lab mix behavior

Question
QUESTION: my lab mix (we think hes mixed with pitbull) is very aggressive, always bites us, is very jealous, and won't listen. Like when we take him outside he runs around but then sometimes he just runs away from us. Several times he ran 4 blocks down the street and wouldn't come back. I'm not even sure if I really want to give him away because I feel like the new owners would just give him away too. And I really do love this dog. Would obedience class fix this? Or how could we fix this? We have 3 dogs and on base we can have only 2 which is why I either have to give away this new 2 month old Chihuahua puppy or our lab who i had for 10 months and is almost 1 years old.

Thank you,
Jenny



ANSWER: Hi, Jenny,

Thanks for the question.

How old is the doggie? Is he the one who's almost a year old? It sounds like he's got a lot of energy he doesn't know what to do with. Do you ever play with him? Do you play fetch and tug-of-war? Both those games use up a lot of a dog's natural energy. It also makes them more obedient to their owners. There are actually scientific studies that prove this.

By the way, when you say he "bites" you, does he nip as if he wants to play, or does he actually bite down hard as if he wants to really hurt you? If you've been scolding him for nipping that would account for the fact that he won't come when you call him, and won't listen to your commands, etc. Also, what do you mean by "jealous?" What does he do, prevent your other dogs from getting any of your affection and attention?

Obedience classes would probably help, but the thing that would help most is playing tug with him, letting him win, and praising him for winning. You should also hand feed him all his meals outdoors using a pushing exercise where you hold the food in one hand, let him eat and while he's eating you put your other hand against his chest. Then you keep that hand in place but pull the food hand away slightly so that he has to push into you in order to eat. Over a period of a few days or weeks he should be pushing into as hard as he can in order to eat.

If you have any further questions, let me know. I'm curious to hear back from about the questions I asked. It'll help me help you guys out a little better.

Thanks,

LCK

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Yes the lab mix that I'm talking about is going to be 1 years old in August. We do play fetch with him and sometimes tug of war. When he bites sometimes he does it to play bite our hands, but then sometimes he just bites my husbands and my hands and doesn't let go. We have to pry his mouth open. Also, sometimes he just bites our hands and face just because its in front of him. I don't think he means to hurt us though... but I'm not sure. How should we let our lab (Bow) know that he shouldn't bite without scolding so that he will still listen to our commands? Bow is jealous because if our other dog (Kiki) a Chihuahua comes by us and is being petted or is coming toward us, Bow just runs towards us and stays in front of us so that Kiki can't come near us at all. He will even start to bite her and they end up fighting. How can I stop him from barking so much at people who are just passing by our home? Or from barking at our neighbors when their getting into their cars? He also can open doors and most times he try's to escape from the house, we get worried because we have many little kids around our neighborhood and we don't want him to bite anyone. When were outside he doesn't want to play all he wants to do is eat grass. He likes to play inside...

Thank you for your help We appreciate it.
Jenny

Answer
Hi again.

Bow sounds like a very tightly wound dog.

What I'd do is contact a local trainer or training group who either uses positive reinforcement or drive training. Other trainers might think Bow is "alpha" or "dominant" when he's really acting out of anxiety. In my opinion that kind of trainer would make more of a mess of Bow than he already is. So make sure whoever you talk to understands that there's no such thing as "alpha" or "dominance." That's very important.

Meanwhile, I would start hand feeding Bow all his meals outdoors, using a pushing exercise. You hold the food in one hand, say, "Ready, Bow?" in a happy voice, and put the food under his snout. As he eats you put your other hand, palm up, against his chest very lightly. Just let it sit there for the first few handfuls of his meal. Then as he's eating the third handful, pull your food hand away ever so slightly, just a fraction of inch or so, but leave your other hand against his chest so that he has to push into you in order to keep eating. Whenever he finishes a handful of food you must take your other hand away from his chest. The idea is to give him the pleasurable sensation of eating out of your hand with the slightly uncomfortable sensation of feeling pressure against his chest.

Once he gets used to pushing into your hand on his own (which should take a few days or so), then you can start pushing against his chest while he's eating out of your other hand. Over a period of a few days or so, you should be able to build up the amount of pressure so that he's almost knocking you over while he eats. You should also praise and encourage him like crazy while you're doing this exercise.

Be careful. We don't want him to accidentally bite your fingers!

Once you've finished feeding him his meal, see if he'll play tug with you. He might surprise you and be willing to play outside now. If not, give it a few days and try again. But you should only play tug, or any other game, with him outdoors. The "den" is for sleeping and resting, the outside world is for play.

If you've been scolding or correcting him when he nips or grabs you with his teeth, you need to stop doing that and find a way to redirect his energy into a toy.

If you follow the instructions exactly as I've given them you should start to see several positive changes in his behavior in the next few weeks. If not, let me know. If you have trouble with the pushing exercise, let me know.

LCK