# Becoming very aggressive



## zippychicken (Oct 14, 2013)

Her bites:


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## tine434 (Nov 24, 2013)

Well.... Back to basics is one approach to the biting, by putting you as the leader and the one in charge.
I can't really evaluate the trainer because I don't have enough info but...
Making her listen to you, work for what she wants, walk well on a leash and respect your leadership is the "basics" that a lot of trainers do begin at because stopping the 'aggression' would happen by putting YOU as the leader.

With that being said, those bites are bad and I think it is very serious and needs immediate and intensive intervention. Intensive. You may need the trainer and some additional help.


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## zippychicken (Oct 14, 2013)

Yes, I understand why we're starting from scratch and she's very good at commands especially sitting and waiting before she can eat breakfast/dinner, which is apparently necessary in controlling possession aggression. I guess I'm just desperate to get help and wondering what other owners would do in my position.
Maybe I will make an appointment with another trainer and see how that goes


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## Anon-2130948gsoni (Apr 12, 2014)

It sounds much more like a resource guarding issue than aggression; I don't blame you one bit for being afraid. Those are really nasty bites.

I would find a trainer ASAP who understands resource guarding and who has specifically worked with this issue. If you search on this board for "resource guarding" there is a lot of really good advice here. Many people recommend the book "Mine" by Jean Donaldson.

I'm sorry you're going through this!


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

If you can find one, a certified canine behaviorist or veterinary behaviorist, would be very beneficial in helping you work with your dog with the resource guarding issues. They can also help to guide you in understanding dog body language, as well as the signals she is giving you that tell you how she is feeling in any situation, in order to help prevent/avoid putting her in a position where she feels the need to defend what she has from you, and putting yourself at risk. If you haven't done so, teaching 'leave it' and 'drop it', and to 'trade', using positive reinforcement, (rewarding her with high value treats and lots of praise) with any item, helps her learn to trust that you will not 'steal' from her.

Resource guarding is fundamentally a 'fear' based behavior, the dog is afraid of losing what it has in it's possession and should never be dealt with 'aggression' (stealing, punishing, or intimidating in order to get the dog to 'surrender' the item) of our own. Keeping in mind that the 'higher value' the item to the dog, ('food' type items or 'found' items, being the top of the list) the more likely the dog is to guard. 
Our 'behavior' impacts their 'behavior' we need to not only communicate effectively with them, but to understand, respect and respond appropriately to what they are communicating to us. Taking the time to learn about how dogs communicate with each other, ('dog' is the only language they know and they use those skills to try to communicate with us) allows us to understand how they are feeling, whether they are happy and 'inviting' or telling us they feeling uncomfortable or 'threatened' in any situation or environment.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

I understand why you would be afraid of this dog, I would too. If this were my dog we would be seeing a certified veterinary behaviorist. There aren't many and they have very specialized training, more than the average trainer or person who calls himself a behaviorist. I know Australia is a huge country, not sure what your options would be, but I found two people in Australia. If it were me, I would try contacting both of these people and if they are too far away, I would try to get referrals to people they recommend in your area.

I hope you will try to start a tighter management program with your dog, try to start heading off these situations by thinking a step ahead and picking up sticks in the yard, trying to keep the house picked up, trash covered, etc. Stop worrying about her choking on an apple. For the time being I would stop taking things from her until you get some professional guidance. I think the fact that you have broken skin and blood is a major problem. Wishing you luck....



AUSTRALIA
*Gabrielle Carter*
BVSc (Hons), MSc, MACVSc, DACVB
Advanced Vetcare
Level One, 26 Robertson Street,
Kensington, Victoria 3031
Australia
office tel: 61 3 9092 0400
mobile: 61 433 151730
office fax: 61 3 9376 8567
[email protected]
http://www.advancedvetcare.com.au
I provide legal consultations
I accept media inquiries


*Kersti Seksel*
BVSc(Hons), MRCVS MA (Hons), FACVSc, DACVB, DECVBM-CA
Sydney Animal Behaviour Service
55 Ethel Street
Seaforth, NSW 2091
Australia
[email protected]
http://www.sabs.com.au
I provide legal consultations
I accept media inquiries

ETA: I looked at a map and am so excited to see Gabrielle is actually right in your area. I hope you will make the call today, it is worth every effort to get such a high level of care for your dog when the problem is as serious as this one is.


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## tine434 (Nov 24, 2013)

Yes that is what I was thinking also... that basic training is good but you may actually need a behavioralist for this also, as it is so serious


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## coaraujo (Nov 2, 2012)

Have you heard of ruff love by Susan Garrett? That could be a good read for you and might benefit you and your pup. Here's a link to Susan Garretts blog talking a bit about it What is "Ruff Love" Really? | Susan Garrett's Dog Training Blog. Its all about building a relationship with your dog and being pro-active in their learning process. There are many things that dogs find rewarding, the action in itself can be rewarding. If we're not constantly monitoring our dogs they can be reinforcing negative behaviors. Ruff love is a program that helps eliminate that self-reinforcement. Its all about management.

I definitely agree with everyone though about seeing a certified canine behaviorist or vet behaviorist. Its going to take a lot of hard work on your end but these are issues that many people successfully work through. Just make sure you're consistent with your training and positive. I hope you are able to get the training help you need from a professional. Aggression issues are hard to deal with - for both the dog and the human. A lot of complex emotions are involved. Best of luck, keep us updated.


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## appleplum (Aug 14, 2014)

She does not respect you as authoritative over her. You need to address your training and leadership. It's very easy to make this mistake with breeds like Golden Retrievers - they are easy to love and especially with the fad of 100% positive reinforcement training without corrections, the dog is more likely to develop these behaviors.


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## Penster (Dec 28, 2013)

Hello

Firstly I am so sorry you are going through this.

We also have some guarding issues with boo, not this severe (yet) but he is 9 months and we have been working on these issues from 8 weeks! When did this start? With the dead bird? Find something your dog is crazy about (for us it's a ball but it could be a treat or toy) and carry it with you at all times for emergencies. If she gets something outside or at home then don't give her a chance to guard, show the emergency item and instigate a swap, do whatever you can to get her away from the item she is guarding by getting her interested in something else. Get the book "mine" as recommended above and work through some of he exercises there and get an opinion from a new trainer. Our trainer has been an absolute god send, we did he opposite and worked only on the aggression. She said if the dog gets something that isn't dangerous then let him have it, tissues etc. the worst thing you could do is take the item away as this will teach her to guard it better next time. How did the bites happen? Did she give a warning growl? Try not to correct it if she does as without a warning she may just bite next time. 

In short, this does sound like resource guarding to me and get a professional trainer in who specializes in these kinds of cases before the dog harms you again or something worse happens. This is instinct and not personal but it is up to is to teach them to trust us and what is acceptable. Let us know how you get on


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## Penster (Dec 28, 2013)

Just want to add that we have fixed a lot of our behaviour issues using positive reinforcement training. Behaviour that were there from day 1 so this training method could not have started. For your own safety do not adapt a more aggressive approach until you have consulted a trainer


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## Anon-2130948gsoni (Apr 12, 2014)

What Penster said 

I was just coming here to say exactly that: at this point, starting with aversive techniques would be very, very risky. Please follow your behaviorist's advice--she's there and can read your situation more accurately.


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## Sammy the Puptriever (Jun 23, 2014)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help!

I have got Sammy 2 months ago ( he is 3 months and a half now) as a lovely playful respectful puppy. He is great with his training, recall and adorable around children and other people and dogs.

This last week he had a massive change of behaviour getting completely aggressive when picked up (or when I try to!) and very very possessive around things he finds. Absolutely nightmare, completely different from when I got him.

It just got to a point where I just leave the room, curl up and cry for a whole hour not knowing how to manage it or what I am doing wrong.

I tried leave for treats, leave for sit and treats and just being extremely patient but I am so frustrated right now, I just dont know what to do.

Any thoughts to help me out? Definitely did not see my Golden going that way...


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## tine434 (Nov 24, 2013)

Sammy the Puptriever said:


> PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help!
> 
> I have got Sammy 2 months ago ( he is 3 months and a half now) as a lovely playful respectful puppy. He is great with his training, recall and adorable around children and other people and dogs.
> 
> ...


Another situation where you should seek professional help and training it seems


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## Anon-2130948gsoni (Apr 12, 2014)

Sammy the Puptriever said:


> PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help!
> 
> I have got Sammy 2 months ago ( he is 3 months and a half now) as a lovely playful respectful puppy. He is great with his training, recall and adorable around children and other people and dogs.
> 
> ...


Maybe you could ask the moderators to move this into its own thread so you might get more responses? I know there are several expert dog owners here from the UK, so they might be able to direct you toward a behaviorist or other resource to help?


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## Penster (Dec 28, 2013)

I also recommend moving this to it's own thread, just know that you are not alone with battling this behaviour. Sounds like another case of resource guarding to me, as mentioned above find a trainer and work on countering out this behaviour. Don't expect your pup to know the command "leave" at the moment, work on different techniques. Work on leave it and drop it but if that doesn't work which it won't always at the start then always carry what your dog can't resist with you in case of these situations. Don't allow your dog to get this stuff in the first place until you have worked in these commands. There's a lot of info on YouTube for teaching leave it and drop it. Also the book mine as recommended above would also help you.

My trainer says that we don't have a typical GR with this behaviour but also said that goldens resource guard 2nd most after cocker spaniels. Our pup is an exception though as we also have to deal with fear aggression. I guess what I'm trying to say is you are not alone and this is more common than you may think


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