# Behavior Relapse- 18 months



## FosterGolden (Mar 10, 2014)

I'd be interested in knowing how/why you chose your breeder? Did you discuss the temperament of the parents? The best fit? The fact that she let all the puppies go at 6 weeks is a red flag. And three litters at the same time? A puppy mill, perhaps? Either way, poor breeding practices (barring some weird mishap). What is done is done, but my point is that much of his behavior may be genetic due to poor breeding practices and you may just have to manage it. For example, if you know that he gets this way without exercise or routine, you'll have to either ensure he gets what he needs or accept the fact that you cannot be 100% consistent 100% of the time and during these times you'll have to deal with it and get back on track as soon as you can. You can hardly blame the dog for this, if it is the case. 


I knew a woman with a Golden that had similar issues to what you describe. When he got stressed or overstimulated he lashed out at her. The breeding of these dogs is sketchy, but I won't go into details. She worked with a behaviorist and they came up with a plan that has worked really well. She no longer does dog sports because the dog can't take the overstimulation. He is on a strict schedule; very structured. An hour hike every morning (owner is up at 4 or 5am) off leash where he can use his brain and explore. He is fed a raw diet (no processed foods). There are a few other things she does. Point being, it sounds like a veterinary certified behaviorist might be in order. And I wouldn't go back to the trainer doing alpha roles. That's a good way to get bit.


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

As you know, when you take a pup away from its litter at 6 weeks, the pup is missing some vital elements of education that he should have got from his litter. One of these is bite inhibition. Bite inhibition can be taught afterwards, but given that your dog is physically hurting you when he bites, and tearing your clothes, this doesn't seem to have been done. The way I teach this to my pups is to put them in my lap and allow them to mouth my arm and hands. When they bite too hard, I squeal or say ouch, and put them on the floor. It works. I'm not sure how to adapt this method to an adult dog, but I do think that bite inhibition is something you need to address. Perhaps a good professional trainer (not one who pins dogs to the floor) would have some ideas for you.

It's interesting that your dog does this to you but not to your husband or niece, and I think that's something you should consider carefully. In your post you use words like "scared", "nervous" and "hovering" to describe your reactions to him, and you say that you actually climbed up onto the kitchen counter to get away from him. Dogs are very good at picking up on human emotions. If you're afraid, they're going to exploit that. Running away from him (e.g. climbing onto the counter) when he misbehaves actually reinforces the behaviour and makes it into a game for him. You become his prey, not his master. Also, you describe your dog several times as having "attitude" and being "stubborn". This suggests that he's the one calling the shots in the relationship, not you, which is surprising given the amount of training you've clearly done with him. You also mention that you didn't really want a full-time indoor dog. It might be worth thinking very honestly about your relationship with this dog: how comfortable you feel with him, whether or not you actually like him, and so on. If you're not comfortable, or if you don't really like him, he's going to know that and react accordingly. It may be a reason why he's taken charge of you.

As FosterGolden noted, a breeder who places pups at 6 weeks of age is probably not going to have done their homework as far as breeding practices are concerned. If your dog was exhibiting the "crazy" behaviour with everyone, there may have been an inherited aspect. But since he isn't, I think it's more likely that he's simply "more dog" than you're able to cope with easily. A good breeder will ask lots of questions about your lifestyle and the type of dog you want, and will match you with a puppy that has the right personality for your household. This clearly wasn't done in your case; you got a much more assertive dog than you're able to deal with, and in addition, you were sent home with a pup that wasn't ready to be separated from its mom and littermates. What you're currently experiencing is, IMHO, a direct result of these two issues. My suggestion would be to find a very good trainer: not one who pins dogs down but one who uses a mostly positive approach and *trains people how to train dogs*. He or she will be able to give you tips for managing your dog's behaviour and adjusting your relationship with him. I would add that your current trainer has probably made things worse for you by telling you to jerk the leash. Given your nervous behaviour with the dog, a half-hearted attempt at leash-jerking is almost bound to reinforce the behaviour instead of stopping it.

I wish you the best of luck! It sounds as though you really want this to work out, and I hope you find some solutions.


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## Oakaford (Jun 7, 2016)

My suggestion for the jumping/biting issue is as soon as he starts jumping loosen the slack in the leash enough so it is dragging on the ground and stand on it (still keeping the end in your hand) and if he tries to jump again the leash is tight enough to the ground that he can't. I can't imagine jumping when the leash is tugging against them feels very comfortable. When my dog was a puppy she did the jump and bite thing and after doing that leash trick literally less than five times (combined with the calming walks for a couple weeks) the habit was broken.

I hope this helps!


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## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

When ever someone leaves for an extended period of time it can cause stress in a dog even if he loves the people he is staying with. And their rules and how they might work with the dog is almost never the same as you would. So you have a teenage dog that lacks bite inhabitation that is super excited as the people he loves has returned. He is also at a typical age for teenager behavior even without the hormones this can cause a lot of over threshold excitement that leads to unwanted behavior unless directed. Everything changed in his schedule changed he might be more sensitive to those changes.

I agree that you need to find a trainer that will train you not just a training class. I did not realize the difference till I started to take class last year from someone that trains competition level obedience. It did not matter if I wanted to show she trains everyone the same, she shows how to shape behaviors and has shown me all the ways I have been doing things wrong. And I was surprised to learn why some of my normal training while ok was not creating a long term behavior and could easily fail under pressure of weird circumstances. I would ask for a behavior and it didn't work she would explain why. My body language gets me in trouble lol. Dogs read our bodies very well and we might be offering permission for something and not realize it. My high energy dog is so much nicer to be around since I learned what not to do with him and Tink she is just all around a much better dog and she was a great dog. Typically without realizing it we can be rewarding a behavior we don't want and not reinforcing with praise and food or toys and just plain happiness when the dog does something that we want. Also training with a dog is ongoing it can be simple 5-10 minutes everyday of reinforcing the behaviors that you want and those commands like sit down etc. I use every walk I take to do reinforce.


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

My 3 y.o. did the same thing to me starting at 4.5 months. He bit and bruised me, got holes in my clothes, etc. He is from a wonderful reputable breeder whose parents have stellar temperaments. We picked him up when he was 9 weeks and he came from a nice-size litter. He was the first one to go home, so he had plenty of play and socialization. 

My dog came to me with a lot of confidence (he has a huge head, both literally and figuratively), attitude, and very good sense of how to get ME to work for HIM. When we went to get his xrays done for OFA, the vet said... "He's a Macho Man." 

However, I did not "put him in his place," because my view is that a dog of his size can seriously hurt me. Instead, I made him into my lil' baby, haha, even though I have 5 human children of my own. I coddled him. My rule was, "Nothing bad can ever happen to my dog." I prevented him (without him knowing) from making bad choices. I helped him think that GOOD choices were HIS idea. I spoke to him softly. Never yelled. We did a lot of formal training classes that were positive only.

When he went through his phase of biting me on walks, we stopped walks completely for awhile, and then only took short ones. We worked through the Relaxation Protocol by Dr. Overall. Did a lot of rewarding, in general, for calm behavior. Started doing conformation classes because they really help a dog learn to be calm around other dogs and people.

With time, something changed. My dog became my partner. Wherever I am, he's there. Not on my lap, but in the same room. He doesn't get non-stop treats now, and he's OK with it. Not only can he work through his frustration by letting a sigh out (he really does!) but he just doesn't get very frustrated... ever. He is happy and relaxed. We are "his" family. Oh, and he is intact. This is not a hormone issue, at least not in our case. 

Is he perfectly trained? No. He still gets too excited with new people, but IMO, it's the best problem to have and why I love goldens. He will steal the occasional toy in hopes for payment of a treat. But, we have spent 3 years building a solid foundation of mutual trust. That being said, I never take for granted he's a dog, and always have a healthy respect for his power.

I saw a woman on a walk with an older golden. Every few feet, the golden would completely stop and stare at the woman. It made me smile. This is goldens. Yes, they are often far more "stubborn" than people give them credit for... because they are smart. They negotiate with us. They communicate with us. They love to be with us, they love when we are happy... but they also love when THEY are happy. And frankly, seeing them happy makes me happy, too.


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