7.5 Month Old Chocolate Lab

lisar

lisar

New Member
Hi I have a female chocolate lab, Maggie...I was on here under a different name and couldn't log in anyway:confused: ...Maggie has started to bark a lot for no reason AND when she hears noises, the door bell, any sound what so ever, dark especially scares her. Her fur goes up, tail up and growling and barking, she is also showing this behavior when people come up to us. I m worried she might be becoming aggressive...or is she just scared? ANd how do recify this behavior. Also she is still nipping, bitting and even snapping, she will put her teeth on us but not bite hard. This is even when we go to pet her, not just when we are playing. She doesnt break skin, just holds our arm, hand, whatever, in her mouth. She still jumps on people, and has many bad habits, she simply doesn't listen. I LOVE my dog to death:love:...but I cant have a dog who is aggressive. Should I try putting her in puppy classes, that way she will learn, and be around people and other dogs?
 
southerngirl

southerngirl

Honored Member
Opps just saw that she is 7.5 months. Still would like to know how old she was when it started.I think she is too old for puppy class but you can do obedience with her.
 
dogcrazy

dogcrazy

Experienced Member
Welcome to DTA!!! Dont worry this is not aggressive behavior. She probably thinks you are playing with her. Her barking at a lot of things could signal that she is scared. You can start by getting her used to quiet noises by giving her food while there is noise or treating her for not reacting at the quiet sounds. Then slowly you can make noises in diffrent places and treat her for ignoring them. I recomend obedience classes. Also dont let her touch any of your skin while she is playing. When she starts biting.... stop playing. Hope this helped a bit:)
 
MaryK

MaryK

Honored Member
At her age she's heading into adolescence and will 'try it on' with you at every opportunity. As advised above, don't let her 'bite/hold' you at all. See the vid, it's really grand(y) on how to stop that behavior. She's not aggressive, just a youngster finding her way in this world.

She would be too old for puppy classes, here 16 weeks is the 'age limit'. But yes, take her to a dog school but PLEASE make sure it's POSITIVE TRAINING ONLY and even if they say they use Positive Reinforcement, go and WATCH them at work BEFORE signing up!

I made the HUGE mistake of signing with a school here with assured me they only used Positive Reinforcement (I didn't check first as their new term hadn't started at the time I rang). Two and a half weeks into the lessons, and watching the so called trainer yanking dogs around, she never got her hands on *my* boy, I walked out in the middle of class never to return. I doubt they had any idea what Positive Reinforcement Training meant, they sure didn't use it! Didn't even use treats, let along anything else like a clicker! Believe me though, those two weeks undid all the good training Ra Kismet had had prior to going to the school.

With the barking, all the advice given already is excellent. I always check to see what my boys are barking at, sometimes I cannot see/hear anything, but their hearing is so much better than ours, so sometimes it could be a noise which we cannot hear but they can. I always reassure them it's o.k. I use "friend" for anyone/thing which is harmless and they have barked at, i.e. men on cherry pickers doing something with the over head wires set my Ra Kismet off, I checked, thanked him for letting me know and reassured with 'friend'. I always check what they're barking at, even in the house. Once their bark has been 'acknowledged' I find they stop immediately, it's as if they 'feel they've done their job properly in letting us know there's something they're not too sure about'.

Your girl is young, so use the vids and all the great advice given by other members here and she'll be fine. Youngsters all go through the 'difficult' stage, just like humans:D
 
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