I have a golden retriever that I adopted a few months ago. She is a really good dog when she is in an environment she is familiar with. She is great with me and my husband, and around the house. She is the best behaved dog I have ever had when it comes to following commands and how she acts with me. However, she really does not like children. Whenever they approach her she starts growling at them. I learned that her first owne had two little boys, and I think they must have teased her and perhaos been cruel to her. She is 3 1/2 years old. Do you think this is a behavior that can be corrected? I correct her whenever she acts this way, but the next time a kid comes along she just does it again. Does anyone have any advice or experience that might give me hope? I'm afraid if I can't get her over this, I am going to have to give her up.
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Dog problem advice?
- Thread starter BeJoyful
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just_dance
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when kids are around tell them not to acnolage the dog. It might get used to them. If it continues than the dog probily shouldn't be around kids.
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shainamsu
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i would suggest contacting a behaviorist. i have four dogs now, and the last one we adopted was a st bernard mix. when we got her, we had no intentions of EVER having children, so when she started becoming aggressive, we dealt with it ourselves until it became obvious that we needed a professional. -- it's very important that if your dog has, in fact, been abused in some way, that you do everything you can to correct the problem and not give her back or give her away -- the problem won't be corrected and she'll end up being put down by someone who isn't as tolerant.
behaviorists are NOT trainers. some may train also, but they should have specific experience and advertise themselves as behaviorists. veterinarians are also not specifically qualified to correct animal behavior unless it's medicine-related, and your case doesn't seem like it is. usually, behaviorists aren't that expensive and some just come to your house and stay for an hour or so. depending on your dog, one visit is all it takes, or it may take two or three. you can call your local humane society or a no-kill shelter and they should have some contacts for you.
in the meantime: i don't know how bad it is with your dog, but you could always try keeping treats with you and when a child approaches, give her a treat immediately before she even has the chance to act upset. then eventually, when a child passes, ask their parents if they mind for the child to throw your dog a treat from a distance. dogs always associate food (especially their favorite treats) with good things, and that may be all she needs.
in our case, our st bernard has made a near-complete recovery. we have a baby due in december and i'm not at all worried about her around our baby. when we got her, she had been returned three separate times and who knows what happened to her before she was rescued by the no-kill facility we adopted her from. in her case, it was more anxiety than anything, and now that she's more comfortable with her role in our family and with us as pack leaders, she's done just fine.
your problem is one that many dogs have and is usually pretty easy to overcome if you give it the effort. it will always be worth it if you do and your dog will be much happier, which is why you rescued her in the first place.
behaviorists are NOT trainers. some may train also, but they should have specific experience and advertise themselves as behaviorists. veterinarians are also not specifically qualified to correct animal behavior unless it's medicine-related, and your case doesn't seem like it is. usually, behaviorists aren't that expensive and some just come to your house and stay for an hour or so. depending on your dog, one visit is all it takes, or it may take two or three. you can call your local humane society or a no-kill shelter and they should have some contacts for you.
in the meantime: i don't know how bad it is with your dog, but you could always try keeping treats with you and when a child approaches, give her a treat immediately before she even has the chance to act upset. then eventually, when a child passes, ask their parents if they mind for the child to throw your dog a treat from a distance. dogs always associate food (especially their favorite treats) with good things, and that may be all she needs.
in our case, our st bernard has made a near-complete recovery. we have a baby due in december and i'm not at all worried about her around our baby. when we got her, she had been returned three separate times and who knows what happened to her before she was rescued by the no-kill facility we adopted her from. in her case, it was more anxiety than anything, and now that she's more comfortable with her role in our family and with us as pack leaders, she's done just fine.
your problem is one that many dogs have and is usually pretty easy to overcome if you give it the effort. it will always be worth it if you do and your dog will be much happier, which is why you rescued her in the first place.
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BlondieLashes
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I would seriously get an experienced dog trainer or behavioralist! As the previous poster said so well, do not get rid of your dog as it will make her life worse (my loose paraphrase).
With a lot of work and love her behavior will change. I have a beagle that my hubby and I rescued (she's my avitar) and she too was aggressive towards children. It took us a lot of work, a lot of love and re-training, but now she is fine around children!
God bless you ...keep up the good work!
-BlondieLashes
With a lot of work and love her behavior will change. I have a beagle that my hubby and I rescued (she's my avitar) and she too was aggressive towards children. It took us a lot of work, a lot of love and re-training, but now she is fine around children!
God bless you ...keep up the good work!
-BlondieLashes
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C
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You are probably right in figuring she was abused in her last home. You can try obediece training.but please don't get rid of her.Good luck with her.
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L
L1rider
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With a good trainer and LOTS of LOVE your dog can get over her fear of kids.
It is a fear of kids she is suffering from, not the "Bad Dog sindrom" with lots of love she will come around Blondie and my dog did and now Taffy loves the kids in our family.
She is still a bit shy when kids run up on her but we just tell them to let her sniff them first. Most of the time she is just well uninterested in them much to there dismay.
But she is not agresiv any longer with them.
Love your pets as you would a child they deserve it for the love they give us.
It is a fear of kids she is suffering from, not the "Bad Dog sindrom" with lots of love she will come around Blondie and my dog did and now Taffy loves the kids in our family.
She is still a bit shy when kids run up on her but we just tell them to let her sniff them first. Most of the time she is just well uninterested in them much to there dismay.
But she is not agresiv any longer with them.
Love your pets as you would a child they deserve it for the love they give us.
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Thank you to all who gave such good advice. I had a dog behaviorist from the Gold Retriever Rescue club come over and evaluate her, she said she thinks this behavior can be corrected and gave me some steps on how to work with her. She is going to order me some books she thinks will help too. She taught me something she called "watch me", where you put the treat at eye level and say"watch me" to get the dog disciplined to pay attention to you. While she was doing this, there were dogs and people walking by which normally she would have been chasing after - and this time she did not take her eyes away from the trainer. I've been working on that, and it seems to be working.
Blessings to you all and thanks for the support!
Blessings to you all and thanks for the support!
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BlondieLashes
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Good job BeJoyful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sounds like you found a good behavioralist! I am so happy for you and your dog!!!!! As you know already golden's are such awesome dogs!!!! I am so happy!!! Keep up the good work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BlondieLashes
Sounds like you found a good behavioralist! I am so happy for you and your dog!!!!! As you know already golden's are such awesome dogs!!!! I am so happy!!! Keep up the good work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BlondieLashes
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