# Two Year Old Displaying Concerning Behaviors



## janeshea (Aug 9, 2019)

We got Benny as a puppy and thought that we did everything to bring him up as a healthy, well socialized dog. Multiple training classes, etc. I'm afraid that our biggest mistake was taking him to daycare too much. We really thought that he loved it and that it was good for him to be there rather than home alone all day. At some point, he suddenly refused to go into the daycare facility. Thinking that something bad happened, we switched to another and after a few months, same thing, he refused to get out of the car. So he started staying home. He interacts with other dogs probably once per week so he is getting socialization, but it's always off leash. We speculate that daycare has created some bad behaviors. Walks have become horrible. He lunges, barks, pulls when he sees another dog. If we let him go over and greet the other dog while on leash, he sniffs nicely for a few seconds and then kind of snaps at the dog in an aggressive way. What happened to my puppy who loved everyone and everything? We have tried multiple leashes, treats, going the other direction and now he just lays down when we do that. Nothing gets him out of the "zone" when he sees a dog on our walks. Yesterday he laid down when two people were walking towards us, so I couldn't go away from them. They wanted to pet him and he snapped at the man and then was immediately friendly. It was scary and embarrassing. People keep saying that he's trying to protect me. Some say he will grow out of this. We had a trainer come to the house and did "treat-look at me" training and that doesn't work. After all the things I've read, I feel like this is fear based and that he's leash reactive. We're just so sad that our wonderful puppy now seems mentally unstable. We've tried different leashes and now I just purchased a prong collar and it makes me so sad that we are at this point. Just looking for anyone who has been through this with their Golden. Thank you.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

You don't say how you were referred to the trainer you worked with. I would be looking for some help from a specialist, here is a great resource: Animal Behavior Consultants Directory - Dogs, Cats, Livestock, Horse, Bird

What did the people running the doggy day care say about your dog's behavior as a puppy and after he matured? They never saw these problems? At all?? 

This is not going to be solved without a little more in depth work than just trying to lure with a treat. If this were my dog I would cut out the walks because it just gives him more opportunities to practice the bad behavior and see that he can get away with ignoring you. Figure out a way to exercise him during off hours in locations where you are unlikely to see another dog. Do you have a fenced backyard where you can get him some aerobic exercise? He really needs daily 20-30 minute fetch session that leave him tired and panting. It will help with his mental attitude.

How long were you enrolled in obedience training classes with him?
How often do you practice obedience work at home where you go over things he already knows and then teach something new?
How long have you been practicing the "treat-look at me" training that the trainer introduced? Do you practice at home with no distractions? 

My last questions, who is helping you with the prong collar? There is a right way and a wrong way to use them and an experienced person needs to show you how to fit the dog properly. I strongly encourage you to get the help of a certified professional who has training. Anyone can call themselves a dog trainer and hang out a sign. You want someone with credentials that prove education. We can give suggestions here but you need help from someone in person.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

For the record: If someone wants to pet my dog I instruct them as to how to approach the dog to pet him. 
As for daycare, your dog is giving you a lot of information as to how he feels about it. Use your imagination as to why.


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## janeshea (Aug 9, 2019)

I agree we need a different/better trainer and I will look for some referrals in my area. The daycare staff at both places told me that nothing "bad" happened to him, but he did start to get clingy with the staff, didn't play as much and one time he got there and slept. Unfortunately, I found all this out after I said he wasn't coming back. We usually do a walk in the morning and then play with him in the yard in the afternoon. We play hide and seek in the house and I hide toys/treats around the house and he loves to find them. We do try to exercise and provide mental stimulation every day. We stopped doing training classes after he earned his Good Canine Certificate. I'm thinking that we should go back once we can start doing that again. Interesting point about stopping the walks. We have been working on loose leash training again as well which is fine until he sees another dog. We have been watching YouTube videos on the who to use the prong collar. Haven't used it yet. So, I think we all need to go back to training class and get another trainer to our home. Thank you for the response!!


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

That's an awful lot of contact with random other dogs. It's a myth that dogs constantly need to be in contact with other dogs. They don't. When you get a dog, the most important thing to do is to help him develop a relationship WITH YOU. Not with other dogs. That is done through training, endless practice, and doing fun activities with the dog. If you put the focus on "being good with other dogs", then you are going to end up with a dog who lunges and barks on leash when he encounters another dog, and who doesn't listen to you when you try to change that behaviour. The term "socialization" includes interactions with other dogs, but it also (and mainly) refers to learning how to live in the human world.

I don't think the behaviour as you describe it has necessarily been caused by daycare, especially as you changed daycares and got the same reaction a second time, and he still appears to be good with other dogs when off-leash. From your description, I wouldn't be surprised if it has been caused by all the on-leash encounters during your walks. His reaction to daycare may be a function of that. It's never a good thing to allow leashed dogs to interact. Ever. On leash, dogs are in a situation where they have no control - they can't run away or react "normally" to the other dog because the human is in control of the leash. The encounter is forced. That is why on-leash greetings are discouraged by good trainers. Trying different leashes and different methods has probably made it worse by creating uncertainty - making you, as the person in charge, seem weak - and the fact that you are now stressed about the situation is certainly not helping because the dog will sense this. My guess is that all these things have combined to create what you describe as "leash reactivity". Let me be clear: IMHO your dog is not mentally unstable. He is behaving as any dog would, in the circumstances in which he's been placed. It's easy to blame the dog, but very often, it's the human element of the equation that is responsible for the behaviour.

If he were my dog, I would immediately stop ALL on-leash greetings, period. I would throw away the prong collar - it will only create more uncertainty at this point. Then I would teach and condition an alternative behaviour to the lunging and pulling on leash when another dog is close by. This alternative behaviour - sit, down, look at me, heel, whatever you choose - can't be taught when you're in the crisis situation, in other words, when he's reacting to the other dog. It has to be taught at home first, until you have 100% compliance, then practised in another context, until you have 100% compliance, and then practised with distractions (not other dogs) until you have 100% compliance, then practised around other dogs he knows, until you have 100% compliance. Only then, when you're sure he will comply, should you try it in the crisis situation. Dog training is a marathon, not a sprint.

I have a four-year-old intact male dog. He has never, ever been allowed to greet other dogs on leash. He doesn't expect to greet them, so he doesn't pull or lunge or stop. Instead, if we encounter other dogs during our walks, he looks at me and we just keep walking. If people ask for a greeting, I simply tell them he doesn't like other dogs and keep walking. Before the current coronavirus situation, we used to walk weekly off-leash with a couple of dogs he knows well. It was plenty for him: he would play with them at the beginning of the walk, but by the end, he would be doing his own thing. When we're walking on leash and we encounter a difficult situation (e.g. a dog confined by an electronic fence that lunges at the boundary), he reacts by _looking at me_, not at the other dog, and taking his cue from me. That was not an easy thing to train: there are many, many hours of practice behind that, but it can be done.

As a general comment, most "dog problems" are in fact "training problems". I wish you good luck with it and hope you find a solution.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

I have seen with my own eyes, dogs who needed more 'leadership' from their owner to help with this. A strong obedience foundation where the dog believes that you are in charge rather than the dog, can help with this. It may not be the case with your dog, but it certainly can't hurt. Until regular classes open again, I would look for online resources (there are plenty mentioned on this forum if you do a search) Kikopup has a youtube channel that is good. If you have the means, there is nothing better than private lessons with a knowledgeable person. The best people typically can be found through a local obedience club or dog training club. This is a separate thing than a certified veterinary behaviorist but these people can be super knowledgeable.

A prong collar is a valuable training tool when you've exhausted the training and the foundation is there but he is just blowing you off. I just strongly believe it needs to be fitted properly and used properly. I wish you luck with getting to the bottom of what's going on with your boy and finding solutions so both he and you can be happy. I also wanted to reinforce what was mentioned above: if you're out walking , it's up to you to keep people from approaching if your dog's body language tells you he's unhappy or unsure. It feels embarrassing, but it's so important. You might like to check out an author called Turid Rugaas who has a good book on canine body language, may be do a google search, you can learn a lot about how your dog is feeling by observing. I do think that there are dogs who are jerks because they are bullies but there are also dogs who are jerks because they are fearful. It's very hard for the average person to know the difference. I definitely believe that a true 'alpha' dog is confident and never really acts like a jerk because he doesn't need to. I'm sorry that doggy daycare didn't turn out to be what you hoped for, I'm afraid you aren't the only person to discover this belatedly. Kudos to you for investing the resources to help your dog while he's still young enough to turn this around. It will just take a ton of effort. My parents had a lab who was attached on leash walks a couple different times so she started acting like your dog, growling at dogs. My mom worked RELIGIOUSLY on the food distraction and I wanted to tell you that it worked. The Lab was very food motivated, but she got to the point where she would see another dog on a walk and would immediately sit down and look at my mom expectantly for the treat, completely ignoring the other dog. It really worked. Something else that can work with a good obedience foundation is don't wait for your dog to 'ignore' the other dog, he's demonstrated that he is to afraid or anxious. The minute you see another dog, you start giving your dog other things to think about, obedience commands that he knows, etc. things that occupy his mind so he loses focus. It is why I asked about obedience. Good luck with this, and be patient, you'll work through it.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

There's a lot of good advice here already, but I wanted to say, please don't use a prong collar for this. If you use a tool that causes pain, and that's what a prong collar does, he will associate the things that he is afraid of with pain and that will make it 1000X worse.


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## Jilly Ruby Jane (Feb 15, 2020)

I recommend prong collar Wellbro Pit Bull German shepherd training metal gear, this collar made by nylon and stainless steel, the length can be adjusted. The rubber attached to this collar, your dog will be safe from injuries


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