Possesive Puppy Problem?

Question

I have a 14 week old labrador retriver b*tch. She is very friendly usually, and has a great temprament. However, one thing makes her go crazy; sitting down on/moving/even touching for to long, the chair in her 'room.' With everything else she is fine; i can put my hands in her food, take toys from her etc. but with this chair, she just goes mad. She first goes very still then she starts barking at me, then starts aggresively moving around the chair! I'm finding this very strange, and a bit scary, so if someone could tell me what im doing wrong it would be a great help! Thanks in advance : )

I've got her booked in for training classes. I'm not entirely sure whether she sleeps/goes on the chair, as ive only ever seen her on it once, which was when i was going to sit down on it, then she leapt on to it! Thanks for all your answers, I guess this puppy has to be disiplined with this chair!

Answer 1

sit in the chair and have her come and sit on your lap or beside you in the chair. keep talking softly to her and if she gets aggressive scold her and say no several times. do not let her know she makes you nervous or as she gets older will you might have a big problem.give her treats then take them away from her, then tell her haow good she is and return the treat back to her.if she keeps up just don't let her near the chair or place it in another room.puppy training is important especilly in this case because she will be a good sized dog.you might want to take her to obedience classes just in case she has a behavior problem good luck.

Answer 2

Please get a private trainer in RIGHT NOW and do NOT listen to suggestions to be more alpha or show her her place and all that nonsense. (I REALLY hope you're kidding about "disciplining" her with the chair itself)

Resource guarding DOES show up as early as 7 or 8 weeks. I see this in puppies all the time. The good news is that 14 weeks old is plenty young enough to turn this guarding around. The bad news is that if you use methods that involve indiscriminately taking things away from her (including food) or getting confrontational when she guards the chair, you run the risk of making the problem much more severe to the point where she may become dangerous later on.

I have a client right now with a six-month old dog who waited until now to address these kinds of issues despite the fact that they've been going on with his dog since puppyhood. The guarding is getting worse, and I fear that it's going to be a life or death situation with this dog. The dog has not yet bitten anyone severely, but a serious bite is around the corner if they do not change the situation immediately. If this dog bites someone, they can absolutely not re-home this dog to anyone but the most experienced dog person and this dog must never, ever go to a house with children of any age.

If you think a trainer sounds expensive, ask yourself if $60 or $80 or $100 is worth the life of your dog. I promise you that this cost will go up dramatically, as will the chances of a dangerous situation, if you wait.

Please understand that dogs who guard will only guard things that matter to them. Oftentimes, dogs will never guard their food or their toys and suddenly just guard a special rawhide (or something like a chair). This doesn't make the dog less of a guarder... it just means that those other things don't matter enough that the dog feels a need to guard them.

There could be something other than guarding going on here too, and an experienced trainer should be able to help identify what that might be.

Answer 3

I don't think you're doing anything wrong. Does the dog ever sit on the chair? If that's the case, then she considers it to be her property.

The other idea is that maybe she thinks there's something wrong with the chair that's going to hurt you and she's trying to get you away from it.

Maybe the chair has a smell that reminds her of something she's scared of.

Try moving the chair to another room in the house. what does she do now?

Maybe, unless it's an expensive chair, you should just sell it.

Take her to obedience classes while she's young. A untrained pet can get to be a real nuisance.

TX Mom

Answer 4

That is really strange for a pup that young! Does she sit in the chair? Does she think its hers? One thing you might be able to do is teach her that its a good thing for her whenever you or someone else touches the chair. Start by moving near the chair and offering her a treat. Gradually progress to sitting in the chair and giving her a treat. Everyone in your house should practice this, and you don't want to give her the treat WHILE she's growling. If she is growling constantly, get her to stop for a second by clapping your hands or whistling or something, and then give her the treat.

If she starts to show signs of aggression in other areas, contact a behaviorist.

Answer 5

why is she sitting on a chair , she is a 14 week old puppy , and needs to b taken under control now !! , make her use her bed / box / mat , , if she objects then remove her from the room , and do not let her return till she acceopts she is not allowed on the furniture , she is going to rule the roost if u do not put a stop to this now . give her a bone / chew or something nice in her place and do not encourage her to use the furniture to rest on , Take her training as well , and get to know your dog , and how to controll it properly , gun dog training is very good as well , will keep her brain ticking about all the things she should b doing insted of being a couch potoatoe

Answer 6

This is the beginning or trouble.
You have to be the big dog. When she starts that crap use a deep growling voice to say no and crate her if she does not get it. Its all your house not her room. She must give up anything the alpha (you) wants. If you do not correct this now you will have bigger problems as she grows and thinks she is the alpha.
Remember this is not a small furry person its a dog. The dog by nature has a place in the pack and that better be below any human in the house or your in for big problems.
My female was like this when I got her but now is a pleasure due to training.

Answer 7

GET RID OF THE CHAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!