Early Marking in Male Puppy / Dominance Behaviors....advice PLEASE

[Julie Mison]

Our puppy just turned 4 months old and has started marking already. This seems very early. He only does it during walks and still squats to pee otherwise. He is also showing some increased dominance...barking when he wants something, nippy again, and occasionally growls and /or trys to nip when we pick him up at night to put him in his crate and he is tired. He had been doing some of this and it got better and now it is re-surfacing.

ANy thoughts or advice?

[Adina P]

Marking doesn't worry me much. All of my dogs mark (the females too...they just don't life their leg) and they have all been neutered/spayed.

As far as 'dominance' --- a better less scary way to look at it is 'demanding'. I think looking at it as 'dominance' makes a person want to back away and be slightly nervous and afraid: "Oh no...my puppy wants to dominate me! Yikes!"

Whereas 'demanding' is a lot more like something you can deal with. I think your puppy is just being demanding and that can be dealt with based on your response and with training. I wouldn't pick him up to put him in his crate...I'd work on a command that meant "go to your crate" during the day LOTS and at night bribe him into it with a treat. Then after the command is so ingrained you could probably tell him to do it himself at night and he would.

And with barking I think the main thing is NOT to give in to demand barking by giving him attention or what he wants. Teach him a 'quiet' command and then repeat some obedience commands with him for practice a few minutes after the barking episode and then give him what he wants.

If it is very concerning and doesn't seem to be solving...then I'd have a trainer or behaviorist come by to evaluate the situation and watch how you deal with him so he/she can help you.

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

I think there's a BIG difference between being an assertive communicator and being dominant/aggressive... what you describe does not sound like domination - in fact, it sounds pretty normal. I'd just make sure to start socializing him immediately with other dogs, young children and strangers to prevent any future issues. If you are worried about dominance, I'd make sure to feed him after you eat, keep him off your bed, and generally teach him to be a good follower and reward good behavior through positive, but firm reinforcement.

[Kimberly Welsch]

Our 13 week labradoodle puppy can be so loving, yet he seems to have dominant behavior. He plays very rough with our other Lab. Sometimes growling but not playfully. He has tried to mount my arm - which I corrected. He also tries to mount our 5 year old female lab. He has snapped at me when I went to grab him or tried to take a bone from him. He has also growled at my two girls when they tried to pick him up when he had a bone. He is possessive of his toys and I continually take them away to have him practice acceptable behavior. Everything I read about AL says they are great with kids.

I am concerned that he is going to be aggressive. Is this normal behavior? I have always had female labs and they have never been like this. Of course they would play and bite, but this is different. Our AL was nuetered at 12 weeks. We got him from a very reputable breeder at 12 weeks.

Any ideas!!
Thanks.

[Adina P]

Kimberly, you might want to start a new discussion on this since this thread is a bit older and you have specific questions about your dog. Frankly I wouldn't worry too much about this at this age, but find a good trainer and start and continue obedience classes until he's excellently trained. That's your #1 bet: Obedience.

[Kimberly Welsch]

Thanks Adina!

I am meeting a trainer this week and he is going into obedience class as well.

There is so much valuable info on this website that I feel like it will be ok.
Thanks again!
Kim

[Kimberly Welsch]

Thank you. That sounds like good advice. I was a little spoiled because our lab who is now 5 was always picked up by the kids as a puppy and they were much younger then. She never minded, but I may have just been lucky!

My girls are very respectful of the puppy. It has been a learning process for all of us.