Agression in doodles

[Jill Holder]

I have a 2 yr old golden doodle who occasionally shows agression toward other dogs (tail is up and he lunges or snaps at them).  He also has occasionally bit my kids or growl at them if they jump on him.  I cannot have a dog who shows any type of aggression whatsoever.  I will work with a trainer but if I cannot get this remedied then I will have to - sadly - get rid of him.  Anyone else had this problem and what their solution was???  Most of the time, Max is a friendly dog.  He just needs some training.   Thanks!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Ditto.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

2nd and 3rd.  Thank you everyone for trying to help. 

So true, it is not always what we want to hear, but when we face the truth, or get second opinions we can solve the problems.

I think everyone took their time to answer the post and offer help and advice.  They care about your dog!

[Jill Holder]

Thank you Shannon for your NICE comments and thoughts.  Yes....I will not post a discussion again on this website.  I can take the criticism but geez.....give me a break!!  Your email made me laugh and smile so thank you SO MUCH!!  I know other moms out there can relate.  I totally take 100% responsibility for my dog and his behavior and know that I need to invest the time needed to see if we can turn his behavior around.  I am hoping we can.  He really isn't THAT bad.  But he does have signs of agression at times and my kids come first and I don't want them or anybody else to get hurt.  They don't JUMP on my dog like I initially wrongfully stated.  They just try to hug and love him and it makes him growl and sometimes turn around to snap at them.  Anyway, I know what I need to do now - just need to do it.  I never realized my 1 post would bring over 10 pages of comments - woww!

[Adina P]

We all want to see you and your dog succeed.  I hope you won't take the advice of different people (some of which came across wrong, perhaps) as a reason not to post here again.  This is a huge community and there will always be vocal people and sometimes, some of those vocal people with passionate feelings and opinions on things will disagree vehemently or say things strongly because they believe it strongly.  But don't take that to mean anyone is against you.  But we are all typing online to people we may not know so it is MUCH easier to state things strongly.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I commend you for the turn around in your attitude toward taking responsibility for your doodle. I have had my butt kicked once or twice on this site and rather than vowing to never post again, I pulled up my socks, swallowed my pride, and took it as the reality check I needed. It's made me a better pet owner as result. 

My Winston was a re-home from a family with young kids who could no longer handle him, or so they said, and he is the most wonderful loving creature in the world. It breaks my heart to see people suggest giving away their dogs because I witnessed first hand the trauma a dog goes through when they are rejected by their family. It was really hard on him, and still is.

I wouldn't swear off such a great site. I would take a good look at the message that came acrross in your first post and try to understand how people who are passionate about doodles could have gotten defensive. Maybe just focus on wording future posts a little more clearly, or not post during a moment of frustration :)

Good luck with Max! I hope it all works out.

[Shannon and Finn]

It sounds like you are on the right track and were looking for some encouragement that the behavior could be remedied.  Think everyone agreed that it is possible!

I have never joined a forum before so this is a learning experience for me too.  Everyone that joins a forum is doing it because they want to engage around something important to them but it is also tricky because written words can be interpreted in so many ways and so we leave ourselves vulnerable which is scary at times.  I have been running support groups for years and realized that I need to use the same "hat" on an electronic forum, which is actually a cool learning experience for me.  My rules were always 1. assume the best first 2. ask questions when you need more information and 3. never make a judgement about someone else.  I realize it gets a bit complicated in written form!  I didn't take your "jumping" comment literally probably because I have young kids too and assumed yours do the same things as mine!  I also didn't hear your say you were getting rid of your pup, I heard that you wanted to avoid that and needed advice and reassurance that your kids were safe.  I can see how different people can read things in different ways.  Good luck and congrats on the active discussion starting skills!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I'm going to take a different approach here with the issue of growling. I'll use Spud as an example. Constantly I wonder how many 'growlers' may be misunderstood. Poodles can be known as a chatty and verbal dog. Early on, Spud verbalized in almost every situation: play, strange noises, familiar family members, strangers. My point is, the he makes certain sounds, all different for each situation.
Around 5 or 6 months I had thoughts that he may be an aggressive dog because of his gutteral sounds.
I really need to place a video of his response to different situations to explain him, however this topic comes up do often I'm wondering if some owners, especially busy moms, may not have the time to observe and understand the fact that the dog just might be a chatty dog.
Just because a dog makes a noise that is not a bark does not mean aggression

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I agree about the weird noises... We call Luna our little "wookie". :)

Luna is probably the most submissive dog I've ever known and rolls on her back for EVERY size/age of dog (including yorkies and baby pugs... and Luna weighs 40 lb.)   She also lets small children pet her and ruffle her fur (even on her head).

However...she growls ALL the time when happy and especially when playing.  It's just her way of expressing herself.  She is constantly making little growly noises that could sound intimidating.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

So does Sophie. I have a video of her and Winston playing and if you didn't know better, it would sound like fighting.

 

Great point Joanne!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

We need to make a discussion just on this topic. Often, I feel some of these dogs are getting re-homed or given up- especially homes with young children. I was once a busy mother with young children and digs. This would have been really frightening to think the dog may rip a toddlers face off.
Knowing that a chatty dog may just be verbalizing during play, would help!
Of course, this is a seperate situation she had her with leash aggression and just with dogs. Both completely different.
Glad others see this same thing in their friendly doodles.

[Kimberly Risley]

Jill I hope you didn't think my comment rude. I have  experienced being attacked on another "Dog" site for asking a question about E-Fences. Boy did that start a flooded on posts that I wasn't excepting. They even asked why I was getting a Golendoodle?? 

I think if you can teach your kids to watch for the "signs" for when the dog doesn't want to be bothered you will be fine. But may be a little hard at there age.  I had dogs all my life up until I moved out, so it been about 12 years since I have had one. But I do remember us "hugging" our dogs and laying with them. But it was for a short time not long. We even slept with our dogs. It may be harder for you because of the kids, but it can be done.

[Mary Beahm]

My 2yr old is fine unless another dog lunges, snaps, barks at her, then she does not back down but answers in kind.  My daughter's dog is so jealous and we have to keep the dogs separated whenever they visit.  My Trudie tries to be friendly but the other dog is not having it.  It has gotten better, but I don't see them ever being friends and playing together.  

The gentle lead is great for walking but does nothing to help when meeting up with an aggressive dog or if Trudie just thinks she wants to play with the dog.  I avoid other dogs on our walks as much as possible. My last dog was so laid back I never had to worry about him so this is a real challenge.