as you have been doing to counter condition and desensitize her to being touched in areas that she is sensitive about.


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## Atis (Jul 8, 2014)

We went through phases like that as well. I agree with the above comments in as much as there may simply be a need to refocus. Shortening the walk could work, it could be shes just getting bored and wants something else to do. Is it always the same walk or do you change it up. Perhaps a short training break to change things up. Try stopping for moment and practice some of her familiar commands sit, stay, down whatever, the distraction could be helpful. Resume the walk and see if that helps. 

As for the second concern I would agree with your corrections. She is young and has pointy teeth and it's an age were she's learning to test limits so it's really important to work on her now. I'm a big fan of Ian Dunbar's methods. Try Googling (Ian Dunbar soft mouth training) you'll get several hits that should be helpful.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

The first scenario is 100% normal Golden retriever puppy behavior. She has way too much energy and excitement to contain. Her walks are good for practice on leash walking and seeing people but honestly they are not exercise. A walk around the block is great exercise for your 80 year old grandmother but not for your high energy sporting dog. She is not getting enough hard aerobic exercise a young healthy Golden Retriever. It's going to be important for you to work on getting her more exercise that leaves her tired and panting. Some ideas are finding a safe place for off leash hikes, if that's not possible find a fenced in area like a baseball field, kids play ground at a school, athletic fields during off hours etc. and teach her "puppy ping pong" where she is able to run back and forth between two family members for treats. Or find a place she can swim. Teach her a formal retrieve where she brings a special retrieving toy back to you and sits at heel till you throw it again. This is hands down the easiest way to exercise a young dog - harness the retrieving instinct and teach them that the way to continue the game is to bring it back to you and sit and wait. It's worth the effort. If you spend a couple weeks making sure she receives hard daily exercise and you are also raising your standard for behavior on leash walks (don't let her act like an idiot) without seeing results, you may want to invest in a private trainer to help you improve your skills on dealing with her. I would definitely get back to formal obedience classes with her for the next two years also.

The second issue is a problem that you appear to have responded to in a way that works well with her. Under no circumstances should she ever put her teeth on human skin and I hope you'll work with her for 2 minutes every single day on desensitizing her body issues and work through it. She doesn't get to tell you that you can't touch her feet. She is not in charge, you are. Keep working on it with rewards and don't give up. Charliethree's ideas on the x pen are good ones. Hide treats in there etc. Don't grab her collar and drag her. If you continue to work on positive rewards for going in the pen you should see progress. In the meantime, if she won't cooperate, put a short drag leash on her to wear in the house and use that to direct her. It's less threatening. You might try reading up on the protocol "Nothing in Life is Free" for dogs. It might be a good fit for her. Again, I highly recommend you get back in formal obedience classes and practice with her a couple times a day on leash at home. She is needing a reminder that she is not in charge at your house,, you are.


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## smp (Apr 27, 2016)

Thanks for your feedback and ideas everyone. Some really good reminders I think I needed to hear. It is helpful to hear if others of you have gone through this too. My first golden was the typical "perfect dog," and she set a very high standard - perhaps one that is unfair to expect for Sadie.



Charliethree said:


> ...are you always taking the same route? ..is she getting plenty of time to 'be a dog', sniff and investigate?
> 
> ...try to avoid repeating _your_ behavior, so that she is not in a position of feeling the need to repeat her behavior.


We _are_ always taking the same route. Interestingly, a lot of the jumping happens fairly soon after I give her the opportunity to go sniff the "pee rock," where all the other dogs stop. I wonder if that gets her too worked up.



Atis said:


> ...Shortening the walk could work...
> 
> ....Try Googling (Ian Dunbar soft mouth training) you'll get several hits that should be helpful.


I'm going to have to try a couple things with the walk - changing the direction we go around the block to see if it happens at the same _spot_ vs. the same _time_ during the walk. And, I'm going to try to keep it fun/interesting. I'll get back to you.



nolefan said:


> ...A walk around the block is great exercise for your 80 year old grandmother but not for your high energy sporting dog. She is not getting enough hard aerobic exercise a young healthy Golden Retriever...
> 
> ...work with her for 2 minutes every single day on desensitizing her body issues...try reading up on the protocol "Nothing in Life is Free" for dogs. It might be a good fit for her. .


This is so true! She was spayed about a week ago, so we've had to cut out our hard play significantly. We're currently waiting on quotes for a fence for the backyard because I've seen that she needs more. A few people have freaked me out about too much hard exercise because of the risk of injury for a puppy. I'm still not sure how to balance this. My previous golden loved going for short jogs with me, and Sadie seems like she would love to run too. She loves running after tennis balls and will play fetch fairly reliably now. We have done dog pong during our walks in the trails through the woods and it definitely gets her panting! I'll have to increase the focus on desensitizing/reconditioning her to touching paws. I'll shoot for 2 mins a day, and I'll have to check out that Nothing in Life is Free - thanks!



Siandvm said:


> ...like a glass of water, finite. .



Siandvm - the finite glass of water is _such_ a good analogy! I definitely see that in Sadie - I will keep it in mind.


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## aesthetic (Apr 23, 2015)

The hard exercise comes in when the dog is forced to run - like when you take her for a jog. She doesn't get to regulate how fast she runs, when she runs, etc. Letting her off-leash and letting her regulate her running isn't hard exercise because she gets to control it all herself. Running (forced or not) impacts their joints more when it's on hard ground, like black top or pavement, so generally only let her run off leash on soft ground, like grass. Kaizer gets the zoomies in the middle of our fetching sessions, and sometimes he'll make these really sharp turns and trip over himself. I can definitely see him injuring himself if he tried to do that on pavement or blacktop.

Also, get a long line. She can be off leash in your backyard while you wait for a fence to come up. I have a Lupine 30' long leash and I use it for everything - hiking, so Kaizer can have roaming room but I'm in compliance with leash laws, when we travel and there's nowhere safe to have him completely off leash, so he can run, and when we didn't have a fence up, so he could run. It's a year old and has held up remarkably well.


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## Fattner (Apr 1, 2015)

Sounds normal and you are doing the right thing !! She will love you for it !!


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## smp (Apr 27, 2016)

aesthetic said:


> Also, get a long line.





Fattner said:


> Sounds normal and you are doing the right thing !! She will love you for it !!


Thanks for the continued advice and reassurance. That's the best thing about this site. I'm always so grateful of how much other golden owners want to help. You all are the best!


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## BaileyzMom (Nov 26, 2015)

I just really need to add that Sadie is adorable! Her behavior on walks seems pretty normal, you've already gotten great advice so nothing more to add.


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

Siandvm: "Everything that happens on the walk, including just walking nicely, but also meeting other dogs, people, etc., takes something out of that glass. When it is empty, he loses it because all his reserves are gone. So, counterintuitively, the shorter the walks, the better the behavior."

I absolutely love this. When you cannot shorten the walk go into training mode. Having the dog focus on training skills that the dog is pretty good at will help get the dog thinking in a different direction. Working with treats actually have a calming effect and getting them to think. The training skills you ask for in these instances should be ones they can perform almost in their sleep. 

I would think this is a dog that is over stimulated. We have to think that on that walk our dog is being stimulated by sound, smell, and visually. It can be over whelming. It isn't the amount of time of the walk but what the dog is being exposed to. Even walking the same route every day they can be exposed to different things.

"a lot of the jumping happens fairly soon after I give her the opportunity to go sniff the "pee rock," where all the other dogs stop. I wonder if that gets her too worked up."

I think that it is great that you observed this. I think it could be what might send her over the top at times but there can be so many other things during that walk that can take her to the point also.

Many dogs are super sensitive about their paws. Just continue to work on handling with lots of reward.

"she was sleeping out in the kitchen and I went to get her to go back in the x-pen for the night - usually not a big deal, but she just didn't feel like getting up. When I gently reached under her back to help lift her, she showed me her teeth and slowly reached towards my hand."

My number one rule is don't touch a sleeping dog or a dog that just woke up. When we just wake up we aren't sure what is going on around us and it is the same for them. Respect her space. It is important that she learn to go in her crate or x-pen with out any handling from you. Go back and work you crate games with both the x-pen and crate so that she wants to go in. 

I think what you are dealing with is normal and a 7/8 month puppy that still has a long way to go before you will get consistent good behavior. She is a work in progress and from your post it sounds like she is doing great and you are doing a fantastic job. 

Patience, time, and training.


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