Socialization

Question
QUESTION:  
I was wondering if you can give us some insight to a problem we are having with our 6 month golden. We adopted our dog at 4months old.  When we first got her she growl at our friend that tried to befriend her.  It was defianlty a fear growl. I thought she was just getting used to everything so I ignored it but it has happened since so I need to evaluate the behavior.  She has a fear growl that she does every once in a while for no provoked reason.  She has growled at other dog lover friends that have only tried to befriend her.  My biggest concern is she has growled at kids.  Twice at a park. Once when she was leashed to a bench with me close by and the other on her pillow with a friends of ours child that she knows at our house.  The child after being in the house just started petting her like she has done and she growled. I want to make sure her growl doesn't ever turn into a bit.  She has never growled at our kids at all. I have three 10,0, 17months. She also every once in a while will pee if someone tries to pet her.  We have had 4 goldens in our past have never had this so I do not know what to do.  If you need more detail I can try to help.

Thanks for your help,
Carrie



ANSWER: This is very serious and should be addressed in person by a competent trainer. I would recommend that you find someone locally and have them work with you.

Have you been to a training center and had this dog through any socialization classes? Do you have a clean bill of health from the veterinarian?

Without seeing your dog and observing the behavior I am unable to really assist you much.

In the interim, there is some information about fear, growling and aggression on my web site that may help get you started.

http://www.OutlawChinooks.com
http://RileyTrainingCenter.blogspot.com



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

QUESTION: Clean bill of health, yes.  We adopted her 2 months ago and I have not taking her to socialization classes yet.  Do you think having her spayed now would help with training her by going places and trying to positive reinforce for growling starts?  Our other dogs we have had since 8 weeks and they went everywhere but with her she was already 41/2 months before we got her.  Do you think it is because she needs time to adjust to the environment or is 2 months long enough for an adjustment time.  She was moved 3 times to different locations with the other owner before us.

Thanks for your help,

Carrie

Answer
Hi Carrie:

If you have a good dog training center in your community, I would recommend getting her into the puppy class to get her on the path to confidence and comfort. I don't know where you live, but would be happy to assist you in finding a training center or private trainer if you like.

I don't think spaying her would factor in with her confidence and trainability. Spaying her is a good idea overall, but isn't likely to make any difference on the fear factor.

One thing you want to be certain you are not doing is unintentionally reinforcing her behavior. If she is frightened about something and you speak softly to her -- think reassuring voice -- you are actually telling her that it is okay to behave in a fearful manner.

Also, try not to let her past life influence your current life. Dogs are really good at adapting to their current situations. As humans, we often think about dog's past lives and how it must be influencing them right now, but usually it is our influence that makes them seem like their past is more influential than it actually is. She lives with you now and needs good, strong, consistent leadership to teach her how to become a better dog.

Are you walking her every day? This is an excellent opportunity to stimulate her mind, show her the world, get her tired, have time to train and bond while out on an adventure. I suggest to my students that they walk 45-minutes per day and at a pace that you could talk to someone walking with you, but it is easier not to. Remember, a tired dog is a good dog.

I have some good leadership information on the blog and the website. Perhaps something there will get you started on the right path.

http://rileytrainingcenter.blogspot.com/ Leader and Unintentional Reinforcement are recent posts that should assist you.

http://www.outlawchinooks.com/ Lots on here too.


Let me know if you have more questions.