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Home: Behavioral Problems: Digging, Bitting, Licking, Pulling and Chewing:
biting







kelsey
K9 Maniac


Nov 10, 2004, 11:47 PM

Post #1 of 3 (1711 views)
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biting Can't Post

my golden is 16 weeks. she has never been possesive over food or toy. but recently we gave her a bone to chew on and she bite my husband's hand, it's not enough to draw blood but she got really possessive with the bone and was growling when he touch her. she don't growl at him or show teeth but while she was chewing the bone, he just touch her head and she start growling again and holding the bone tight in her mouth. ironically, as she does this to me once then she never did it ever again. i feed her every day even for treats. could it be she is seeing my hubby as a threat?

we are doing this so that she won't be posessive over the bone. is there any better way? i believe it's a dog's natural instinct to be protective over food. is this normal?

and how to stop digging? we don't have a yard so she will dig her crate, it doesn't cause any harm but it's annoying esp when she does it at night.


surchinmy
Ultra ALPHA

Nov 11, 2004, 1:30 AM

Post #2 of 3 (1705 views)
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Re: [kelsey] biting [In reply to] Can't Post

Hello ...

Food possession & territiorial possessions are indeed natural dog instincts ... and will be strongest in stray and wild dogs.

For pedigrees ... while food & territorial possession remain instincts - generations of selective breeding has minimised and soften these instincts, in most breeds.

In well-bred gundog/retriever pedigrees coming from responsible breeders, you will find that most gundogs/retrievers have very "soft" temperament, and will not growl or become aggressive towards their owners. Dogs bred by irresponsible breeders, backyard breeders or puppy mills are however a completely different story. May gundogs bred by "poor" breeding exhibit "poor" temperament such as ... undue aggression to a owner over toys or food.

So, while food possession is a "natural" instinct - it is not an instinct that an owner will want to encourage in a pet. And the way to control such instinct is through proper training (a) to establish the owner as the leader ... (b) to establish the owner's authority to give & take away food, toys etc ...

Digging is also another dog instinct ... but again it is not an instinct an owner will want to encourage in a pet. And again the answer is proper training.

A dog that is not trained will simply act on its instincts ... And at different ages, different instincts will come into play ... a pup will not behave like an adult and vice versa ... A dog's personality is not stagnant ... A good owner will know and anticipate the different instincts as they develop and come into existence.

A dog does not understand human language ... It is the responsibility of a good owner to learn proper and correct training methods to teach a dog what is or is not acceptable, and to carry on such training throughout the different stages of a dog's development & growth.

Suggestions:

Get a good dog training manual and a good dog behaviour book ... Unless a owner is armed with sufficient & necessary knowledge, it is hard to train a or teach a dog what is or is not acceptable within a pet/family context ...

In the meantime - use the search function ... biting ... food possession ... training ... are all issues that have been much discussed and much information is already available in the threads/posts.

Cheers


kelsey
K9 Maniac


Nov 12, 2004, 11:30 PM

Post #3 of 3 (1672 views)
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Re: [surchinmy] biting [In reply to] Can't Post

hey surchin,

thanks for the advice. i found a "solution" to the problem. i found out that she doesn't act that way around me but she respects me. i told my hubby to re-establish the bond he had with her. one of the reason too is my family is visiting and i believe she felt a little bit jealous cause i saw a few difference in her attitude, she is though adjusting pretty well by just following my mom around.(my mom is scared of dogs, but she gave in).

i have told my hubby to feed her during the long holidays. we will shall see the improvement.

i don't believe it's poor temperament as i gave her a temperament test after we got her. bad choice was i didn;t get to see her parents. but she pass the test. we also gave her an aptitude test when she was 10 weeks old.

well anyways thanks for your input and advice.

 
 




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