My dog tried to bite me. What to do?

Question

So my golden retriever is 8 years old, and she is very very sweet and loves everybody but can be a territorial about food. She was hovering over my 5 month old cats while they ate, and i was afraid she would snap at them or try to eat their food, so i gently pushed her back and she straight out lashed out at me. She made this huge growling fuss, snapping and it was pretty scary. I really havent seen her do anything like it before. I got PISSED at her and yelled at her and stood over her, shoving her outside. This got her even more mad at me and she refused to move. Eventually i got her outside.
My idea is that its a mixture of food territorialness and dominance. I am the youngest in the family, so she has always felt kind of dominant over me (not listening to me, growling when i push her, etc)
let me repeat she isnt a problem dog. she is very sweet 99% of the time.
well anyway what should i do to gain dominance? i tried the staring in her eye thing and she always ........

.....looks away first but i dont know what else to do. my mom always spoils this dog and she gets whatever she wants and my mom doesnt believe that she has a dominance issue. even after the incident. she still thinks its my fault for pushing her (gently ) back.

Should i yell at my dog when she does this? how do i gain dominance?

Answer 1

Since your mother is being uncooperative it may be difficult to alter the dogs behavior. By spoiling the dog and refusing to recognize the aggression issue your mother is basically giving your golden retriever permission to act this way. Until your mother is willing to help and change her point of view, the dog is unlikely to change.

I do think you should try to feed the kittens when the dog is not around though. It could be tragic if she snaps at one of them for the food.

Answer 2

This is a very serious problem, I don't know how old you are, but please do not try and handle this situation physically - an 8 year old retriever will probably not respond well to the physical reprimands that you would use on a puppy or a young dog trying you out - she might hurt you.

I believe you're right in guessing that it's a mixture of food possesiveness and dominance, and you seem very smart and perceptive in reading your dog's body language.

Now, your dog, while sweet 99% of the time, could end up hurting you or the cats. It is very important that your parents take this seriously. The best thing would be to convince your parents to get in a professional trainer or animal behaviourist to give you some tools to handle the dog's behaviour.

If you can't get outside help, It is important that you change your behaviour around the dog. Stop yelling and pushing her, instead start to speak in a firm voice, keep your posture straight and dignified, be confident. Think of what type of boss/parent/leader you would respect. It's the same for dogs.

Start to train with the dog, work on general obedience, contact training and leadership training (you eat first, you go out of the door first, you decide when you play, cuddle, go out - not the dog etc.). Stop feeding the cats while she is around or put the cat food out of her reach and within the reach of the cats. Look up how to train away food possesiveness. One method is to give the dog just a little bit of food in her bowl, then when's she's finished it take the bowl back and give her just a little bit again until she's been given the equivalent of a full meal, this way, she'll get used to you being around the food bowl and taking it from her again. Another method is to walk past her food bowl while she's eating (be careful with this if she's very food-possesive) and throw in some treats, this way she'll learn that having you around the food bowl means something good.

Good luck with her.

Answer 3

Yelling won't get you anywhere.. It means nothing to the dog.. You have to get your whole family to treat the dog the same, not just you trying to gain dominance while the others suck her up.. It makes it as tho they are all alpha and you are the bottom of the pack.. They need to work with you and as a family gain dominance over the dog.

The food issue should have been taken care of years ago, never should be happening at all..

Snap the lead on her and start walking her more, gain control thru obedience.. Make her do something for everything she does.. Don't let her sleep on your bed, go out the door first. Quit sharing snacks with her.. Show her that you mean business and she isn't going to be telling you to back off.. If ya don't think you can do it, you should get help from a trainer.

Answer 4

Sorry, 99% of the time isn't good enough. It only takes seconds for a dog to do serious damage to human flesh.

You need to get professional help. Many of the suggestions given above are fine IF YOU ARE AN EXPERIENCED DOG HANDLER, but can be very dangerous if not done correctly.

You don't mention how old you are, but I'm guessing you're still fairly young. It concerns me that the dog has been growling at you for some time, and that nothing was done about it. Growling should _never_ be tolerated. If she's now willing to bite, she's ready to escalate.

Since your mother doesn't seem to understand that this dog is a real threat to you, I strongly suggest you speak to an adult outside the family, either a trusted relative, a teacher, someone at your local humane association, or your family veterinarian.

It is unfair, not to mention dangerous, that you be made to live with an animal that you fear and that openly threatens you. Don't get me wrong: I adore, adore, adore dogs. I have two in my bed every night! But I would never tolerate them threatening my son or making him uncomfortable in any way.

Also, for the love of your dog, insist that she be taken to a veterinarian for an examination. Sudden or unexplained aggression often stems from an unseen painful condition. Ear infections are especially liable to making an otherwise sweet dog react aggressively to the slightest touch.

One last word: even if the vet _does_ find something physically wrong with her, you still have to deal with the growling .

Best of luck.

Answer 5

A dog and baby never mix well, especially since your dog has not been raised around the child. Strict supervision is required and if he mimicks going to bite, you say sharply and loudly AH AH and remove him from the room. Put him in the kitchen gated off and that's where he stays. As for your room, he's apparently the boss and you are not. If he will not allow people in your room and growls once again, AH AH and put him in his place, meaning make him lie down on his bed to stay and you allow the person in your room. He sees himself as the pack leader and you're just someone he allows to stay in his house. Time to work on your pack leadership skills. Play biting is NEVER acceptable even if you think it's not a bite to kill, it's never a bite to kill, he's warning you and the next bite will do damage. If your dog bites someone or your niece he can be seized and destroyed.

Answer 6

If she is a resource guarder (territorial about food), she is NOT rational in the situation you described. I would never allow her to be free to try to intimate the cats into giving her their food. I would put her in her crate, or in another room, or outside while they ate.

There are several things you can do to try to help her understand that she needs to defer to you.

She should never get anything she doesn't earn. Make her sit or down and stay while you fix her food, and do not allow her to get up and eat until you give her a release. The same drill can be used to go outside or go for a walk or anything that she likes. She could think that you just exist to serve her if she doesn't have to earn her food or any other good things in life.

Do not allow her on the furniture. Being in a higher place is a dominance position for a dog. Always go first through doorways. Make sure that she walks beside or behind you, not in front. Do not allow her to pull on the leash.

Make sure she gets enough exercise - a good long walk beside or behind you will help her with self control and enforce your position in the pack.

Do not yell at her. It does not increase your status with her and could scare her and make her more irrational.

Answer 7

This is something that you need to get under control right away and the best thing to do would be to call a behaviorist and work with them to deal with this problem.

Handling aggression with aggression will always escalate aggression. So you were actually lucky that things didn't get worse. As well, you should never stare down a dog, especially one that is aggressive as they will take the stare to be a challenge and again this can lead to behaviour that is out of control.

Please get some professional help to deal with this problem as this is a problem that will not get better with time (and it may actually get worse). The problem with something like this is that the dog will be the ultimate loser as quite often what will happen is a friend or a relative will be the recipient of a bite and then you may need to have your dog euthanized.

Answer 8

If she's territorial about food, the next time she's eating see how close you can get to her before she starts being uncomfortable with your closeness. Offer her a treat and extend your hand out, not moving any closer. She should be willing to come toward you and get it. Everyday do this and in time she will you to get closer and trust you around her food. As far as dominance goes, if she wants something - she has to sit for it. This goes for food, attention, toys. You should start walking her on a leash and teaching her to follow after you and your commands. This is a good way of showing her who's alpha. Reward and praise her when she does good! You should never push your dog. This is a sign of you challenging her and if your dog does not respect you, she may bite.

Answer 9

do this. Aside from the issue. Meaning not at the same time. Do it while playing with her some time.

Lay her on her back. Then get over on top of her. make sure and grab her tight. make her look up at you and see that you are dominant. I have done this with every dog I have had over the last 15 years and it works. The dog will learn to respect you and what you say. Make sure and talk to it in your dominant voice while in this position. The dog will learn to understand that when you are speaking this way that you are dominant.

Answer 10

Great question. I love how you understand that it's a dominance issue. I've learned from experience to get them used to people handling their food from an early age. With my 2 last dogs, I would pet them while they were eating starting from when they were puppies. I would test them once in a while by petting by their ears or putting my hand by their bowl even. I can't stand when dogs growl at their own people! It's beyond rude! Its like, hello we paid for that food you're eating! haha I've been growled at once by one dog, and it when she was eating.

It was just because I was petting her shoulder. I immediately firmly [but gently] leaned my leg into her so she stepped aside from her bowl and I picked it up, told her to lay down, and only put it back down once she lied down for me. The down position immediately triggers the submissive vibe. Once she started eating again, I praised her and pet her on the shoulder again, and there was absolutely no problem.

You were absolutely right in scolding her. Growling is NOT alright. Make sure that you do everything you can do look like an authority figure. This might sound silly, but think of how dominant wolves act towards the other ones. They lift their heads up, they look confidant, they're calm, never annoyed or exasperated, but they're very strict with their rules and structure. I would suggest practicing her working for her food every single time. Have her sit or lay down for a few seconds before she gets her food. That way, she will understand that you are in control of the food, and that she's not a princess. Move your leg in front of her face so she cant get your hand, and pick up the food. Have her sit and put the food down when she sits. You're not being mean, you have to do this because it's not okay to growl at your owner, and she needs to learn table manners!

Good luck!!

EDIT:
NEVER grab a dog's mouth to scold it. That's totally unnatural for them and sometimes they can bite themselves on accident.