Growling 7 months old

[Jess]

My 7 month old Doodle is becoming well trained and well behaved except when he has something in his mouth and I try to get it off him

I know I need to work on drop it and switching out different things but all of that works when we are training only. Fast forward to a walk down the street and he finds food or even a certain kids toy in my house he becomes mean, growls and snaps at me

Any advise?

[Erin]

I don't have any advice but I'm following this conversation. And I'm wondering how once they are ok with people how and does resource guarding diminish between the dog and other dogs.

[Missy]

I am not a professional, but can speak from personal experience. 

at 7 months, they are testing boundaries. And yes, 'at training' one does fine, but now to move 'training' to real life experiences. 

my dog would 'sit' just fine inside, but to take it to the next level training, we moved outside with distractions. 

The same for 'drop it' exercise. once the pup knows the command word and demonstrates action, move the training to the next level. 

We use 'drop' for when dog needs to drop something out of his mouth. and 'leave' for when I don't want him to pick anything up. (like on a walk with trashy sidewalks)  At first on walks when we encounter a 'nasty', I give a quick shake of the leash and say to dog, 'leave', and keep walking. If pup leaves and keeps walking, he gets a little piece of treat. 

If pup stops and pulls on leash, I shake leash, again say 'leave' and keep moving forward. If pup graps item, I put in a sit and remove from mouth. (you can put your fingers in the back of the mouth to make them open up their jaws)  then move on with walk. 

I am sure others will respond with expert training techniques, but this is what works for us. 

carry treats with you on your walk. and be sure to follow thru with your command. Don't let the dog get his way with growling.  I find putting our dog in a sit command, then ask for a drop lets the dog know I mean it!! 

These are smart dogs! and as they continue to age, they go thru the testing over and over. We don't give an inch in our home. I have even put humans in a sit to make sure all commands are followed! lol 

[Susan and Bentley]

I'm interested in hearing people's opinions as well.  When Bentley was a puppy we did just what Missy said.  And he let us take things out of his mouth.  But at some point, he started growling at us if we tried to take something out of his mouth.  He has his "leave" command down perfect, and all his other commands.  But when he gets something he shouldn't, he resource guards it.  So what we have to do is get a treat and put it down somewhere away from him and say "give".  When he drops what he has and comes for the treat I say good boy, and he gets the treat.  He is 3 years old, so most of the time he doesn't grab much anymore and I don't care if he grabs a tissue or paper.  But we have to be really, really careful with the garbage and when walking him because if he gets a bone from a chicken or steak?  There is nothing I can do to take that away from  him.  I've worked with the trainer and this is the best we can do, for now.  Most of the time he's a very good boy, and he has come a long way with the resource guarding.  My trainer told me we should never grab anything out of his mouth, because then he gets more defensive.  The "give" is a relaxed command, and he is much more relaxed then he used to be. 

[Jess]

I asked a trainer is this is what she said

Oh growling and snapping would definitely require a private session
I would do the following
Default leave it (without saying the cue)
Walking with head up
Release to go sniff
Increase drop it in real life (using premack)
Assess growling and snapping with fictional assessment and treat appropriately
The pica like behaviour (eating every they find) usually subsides as they age but since it is being met with aggression it should be examined



So in English I don't know what that all means yet lol

I understand that Leavitt drop it or give it is better than taking something out of his mouth at the same time I don't want to dog that could ever hurt someone just because they went near his mouth

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

He is challenging your leadership which is pretty normal at 7 months.  He must learn that YOU own everything...nothing is his unless you say so and he "earns" it.  Google "Nothing In Life Is Free" approach.  I have found that at this age NLIF is extremely helpful.  There are also discussions on this here on DK....just put it into the search box.  Also I have found that using my body is extremely helpful.  If I tell Murph to "drop it" and he doesn't I just stand up as tall as I can and walk into him....this sends a message that I'm not kidding and he has always dropped whatever he had.  I always at least verbally correct a growl and redirect.  I never struggle with him to take something away unless I think it's dangerous and will harm him.  For the toy in the house I would snap a leash on him and "lead" him to the time out place...chances are he will drop it at that point.  I know lots of people play the "trade game"....I have not found this to be helpful personally.  I need them to learn that when I say drop it I mean it, and I wouldn't always have a higher value item to trade.

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I'm still working on that with Winnie at 2 years old! She will "drop" something that isn't very important to her. We did a LOT of "leave it" and "drop" practice in our house with various objects. But if it is something particularly luscious,  like a sock found on an off-leash run in the park, she's a guarding mess. "Trading" with treats sometimes works, but nothing compares to the deliciousness of finding a soccer sock worn by a 13 year old boy. :-)

If she won't spontaneously "drop" on command, I have found that I have to take a very no-nonsense and confident approach to opening her mouth and removing the object. If I hesitate at all, she'll realize I'm scared she's going to bite me, and she probably will bite. The problem becomes when she is off leash and tries to run away with said object in her mouth. In that case, distraction works best. Throwing a stick or a ball for her to go after, waving a rope toy in the air, etc. It's a work in progress....

[Jess]

Good to know im not alone. Jack as well knows when I am afraid of him because there are times I hesitate.

He is now ok when I take away toilet paper, garbage etc but he found a bone from a dead animal when we were camping and it was bad. Even my husband had a hard time. Sometimes I think well he is an animal but other times I think NO i dont want him to be like this 

I hope with home training and time this will pass

One on One training is very pricey