Barking and growling at me and my wife! ( a little long)

[Chico_B]

Louie just turned 7 months, and this problem has been in existence for as long as we've had him.

He's very well behaved most of the time, but every once in a while, he'll start jumping, barking and growling at one of us. He'll also "bite" at us...it was playful at first, but now sems more agressive. He has a great bite inhibition, so I am not worried about injury, but it is frustrating us completely.

Generally he will stop if we stick a rope toy or similar in front of him, and engage in a short tug of war. he seems to be satisfied with that. The problem is, I don't want him to choose when it's "playtime".

I am thinking that he is trying to show that he is pack leader, and it seems to be getting worse as sexual maturity looms...he hasn't been fixed yet, and we have been advised against it until he's 1 yr because he has a retained testicle.

How do I:
1) stop the behaviour
2) re-establish (or establish) pack order?

Is this really the issue? has anyone else experienced this?

 

[K8IE]

Sounds to me like you have taught him to do this! You said he will generally stop if you play with him or give him something to do, so you are reinforcing that if he comes at you growling and being obnoxious, that he will be rewarded with a play session! Instead of playing with him, try totally ignoring him when he does this. Turn your back and leave the room, do not give him any attention whatsoever, and he will learn that he does not get rewarded for acting like that. The pack leader should be the one to initiate play time, and end it. Call him to you when you want to play, and be the one to end up with the toy or rope at the end of the session. He will learn quickly that you control when he gets attention and play time and I bet he will stop coming at you like that. Now, Cooper is allowed to play with us in a similar way, but only when we initiate it, and he stops when we say "Enough". I think it is OK to wrestle a bit, as long as your pup understands that when you say stop, it means stop. Good luck!

 

[Chico_B]

Thanks K8IE.

I am aware that I should be the one initiating play, and that by shoving a toy in his face I am reinforcing the behaviour. What I've been trying to do is, as you say call him to me at other times and initiating a play session, and ending it when I choose. He accepts this, but I suppose there is no way to compensate for the times when I "give in" (although I only do it to save my feet! LOL)

I have tried turning my back on him and ignoring him, and while he does get less "aggressive" (he won't jump if my back is to him) he is persistant in trying to get to my feet, generally digging at them, or trying to get in front of my to mouth them. I have stood still and ignore him for upwrds of three or four minutes, and he is relentless sometimes! Even if I leave the room, he will just wait outside the door to start again!

How long does it normally take for them to realize they won't get the attention?

 

[Prophecy]

Establish dominance and dont reward him for biting or growling.

I had an issue with my boys trying to battle over dominance years ago. I couldn't leave them alone without them trying to hurt each other. This issue also seemed to arise when my g/f was alone with them.

So one night I pulled the dogs out with just me there and established dominance with a very loud voice. If they would get in an altercation I would grab them by the back of the neck and hold them down. With a stern voice and holding them down they learned they couldnt fight but more importantly that I was in charge. For the longest time if they even hinted at a fight or growling I would seperate them by pointing them in opposite directions.

Its kinda like what you see on dog whisper with him grabbing there neck and making the sound he makes.

I dont really support the dog whisperer but he has a couple techniques that do work.

 

[ELubas]

He is at the worst stage right now-adolescence-very trying.. With all due respect to the last poster I would not resort to physical means or yelling. A stern voice, certainly , is warranted, but ignoring is the best solution. Also, NILIF every minute of every day goes a long way in building respect. Once you start asking for something before he gets anything you will be surprised how that pushy behavior diminishes. Also, do not leave any toys, food, etc. lying about-you control everything and he has to do something to get any of it. When we have company my boy would go NUTS so I put a few tethers around the house. If the bell rang, and he could not calm down, I would tether him to the closest one to me, and without a word usher in the guests, chat, and once he was calm (and sad to not be part of the activities) I would let him rejoin. Tood awhile but they are SMART and he figured out the rules very quickly By the way, doubt it has anything to do with him not being neutered but if you are waiting for that testicle to drop it probably will not at this point. My boy's never did

 

[liljack]

I'm glad to see this post!
I actually have the same issue with Jackson. He's not aggressive in the least with it...It's really playful, but it gets too much. When we try to walk away, he bites our feet and he jumps and "bites" at our arms...
I like the tether idea as well and will be putting one up this very evening.

 

[ELubas]

Eileen,
That is a great idea about putting the tethers around the house for a "timeout." I will be installing a few of those this afternoon. It is amazing how a sleepy lazy afternoon can turn into an all out "Bull in the china Closet" afternoon by the doorbell ringing.
Sounds like that would work too if your boy starts in on your feet or jumping and barking is to put him on a tether and let him calm down. Then let him off, make sure he is calm, then initiate some type of energy burning activity.

Exactly One minute you're relaxing and the next minute all hell would break loose. Yes, they come in very handy and the best part is the pup gets little, if any , attention while it all occurs so no inadvertent reinforcement. I still smile when I think of my boy's face when he would realize he was "trapped" He is now a six year old mellow soul...

 

[K8IE]

Thanks K8IE.

I am aware that I should be the one initiating play, and that by shoving a toy in his face I am reinforcing the behaviour. What I've been trying to do is, as you say call him to me at other times and initiating a play session, and ending it when I choose. He accepts this, but I suppose there is no way to compensate for the times when I "give in" (although I only do it to save my feet! LOL)

I have tried turning my back on him and ignoring him, and while he does get less "aggressive" (he won't jump if my back is to him) he is persistant in trying to get to my feet, generally digging at them, or trying to get in front of my to mouth them. I have stood still and ignore him for upwrds of three or four minutes, and he is relentless sometimes! Even if I leave the room, he will just wait outside the door to start again!


How long does it normally take for them to realize they won't get the attention?

LOL, when Cooper was younger he would go after our feet as well. Ouch!

As far as how long it takes with the ignoring, I guess it depends on how serious you are about it. Don't give in no matter how irresistable that puppy playfullness is... I guess I mean it can take several repetitions of walking away, closing a door on him, or giving him a time out either in his crate or baby gated into a separate room to realize that you mean business and playtime ends immediately when he acts that way. If you are consistent every single time, even if he is good at first but then gets riled up, he will get it.

 

[StormiesMom]

Elubas,

What do you attach the tethers to? Stormie gets overly excited when people come over, sometimes we put her in our room for a bit. However, when we let her out she is just as excited. Maybe if she was tethered, where she could see the action and calm down it would be better? I am just wondering what you attach them to?

 

[ELubas]

Elubas,

What do you attach the tethers to? Stormie gets overly excited when people come over, sometimes we put her in our room for a bit. However, when we let her out she is just as excited. Maybe if she was tethered, where she could see the action and calm down it would be better? I am just wondering what you attach them to?

You have to be willing to desecrate your woodwork Seriously we drilled them (eyehooks) into the wood in the entryways. So one in the wood between the kitchen and dining room (the door people enter the house through), one by the entry to the living room, one down in the family room, etc. Any sturdy surface will do and then I just left short leashes around so I could grab one and hook him up. And it is not forever, just until they "get it" and if your hubby is patient like mine he can then fill in the holes (and re-do then when you get another pup like I did)