# 1year old chester is aggressive with girlfriend...



## Walter (Sep 21, 2010)

Chester is just about a year old. On occasion he has really bad behavior. He only acts like this when he is with my girlfriend for the most part (we live together and she has been around Chester since he was 6 weeks). For example they will be outside together in the back yard and he will start jumping and biting and barking at her for no apparent reason. It isn't as if he is trying to hurt her (although he does end up scratching her). She immediatly tells him no and down and walks away and goes back inside and leaves him out there but sometimes it's hard to get him to stop. But, the problem we are facing is why he behaves like this seemingly out of nowhere and how to change this behavior? With me he does not act like this... which makes the situation worse because it's just with her. This might occur once a week, but all other times during the day (she's home all summer with him because she's a teacher) he is great. It is bad enough though at these times that it is noticeably bothering her, and me. Any suggestions?


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## Meggie'sMom (Dec 24, 2007)

Is he just trying to engage her in a game? Maybe he wants her to throw a ball or play with him somehow? Maybe it's a day when he hasn't had enough physical exercise. It's hard to say just from this description what's going on with him.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

1) Is Chester neutered?
2) Have you done any obedience training with him?
3) Does your girlfriend do any obedience work with him?
4) How much exercise and training does Chester get on a daily basis?

I don't have enough real experience to say much, but I think the experts around here might need a little more info about what is going on when these episodes occur. Are there any other details you can give as far as the scenarios when this happens? Time of day, during play? 

From what little you've said, it sort of sounds like he's getting wound up and is releasing energy with her in inappropriate ways. Whatever the case, you are smart to get this under control right away.

You might try doing a search for a training idea called "nothing in life is free" and read up on that. A behavioralist I consulted with my last golden highly recommended this approach. He even used it very stricly with his own dogs a lab and a golden.


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## Walter (Sep 21, 2010)

chester is neutered. i have done training with him, my girlfriend not as much. and yes i think it is his way of trying to get attention and play... because it's pretty random when it does occur, but it's not working for us. when we aren't outside playing with him, often times he likes to just go out by himself and find sticks in the backyard and then run "laps" around the trees with the stick he finds. when he isn't playing outside he's taking a nap to get re-energized to go back out and play more..i just think that unfortunatly he is using this method to get our attention. 
sometimes too i've noticed that he seems to act "aggresive" like this if he is overtired, not sure if dogs get overtired and cranky like children, but that's what it reminds me of. is if hes barking or asking for attention rudely and he is ignored he usually then just goes and plops on the floor and falls asleep. so it seems like he just doesn't know when to take a break sometimes and he gets in a bad mood after a while. but i will look into nothing in life is free program you mentioned. thanks for the suggestions


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## Deb_Bayne (Mar 18, 2011)

Bayne does this with Bryan but only in the evening around or just after supper time(his supper). He gets quite aggressive or rather forceful, jumping, biting. Bryan will turn around and put his back to him and it just gets worse. He ends up just walking completely away from him into another room or leaves Bayne in his kennel outside. He does this with me but rarely, only if he hasn't had enough exercise that day.


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## Pawz's mama (Feb 12, 2011)

Sounds like 2 things. He needs more mental, and physical exercise, and sounds like he needs more obedience training. Does he get a daily walk?


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## Our3dogs (Apr 3, 2008)

It might help if your GF takes him to an obedience class as well. This helps both of them learn to work with each other, and shows your guy that your GF is the other boss in the house. She can also share her concerns with the instructor for suggestions on how to handle him.


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## Leslie B (Mar 17, 2011)

This sounds like play behavior all the way. It sounds like Chester is deciding when your gf has to play with him. It says a lot about where Chester thinks your gf is in the household. As for your gf going in the house when he gets like this, you should remember that in pack dynamics, the submissive members retreat from more dominant members when there is any issue. Going in the house reinforces that Chester is in charge.

How to fix it will take some work on the part of your gf. Since she is the one who is being disrepected, she is the one who will have to take the lead in fixing it. Years ago, with my first Golden, the pro I went to expained to me, as gently as he could that the dog was giving me "the paw". The dog did not respect me and his behavior was to blow me off and physically push me around. I went home and got mad. The first step for me was to grow a backbone and go to work. Your gf might have to get a little mad at being disrespected. Second she should enroll in an obedience class with the dog. Practice a lot at home - especially in the back yard. Last, create a time out area for the dog where the gf can put him if he acts up. Then she can go back and claim the back yard as hers - not his.

Good Luck


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## Walter (Sep 21, 2010)

I looked at the NILF program, and most of that was how I have trained him since he's been a puppy (except that he usually has toys and bones out all the time rather than me bringing them to him).
So far things are working, mostly in that my girlfriend is working on putting chester in his place rather than ignoring him. 
He definitely gets his share of exercise and walks, but I think this is just Chester telling her what to do when Chester wants it. 

Thanks for the help


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

I will move this to the training section to see if the trainers might have some opinions for you. They might have missed it in this section.


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

If you look around the forum you will see that this type of behaviour is quite common in dogs Chester's age. In my opinion dominance theory is outdated and over rated. I would view this as misdirected energy and lack of knowing how to interact the way WE like dogs to interact with us. Some goldens jump and nip at this age, others continuously bite at their leash or people's clothing. If you've been doing obedience training with him he has been reinforced to act a certain way around you, but if your girlfriend has never taught him the right way to act around her he does what dogs do, mouth each other, chase, wrestle, all with the gusto of a dog who has more energy at this age than he knows what to do with. 

I would agree with the others to get her to do a structured activity with Chester - take up tracking or agility or do regular obedience exercises. If you can have her not do anything but structured activity with him for the next little while that might be ideal. Hopefully he'll form a habit of acting around her the way he acts around you. I would advise to never go to him without some toys or treats in hand and a plan. He should have a solid default sit by niw. If he does get crazy have her stand still abd say loudly and clearly "chester sit!" and reward. She can also feed his entire meal through training. 

I hope you make some progress. Teenage dogs are a huge handful! Good luck!

Btw, how is he with other dogs? Dogs brought home so young can have less than ideal social behaviours. And he does go into the house correct?


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