Help!! My sweet Goldendoodle is starting to show aggression towards other dogs (his size or bigger)

[Carina Effenberger]

 

We are in LOVE with our 2 year old Goldendoodle named Jasper that we've had since he was 8 weeks old.  We got him from a wonderful breeder and consider him to really be part of our family.  I call him my "son"!  He's got an incredible disposition and people that know him all agree that he almost seems human.  He recently started showing aggression towards dogs that are either his size or larger (never to smaller ones).  It seems to be getting worse as time passes and I don't know what to do.  Today, we took him to the beach and never took him off the leash but a few dogs came to say hello and he went nuts!  He even tried to bite another golden retriever.  We are so devastated and don't know what to do.  

He's so wonderful to people he knows - especially our 2 daughters who are 7 and 9 (thank god).   He's a big ball of mushy love.  But he also shows aggression to unfamilliar men that approach him as well as to ones that come to our door.  The UPS man and Mailman stay clear of him!  He also get's pretty nasty to people (men or women) when he's in the car and they approach our window.  

 

I'm so afraid he's going to hurt someone and then be taken away from us.  

 

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this before?  Or have any clue as to why he's doing this?

 

My husband thinks he's being protective of us.  I'd really like to understand why this is happening and how to stop it NOW!!!

 

Any input would be so greatly appreciated!!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Adrianne,

Here are Karen's last comments about the Aggression/Protein correlation myth on the last two pages of this discussion.  IF and WHEN anyone else hears different please contact me immediately. 

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/having-some-issues?groupUr...

[Kelsey]

Oh my gosh! Your description is spot on to my goldendoodles Brody! Everyone says he is protecting me but I am stressed out when I take him anywhere. I recently moved into an apartment during school so we no longer have the back hard like I did at my house. This means I have to take him to the park or on a walk daily and it is not enjoyable. I don't know why he acts this way because he is an absolute sweetheart inside. I hope you will reply on how your dog is now and if you did anything to change the behavior. I dog has a trainer coming this week to help because I can't take it anymore!

[Carina Effenberger]

Hi Kelsey!  I'm sorry I never saw this post.  I don't get notifications and need to figure out how to fix that.  I just came on here today for the first time in a year and saw your reply.

I had to take Jasper to an Animal behaviorist and we went through a lot of training to try and keep him calm around other dogs.  We learned commands like "leave it" and "look" which basically had Jasper turning his attention away from the other dog and looking in my eyes so I could reassure him that everything was ok.  The bottom line is that he's still the same.  He does not like dogs that are his size or bigger, especially when they are dark in color.  He does fine with smaller dogs and puppies.  It is a HUGE  pain n the ass b/c I live in a gated community with a ton of dogs.  When we go on our walks and another dog is headed our way, I cross the street and just say "sorry - he's not good with other dogs".  It is very frustrating because with humans, he's a big moosh ball!!!!  

How have things worked out with Brody?

[Deborah Brown]

I recommend that you find a good trainer or, better yet, a behaviorist.  Even one hour with a qualified trainer will help diagnose the problem and set you on the right course.

We adopted a fear aggressive doodle when he was 10 months old. This may or may not describe your dog. The training and conditioning to overcome fear and aggressive issues is long but so worth it. 

OK... so I just realized that the original post is a couple of years old!

[Enid Ferner]

Carina, if I were you I would consider a training collar. I finally broke down and got one for my Shepadoodle for a behaviour that I just couldn't seem to break him of. I did tons of research on them first before purchasing it.
They have a vibrate setting as well as shock settings...when I read the reviews on the collar it seemed that most people never had to use the shock settings, just the vibrate. With my dog this was also the case, but even if you had to use the mildest (number one) shock setting I'm sure you would only have to do it once.
People may shoot flames at me for using it but when it comes to a dangerous behaviour that you just can't seem to fix then it is definitely worth it. It beats having to get rid of your dog, or in my case have him trampled by my horses, who he LOVED to chase!

[Stella]

I would get his thyroid checked to rule that out, thyroid imbalance can cause dogs to become more aggressive. Also find yourself a good trainer, one that specializes in behavioural problems would be best, and one using positive reinforcement techniques. Two great books to read are Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt and Behaviour Adjustment Training by Grisha Stewart.

My Chase is very reactive around dogs he doesn't know, in his case it is because he is fearful and uses aggression to prevent the other dog coming closer. He is also fearful around people he doesn't know, and will bark at them before cowering behind me. My agility trainer advised us to have treats (good ones) on hand all the time. Whenever another dog, or strange person approaches feed your dog. Feed him lots, no matter what he is doing, until the person or dog has moved past you, then stop feeding. We were worried we were reinforcing his 'bad' behaviour (growling, snarling, lunging etc), but what actually happens is that the dog associates the treats with people or dogs approaching and soon begins to look forward to being approached because he knows he is going to get fed. At the beginning it is good if you can practice in a controlled situation, use friends or colleagues that have dogs and just have them walk past you, start at a quite a distance and gradually work closer. You want to avoid getting so close that he reacts badly, you want to build up a whole series of good experiences around dogs and people he doesn't know. I would avoid the beach, keeping him on leash around dogs that are running free will make him feel more defensive when he is approached as he will feel he can't get away. When on the street and you see a dog you don't know, move away so you have lots of space - cross the road, duck up someone's driveway etc to make sure you have plenty of room. It takes time and patience, but things do get better. I now take Chase to scent classes, agility classes, and agility trials and he is doing great. I never allow greetings with dogs I don't know, but he wil now walk past them quite happily.

You don't want to do anything negative or punish him when he is behaving like this. All this does is make him associate bad things happening to him whenever he sees another dog or person he doesn't know. Another good book or DVD is Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas.

[Kary, Sparty & Stella]

My advice would be to find a trainer to come work with you right away.

[Kary, Sparty & Stella]

Oh, I am so sorry!! I didn't realize this post is older.