# Defiant, Showing Teeth and won't listen... What do you think?



## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Normal*

I would say that she is a normal 9 month old.

I know many on hre will have great training advice.

I think crates are wonderful training tools. If you do use a crate though never use it as a punishment and make sure her collar is OFF when you put her in it, so she won't be able to catch her collar on it and choke.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

I found the bigger deal I made about whatever not-allowed object Sam decided to dangle in front of me, the more he wanted to play and run from me, etc. If I just looked at him, looked away and continued what I was doing, he would be like "well what fun is this?" drop it, and find something else to do. That may or may not work for you, depending on Skylie.. much of her behavior sounds like normal puppy behavior.. she's just testing her limits.


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## rictic (Feb 16, 2009)

my little mutt is the same lol.
i darent try to chase him as he loves it.

i just swap the new socks for a treat, never fails with the greedy little booger.

he does the growling and nipping too. again i distract his behaviour or ignore him.
if he cant be with me or interact with me he hates it. he is getting better daily honestly.

i once thought i had the devil dog of devil dogs lol.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Don't chase her, she thinks it's a game. You could keep a leash on her so you an reel her in when you need to. Trade her a treat or favorite toy for what she has. And of course the age old advice, don't have things down that she will grab... I know that's hard to do.


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## Noey (Feb 26, 2009)

Noah does that. We get up and turn away from him. We also put a toy in his mouth. He has his zoom zoom snappy moments. He only gets really snappy, not aggressive, when he has a ton of energy. It's like he can't control his urge to grab something...anything...even you. We are working on it.

I'm having an issue with Noah and socks, he loves getting them and I think he has all the right foot socks hidden. He knows "give" but I'm having a hard time making him not want them. HE just carries them and pulls them. Thank goodness he does not eat anything but food.


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

Sounds like a 9 months old! Here is what I did with my little girl.

First more playtime. Make sure she is getting time to run off all the puppy energy! 

Next put things away and limit her access to items she likes to steal. Baby gates are great if you don't want to worry about picking up...

Finally for my girls I made it MY game. Bring it to me and I will give you a treat. In no way does this solve the grabbing things problem... But I always get items... And I personally don't mind it. I would rather have my pup bringing me socks then running around with them like a monkey.

Happy training!


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## Darcy (May 7, 2009)

Darcy did the very same thing, everything was a game to him. If i tried to ignore him he would just lay down and chew up what ever he had usually a shoe or sock. 

Then one day it was like he grew up over night and now if he gets something weither it be a shoe his bowl or the rug off the kitchen floor he walks so prowd and brings it to me i simply tap him on the nose and tell him no.


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## Romeo1 (Apr 19, 2008)

skylielover said:


> Is this just a normal 9 month old?


Most definitely normal.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

bumping up


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## Jersey's Mom (Nov 25, 2007)

Darcy said:


> Darcy did the very same thing, everything was a game to him. If i tried to ignore him he would just lay down and chew up what ever he had usually a shoe or sock.
> 
> Then one day it was like he grew up over night and now if he gets something weither it be a shoe his bowl or the rug off the kitchen floor he walks so prowd and brings it to me i simply tap him on the nose and tell him no.


If this is working for you, that's good... but just one little suggestion/thought from the peanut gallery. It very likely seems to your dog that he is being told "no" for bringing you the item. As others have said, if my dog is going to grab something he shouldn't have, I'd much prefer he brings it to me than goes off to enjoy it on his own (read chew/eat/otherwise destroy). The way I would personally handle it is take the item, give a non-nonchalant "thank you," put it where he can't get it and refill the empty mouth with an appropriate toy. Now if he were to bring me an item he is allowed to chew/play with, I'd be sure to dote on what a good boy he is and start some sort of fun game with said item (tug, fetch, keep away... whatever floats his boat). In this way, bringing anything to me is still a good thing... but bringing one of his own toys, as opposed to laundry or my shoe, is far more rewarding and likely to be repeated. Again, just my opinion...

To the OP, welcome to the world of an adolescent retriever. EVERYTHING goes in their mouths. As others have mentioned, chasing them turns it into a really fun game for them. Much better to manage the environment best you can, encourage him to bring anything he does get to you (either with a treat or favorite toy), and then tweak the behavior to guide him toward appropriate items. Good luck with your pup!! :wavey:

Julie and Jersey

Edited to add: Forgot about the rest of your question. To steal an old adage, "A tired puppy is a good puppy." Make sure your pup is getting plenty of exercise and mental stimulation. Teach him that teeth hitting your skin means the end of fun time (there are numerous ways of doing this from time outs to turning your back and ignoring until he calms down. The best approach will depend greatly on the dog's personality). What helped me most was keeping his mouth occupied with toys whenever possible... can't bite with a mouth full of plush duck, LOL. To this day when my boy gets over stimulated he either carries a toy or gives himself a "time out" where he lays down a chews a bone (this is especially evident when my nephew visits... he's very excited but knows he needs to find a way to settle or risk banishment, however brief, to his crate).


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

Brooks never has any interest in stealing laundry or our shoes from the closet unless we are there and can see him. He knows that will get a response from us, get us to interact with him. So, it is like a little kid getting his ball and begging for you to play with him.
When your dog gets the laundry, why don't you go get an acceptable toy (or a ball) and say "Let's go outside and play?" and see what happens.


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

If your pup was much younger I'd give a different set of advice but since she is already at 9-months I will second the suggestion given a couple of postings or so above... EXERCISE... the single best thing you can do to achieve a calmer, more cooperative dog and strengthen your bond in the process is to spend more activity time together. She is wanting your attention and has excess energy to burn off... thus the antics. She needs at least an hour (MINIMUM) of active exercise every single day... you simply cannot miss any days. Exercise is cumulative and so for this to work you must keep it up everyday. Once all that energy is given a focus and drained then she will be calmer and better able to listen and want to cooperate with you. Oh she will still have her moments of playfulness but it won't be insane like before... she will give in far more easily. 

The air snapping is a Golden thing (actually can be a Lab thing as well) and is merely excessive playfulness directed at you, her playmate. Our dogs usually reserve this style of play for each other or other retrievers, however it appears your doggie views you as her playmate except you don't know the rules or how to reciprocate properly... 'cuz you're not a dog. She will eventually come to realize this, however draining her hyper-energy by providing an appropriate outlet everyday (ie exercising) will probably hasten the process.

She sounds very playful, you just need to provide her with an outlet everyday... actually twice a day would be better. Oh and you can probably get her to come to you by running away from her... the concept of chase is something most dogs intuitively understand and they love the game whether they are the chaser or the chasee... its up to you to turn the game around... trust me, you don't want to be the chaser, you will always be on the losing end... four legs are way faster than two.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Why is laundry continually kept where she can get to it? If she keep grabbing it, she'll KEEP grabbing it... 'cuz it's fun to snatch stuff! IMO, what she does once she has the stolen object is just a symptom of the real problem, which is STEALING stuff in the first place. 

A new management strategy, perhaps?


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## skylielover (Sep 27, 2008)

Thank you for all the responses. very helpful. I'm glad to know she is not the only one that does this. 

I had finals this week, so I've been studying a lot lately and not giving her as much attention/exercise. I know that has something to do with it as well.

As for the laundry, that was just an example, like if I drop a sock she grabs it and runs before I can even pick it up. She does this everything, pens, clothes, paper.. anything..

She IS very playful and full of energy. I am trying to teach the DROP command, but to her - she is just gonna do what she wants... :no:

She is a good girl though and very sweet when she wants to be, but also very defiant, haha. 

I plan on doing more training with her over the summer.


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

skylielover said:


> Thank you for all the responses. very helpful. I'm glad to know she is not the only one that does this.
> 
> I had finals this week, so I've been studying a lot lately and not giving her as much attention/exercise. I know that has something to do with it as well.
> 
> ...


Okay you're a student right? then try to imagine this...
You are locked up in your dorm room with no TV, no radio, no books, no phones, no playstation, no computer/Internet, etc... nothing in that room except a bed and a couple of rubber toys to play with. No real outlet for any physical or mental stimulation... no possibility for any social contact or interactions. Now after a couple of days of this someone enters the room with the intention of wanting to teach you calculus... it will take intense focus and concentration on your part. I don't know about you but for me forget the calculus, I just wanna run out of the room screaming, talk like a million miles an hour, go visit friends I haven't seen in a couple of days and in general just 'unload' physically and mentally. Only after I can get that all out of my system might I then be able to focus and learn something. Why would your doggie be any different? And remember she's still just a puppy, so everything goes doubly so for her. She's a good puppy, she's a normal puppy, she just wants to be a puppy... so just give her the chance everyday to "blow it all out" in a way you find more constructive.


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## GoldenOwner12 (Jun 18, 2008)

Hi what i would say is up her exercise when walking her throw in commands eg heel,sit,drop. What i do with Shelley is she is in heel the whole time every road we have to cross i tell her to sit look both ways which she sometimes does, If safe to cross i say ok. When i get to the park where there allowed offlead i tell Shelley sit and when i go to unclick her lead i tell her wait, She stays in sit for a few seconds then i say ok. By doing this it makes her waste her energy alot more, I do not let her rest i keep her on the move even if i have to walk around the park to keep her going so be it. We are normally at the park for an hour then continue walking for further 10-20 minutes. The whole time through our walk i tell Shelley heel, every road sit/look. 
May i surguest you take skylie to obedience as this will form a stronger bond towards Skylie and yourself. Since taking Shelley to obedience our bond is stronger, She is listening even more. Beforehand she used to run off and not a care in the world if i was in eye sight or not. Now she is looking behind to make sure i'm still with her. Sometimes she may go off out of my eye sight and she can't see me but a whistle or her name called out she comes runing back. Before i had to always go to her cause she would sometimes not come back when called, If that happened she got put back onlead for 5 minutes for punishment. But now since training her from day 1 i got her and now taking her to obedience she is turning into a well adjusted dog. The obedience trainer was well surprized on how much Shelley knew for her age. The only thing i couldn't get Shelley to do is heel, But since taking her to obedience she now heels with some corrections on my part. 
So i think with Skylie more exercise and a form of obedience training will help alot with her. I take Shelley through what she has learnt from obedience daily if i can if not every second day.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

There has been some _spectacular_ advice on this thread, and I agree with the idea of more exercise, of redirecting to appropriate toys and play behaviors, and the removal of laundry from the dog's reach. Good luck! A retriever needs consistency much more than harshness.


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## skylielover (Sep 27, 2008)

thank you for all the replies. I took her to my parents house this weekend, so she could run around, play at the beach and meet other dogs. She had a blast. After being completely worn out, she still managed to go in my parent's bathroom and stand up to get a rag out of the cabinet... I guess that's just her thing haha

I'm out of school for 3 months, so I can work with her all summer as well.


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