Need some objective Opinion (Sorry kind of long)

[Edith & "Lucy"]

Lucy (10 month old) is a recourse guarding dog. That's what I was told by a behaviorist. The resources she is guarding are my husband and especially myself. Well with a lot of training and consistency we'll be able to conquer it. I have 2 girls age 5 and 9. The little one is consistently being nipped because Lucy thinks she is above her and the 9 year old sometimes but always when I am involved or my husband. She is guarding us and not our two girls. Just a little love from us makes her want to snap at our girls. Jealousy? She has never drawn blood so far. But my little one is constantly with her little face in the dogs face and wants to kiss her and love the dog up. I am telling her over and over again to not go so closely to the dog but …

Well, today I got to the end of my rope and called the behaviorist again. Lucy just snapped at my older daughter because the dog stood next to me and I was petting her and my older daughter wanted to chime in and pet her too. Well she snapped viciously. I told her NO and gave her a time out. We are starting to have more and more incidences and it scares me. It has been going on since we got Lucy at 8 weeks.

Well, Patti the behaviorist told me that in her objective opinion it would probably be a better choice to rehome Lucy. She wouldn't want to see our girls being harmed and scared the rest of their lives. My husband is kind of in denial until a while ago when I told him that we really have to do something with the dog. We have the dog's leash on at all times, she gets walked, played with, trained, sleeps in the crate at night, chases the cat around a lot still (we are working on that too).

I am really torn. I do love Lucy a lot and we are not the kind of people to give animals away. But I do have to protect my children.

BTW, Lucy is an F1b doodle. Could it be that they are more aggressive?

Thanks in advance for your input. Edith

[Tamara & Giada]

No, we have an f1b, and she is not at all agressive toward anyone. I would try another trainer before I'd rehome her.

[Edith & "Lucy"]

Was just a thought. I guess I was looking for an easy answer.

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

Take her to the vet for a thorough check up and a thyroid test........There was a discussion on The Zoo about a dog that started becoming more and more aggressive towards the families children and finally it was discovered that the dog had a serious medical problem that was thyroid related.....I always think that it's best to get the opinion of your vet before jumping into a decision based on a behaviorist's opinion.....If she truly is a behaviorist with credentials,she should have suggested to you that a vet visit and medical evaluation be done from the get go.......

[Edith & "Lucy"]

I guess that never crossed my mind either. Well, I just started with this behaviorist. She also was a breeder herself. I don't give up that easy.

[Karen Gaffney]

We have had some trouble over the last six months with our older dog. He guards certain spaces in the house and if he is approached he growls. No snapping, nipping or biting. In addition he seems to randomly growl at my adult son. We have worked with our trainer, and really worked hard on establishing who is who in the household. Most of this behavior is directed toward our adult son. This is very disturbing, and seems to come and go randomly. He seems to have good days and bad days. We took him to the vet and vet says he is healthy and it is a behavior issue. We have an appointment for a rabies shot next week maybe I will ask if they will draw blood and have the thyroid checked.
I really relate to this problem, My dog is the smartest dog in the world is well trained is always perfect when out on the leash or in public. This has turned our world a bit upside down somewhat like when a teenager seemingly turns against the family for no reason.

[Edith & "Lucy"]

It's kind of walking on eggshells sometimes in our house. The little daughter sticks her face right into Lucy's face and I am screaming at her to get away and she doesn't listen. She is stubborn on top of it. I am sure you know what I mean.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Edith, think about that...your little one gets close to Lucy, and you are screaming. Lucy may be making the connection between your daughter coming close to her, and you becoming tense. Dogs pick up on tension very quickly, and they become tense. So that's reinforcing a negative association for Lucy..."Mom gets tense & yells when this person comes close to me..." and Lucy reacts to your reaction.
I could be totally off-base here, but that might be part of it.

[Edith & "Lucy"]

Well, that was an exaggeration. I try to remind her in a normal voice as much as I can. But the thought that something bad could happen is always in the back of my mind.

You got a point though. Thanks for reminding me.

[Jenn&Bruce]

I agree with Karen on this one, dog's feed off of there owners energy. even the slightest of tension can change a dogs reaction to any stimulus. I'm currently seeking help with Bruce's Aggression towards other dogs, (which I'm sure somehow we have created along the way not realizing it) and I know how difficult and frustrating the process can be. I am no expert, and I would love to have access to behavioral therapy.
I would like to see what your vet has to say though, I'm sure you feel the same as I do, and the thought of re-homing saddens you. I truly believe, with the right support, you and your family can come together, and help Lucy get better, health issue or not.
I don't know how others feel about this, but have you considered trying a muzzle periodically? it might give you some peace of mind until you are comfortable enough to trust her in certain situations.
just a thought, because I have considered it myself when Bruce is around other dogs, or on walks.

[Stella]

What kind of things has the trainer tried with you so far? Obviously, you don't want to put your children at risk, but if this trainer isn't working out for you maybe you can try another one? Lucy is beautiful, it would be such a shame to have to rehome her. I haven't yet met a doodle who wasn't a friendly goofball!! We have two (doodles that is, not children!!), and our older one growls and snaps at the puppy if he tries to steal food from him - he is just putting him in his place! It sounds like your doodle doesn't respect your children.

[Edith & "Lucy"]

Our doodle doesn't respect our youngest daughter and she thinks she has to compete with her. Especially when we love Lucy up and my younger daughter comes from behind and wants to join in on the action, oh no, that doesn't go over very easy. She is really guarding us.

[Edith & "Lucy"]

Thank you. That sounds a really good suggestion. Nothing is set in stone with this trainer/behaviorist. I just started it with her. We had another trainer prior to control the puppy stage and as I said before Lucy was very dominant from the get go. It filtered itself out just several month ago that it was dominance over us and that she doesn't accept the kids. The prior trainer mainly just told us to use the training collar that chokes her and that's what we mainly have used. But it isn't working, isn't it.