Family dog no longer likes Family

I am going to start this post to try to get some help for my 4 year chocolate lab, however, please try to refrain from the “I would shoot that dog” type coments as I am trying to find a solution to this problem. I have twins that are 5 and one 4 yr. old kids that have been around this dog since a puppy. For the last 3 1/2 years he has been great with the kids, no matter what they have to him. He is well trained on birds and honors very well with training. The last 6 months he has done a few growls at the kids, mainly the 4yr. We keep them away when he is eating, bones…ect. Ice fishing last weekend I get a call from the wife that he bit the 4yr in the cheek, no blood but good mark. Come home last night and babysitter stated that he was growling at 4yr old again. He is not neutured but will be this week. Will that help? Do not want to get rid of him and will do just about anything to correct this, but if I can’t he has got to go.. Any Ideas?

He hasnt accepted the 4 year old into the pack. He is showing dominance. The Neuture will help. I have always been against training collars but decided to give them a try and have had excellent results. The dog could also use some agression training. My 8 year old always show agression towards kids, the smaller, the more agression. Using a training collar and immediately putting him down on his back has shown excellent results. The dog could also be jealous of the child as well. Your going to have people tell you that you better put the dog down before he tears the kid up. IMO, theres a difference between a bite, and a nip.

Is there a pattern to when he growls? Is the 4yr old doing somthign that you may not be aware of? Just asking questions hoping to help.

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Is there a pattern to when he growls? Is the 4yr old doing somthign that you may not be aware of? Just asking questions hoping to help.

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doesn’t matter… the 4 year old should be able to do just about anything (short of physcically injuring the dog) to or around the dog without getting that type of reaction from the dog.

As Derek said in his reply, its a dominance issue and the dog needs to learn fast that he’s low dog on the totem pole. Electronic training collar or the ‘choke-chain’ type should be used. An alternative is to mimic the way a momma dog would correct a pup by a firm pinch/squeeze on the back of the neck (wrap your hand half-way around the back of the neck and squeeze firmly until the dog either drops or wimpers). Do this consistently every time the dog shows the behaviour. In fact, if you can find out what the 4-yo may be doing to elicit the response, have him do this on purpose and then be sure to correct the dog if he reacts.

Usually it is when the dog is just lying around and the kids try to give him a hug or pet him. The 4yr is like a crackhead on a pot of coffee and is always jumping around, I think the collar would work well on him . Packer (the lab) was collar conditioned and responds well, but I am not usually around when he growls at the kids to “collar” him. I also think part of the problem is that this seemed to start when we moved 6 months ago, last house ten acres with a river he was able to run all day, now we live in town an can go outside for short periods but only two walks a day.

Does this only happen when the dog is feeding? If so that may be your problem! Some dogs don’t like to be interupted when eating!!!! Very controling of there food dish and doesn’t want to share! Therefore the growling!!!
That might be the case!!!

Sorry posted at the same time!!!

Neutering will help a lot. It should settle him down and lessen the aggression. Training colors are good like Derek said but another option that we were told by our German Shepherd training is to squirt lemon juice in his mouth. As soon as he growls, tell him no, grab his nose and squirt a bunch down his throat. He won’t like that too much. At this point I can just grab the lemon juice container and our Shepherd’s ear drop.

Good Luck!

doesn’t matter… the 4 year old should be able to do just about anything (short of physcically injuring the dog) to or around the dog without getting that type of reaction from the dog.

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I agree, thank you very much for the ideas.

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Usually it is when the dog is just lying around and the kids try to give him a hug or pet him.

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That could be the trigger right there. If the 4 year old is hugging him when he is laying down, the dog may be thinking the boy is trying to mount him. And male dogs want no part of that when they think the boy is lower than him in the pack. Its going to take some training on both the dog and childs part atleast until the boy gets bigger.

HAVE A VET CHECK HIM OUT FOR ARTHRITIS IT MAY BE VERY PAINFUL FOR HIM TO BE HUGGED
MORE SO NOW THAT ITS COLD OUT
THIS HAPPEND TO A GOLDEN/LAB CROSS WE HAD AFTER 3YRS OF AGE THEY HAVE MEDS THAT WORK GREAT
GOOD LUCK

My buddy has had two dogs that did the same thing. One was a german shepherd with a personality problem. It would be all happy and wanting you to pet it, you leave the room and come back 10 seconds later and it would growl at you like you just ate it’s lunch. He worked really hard with the dog for months and months. One day, walking the dog, stopped to talk to the neighbor lady. Dog is just sitting next to him at heel, and WHAM, grabs the neighbor lady by the thigh and sinks his teeth to the bone. Unfortunately, that dog had to be put down after that. Luckily, the neighbor didn’t sue him even though she had one nasty bite.

The second dog was a lab. Nicest dog you would ever meet and was normally good around anyone. One day out of the blue, he started growling at the kids when they would pet him, and eventually snapped at one of the neighbor kids and caught the kids lip and split it open. Turned out the dog had developed some kind of tumor in it’s shoulder and if you touched the dog just right, he freaked out. The vet took care of the tumor, and the dog was back to normal. The kids could have ridden it like a horse and it wouldn’t care.

I guess my point is, some dogs can’t be trained, and sometimes there is a medical reason for a sudden change in behavior.

He is scheduled for the vet Mon. morning full checkup and neuturing. Thanks again for all the input

I would definetely have him checked out. Seems like he might be in some form of pain or sickness. The kids playing/petting him might make it worse.

It isn’t normal for a dog, especially a lab to do this.

I know this is a serious post and I wish you the best but I have to tell you the subject line is the funniest thing I’ve seen today. LOL Good luck.

I think he thinks the 4 year old named him “Packer” and now he’s just pissed.

Seriously though, the posts above seem spot on, for some reason he isn’t aware of his spot in the pack (the end). Our lab ha freaked out since we have had kids. She now humps pillows and couch cushions, which we thought was really bizarre as she is a female. Our vet said it is just she likes to assert dominance over something so she isn’t the bottom of the pack, and she is having a hard time being below the kids. I also think it is because of a lack of attention.

I know a fellow back home that had the same deal going on. He kept trying to correct and train the dog (yellow lab).

Long story short: several surgeries later, his 5 year old boy has most of his function and feeling back into his face, but is hideously scarred for life. I am talking the kind of scarring that is noticable from a distance and can not be reversed. I know for a fact that the father does not go one day without regretting his decisions and wishing he could re-do the whole situation. His beautiful son was 5 yrs old at the time and now he faces a lifetime to deal with it. I don’t need to remind you how cruel kids at that age can be – and that poor kid suffers every day because his dad wanted to keep tha family pet.

You make the call, but to me, a childs welfare outweighs a family pets value infinately. I love my dog like you can’t imagine, but a face bite to my boy(or a threat thereof) and I will put her down immediately(with a lot of tears and heartache).

Risk vs benefit…….

Tim

The first thing is too like mentioned above take him into the vet and have him checked out. Neutering him will help out,but may not resolve all the problems you are having. A dog is a pack animal and with that comes dominance,they do not like to be dominated,held down being on bottom is a way a dog will trigger his defenses. They all wanna be the leader of the pack. The hugs the kids are giving the dog to us humans are love and kindness to a dog with a high alpha blood line will be signs of a challenge triggering the growl and nipping. I will check into what else you can do as far as training to keep a alpha dog as a family dog. I will call my friend that works with K-9’s here in the cities and see what she has to say. But by all means this dog is still trainable and can be broke from this habit. But I know she will say first thing is to have the dog go thru a physical to rule out arthritis,or any other physical damage that may be causing the dog to react this way when hugged.

Have the vet check the dog’s teeth!
Our lab started becoming more intolerant and our vet discovered she was suffering from a very bad case of gingivitis due to plaque build-up–after a deep cleaning(they will knock the dog out), and possibly may need a round of antibiotics, she was back to her normal self. From there on, we had her teeth cleaned annually and never had another problem. My brother in law’s lab was acting much the same way(very intolerant of kids)and after a teeth cleaning she settled down very nicely. For your dog, a typical lab, to go from gentle to mean in a short time frame means something is bothering it and possibly is really suffering. Check this out well as the other things mentioned by the others. Good luck and hope your dog gets well.

Jeremy

IMO , ONCE A DOG THAT OLD MAKES UP HIS MIND ON SOMETHING ITS HARD TO FIX .. IVE BEEN A BREEDER OVER 15 YRS AND THATS WHAT IVE LEARNED , THE ONLY OTHER THING I CAN SUGGEST IS TO BUILD AN OUTSIDE WARM ENCLOSURE FOR THE DOG AND KEEP HIM OUTSIDE PERM. STRICTLY HUNTING !!!!! JUST MAKE SURE HES COMFORTABLE …. OTHER THEN THAT ID PUT THE DOG DOWN !!!!! IMO ANYWAYS

putt2winn~

I finally got ahold of her about this question on your dogs change in attitude. Now she is a certified K-9 trainer/vet and has attended alot of U.S championships with her Police K-9 trained by her dogs.

First as mentioned above she said it sounds like the dog maybe feeling some discomfort when hugged take the dog into the vet and have that ruled out right away including having the dogs dentures checked for infections. The next thing she said is if the vet clears the dog from any type of physical condition look into a special lead for the dog it is NOT a MUZZLE it is a lead that is suppose to make the dog feel dominated and thus causing the dog to submit its dominance. I will get the proper name of the lead from her by tomorrow tonight she was a little busy but spared the time for me to answer this question quickly.

She also said the dog is NOT to old and in fact is at an age that is highly trainable still. She also said she would never recommend having this dog put down or sent out to the kennel because of 6 months of attitude from a dog that has been a family dog for 4 years. Ther must be some reason behind the sudden mood change..

Thanks to all for the input, Vet monday at 8:30 will be the first start. Thats whats great about IDA lots of input no matter if its fishing related or not.

Thanks again,

Chad

Let us know how the Vet check goes..

There are an awful lot of good suggestions regarding your post, but let me make one specific suggestion and see if it works.

When the dog is eating or chewing on a soup bone, try and take it away from him. If he growls or tries to bite, nick the dog with an E Collar.

Do this a few times and I suspect the dog will be perfectly obedient regarding removalof the food or treat.

Next, be careful but let your four year take his food or treat away. Keep the dog on a short lease, and if he tries to bite nick him with the E Collar.

Also, in terms of walks and any type of training let the four year participant to the extent possible.

There are also plenty of good materials regarding issues of this nature, so give them a read.

Let us know how this goes.

Dog’s at the vet today, getting checked out and fixed. This weekend sat down with the dog, my two 5 yr. olds walked up, petted him, tail wag no problem. 4 yr. old comes up, down goes ears and growled. I did the ear pinch, repeated, same results, corrected him again. Third time no problem with the 4 yr. old. I am starting to think the previous posts about pecking order are right on. Will let you know how the vet checkup goes when I get the dog back tommorow.

Well you found a place to start now and after the vet check you will find out if the physical condition of the dog is or is not an issue..
Your 4 year old must have really ticked that dog off somewhere along the line..

I agree with crappie chaser. The saying…you can’t teach an old dog new tricks…came about for a reason. An outside enclosure would be the kindest thing you could do. It would bother me for a long time if I could have removed the dog to prevent a serious accident and I didn’t. I grew up with dogs in the house and having them be a part of the family. I loved all of them dearly. That being said, no dog will ever take the place of my son or daughter. Just my opinion. Ted