Doodle bite! Help!!

[Deeann Roesser]

Hi everyone. Our 5 month old Goldendoodle, who we love so much, just bit my husband and drew blood. This was not play biting, it was aggressive, guarding behavior when my husband was trying to take a receipt from her that she picked up. She growled a little at first and would not let go, then she bit him and he reacted by swatting her, then she lunged at him again. He moved just in time to avoid another bite. We are so upset because we have two granddaughters who come over often and that's why we got this breed.

BTW, she has never been hit by either of us before, so this was a first for us. We are so upset, even thinking of taking her back to the breeder. Please, please give any suggestions on what we can do to retrain her so this never happens again. We are so sad!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Thanks, Susan!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I would be very concerned about making a fist and "popping" a dog who has previously bitten and is now showing aggression toward you. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree, Jane. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

"Not with anger" is absolutely critical. It's a fine line between dominance and aggression, and it's often difficult for an untrained person to know the difference.  My Murphy is a very dominant dog by nature....he really WANTS to be the boss.  That said, he was able to move into aggression quickly and did until we found a program that would work for him.  The thing I learned is that you have to show that you're the leader every minute of the day....not just at the point when they want to guard.  So now Murphy knows that I'm his leader and he respects that....but if I'm not around "all bets are off". 

[Theresa and Doodle Dagny]

Thank you for sharing your experience Elizabeth :) I love this site! No dominance issues here yet, but it's just so helpful to hear how others are dealing with it.