Inappropiate behavior

[meg]

I have a 15 mo. female golden retriever who within the last few weeks
seems to be becoming dominant around other dogs.  She has been through
several obedience classes.  As of late at daycare (I take her once a
week) she is barking and growling at the other dogs. She is given timeouts when she does this at day care.  Should I stop taking her there?  I do feel the socialization is important also. Is this a stage or do I have more severe problems to look for, ie, is she becoming aggressive? I would appreciate any advice in how to handle this.   
  Thank you.

 Meg
 
 

[Rachel]

Is she spayed?  I don't really have any good advise for you. I don't trust Sophie completely around lots of dogs so we don't take her to daycare...  but wanted to bump this up in case any one missed this post.

Good luck!

[chaos270]

She sounds like she's having dominance issues.  I'd suggest putting her in her place before it gets worse...I know how hard it is because we're going through the same issues.  I'd suggest looking through the threads on aggression because they have lots of advice and look at the Dog Whisperer techniques...h e has a show on the National Geographic Channel.  Good Luck and you might want to stop bringing her to daycare until she's better behaved or go with her yourself if possible.

[meg]

She was spayed around six months.  Oddly this started about a week after she got her vacinations (this just came to me).  Don't know if that would have anything to do with it.  I will look through the aggression posts.  Unfortunatley we don't get the National Geographic channel, but I ordered a book by the Dog Whisperer.

[Kermit]

Meg, I feel your pain. I am having problems with my dog Nigel right now, too.
That seems so out of character for a golden to be aggressive... I wonder what's up? I have heard of children having weird behavior problems as a reaction to vaccinations, I suppose it is possible with dogs too. 
Is she your only dog? Can you take her to a dog park where she can be with you can you can observe her behavior? How does she act with you at home?

I am currently studying canine behavior as much as I can and we have ordered the dog whisperer dvd... I will let you know if I learn anything that might help you!!! There's a lot to learn on this topic and I really feel that having others to talk with about it helps a lot.

[meg]

Sorry to hear you are encountering the same type of issue.  It is hard to understand.  She is my only dog right now.  In fact she is my third golden and never had this problem with any of the others.  Unfortunately in this small town, we don't have a dog park.  I have noticed when she is around dogs she knows; regardless of size, she is just fine.  She is also fine at home also.  I have actually been thinking of rescuing an older dog to see if she could learn from a more settled in behavior.  Don't know if this is the thing to do for sure or not.  I really would appreciate any info that you find and are willing to share.  Have read a little about vaccines and there are some cases where they have caused problems.  Trouble is rabies is necessary by law to have her licensed. 

[Imani's Mom]

Thyroid issues can trigger aggressive behavior in dogs- might want to have a blood test done to see if thats it.

[ZooCrew]

You say that the daycare says she is barking and growling at the other dogs?  How are the other dogs reacting?  What causes the confrontation?  Is it just barking and growling, or is it actual dominant behavior.

You say she is fine around dogs she knows.  I know some daycare's have dogs in specific groups so no new dogs are introduced (which is really the best way to do it, b/c packs constantly changing with different dogs can cause problems)  Perhaps she can get into a set group like that.

I take it she did just fine in the obediance classes.  Do you know what kind of group she is in at the dog care?  Is it just puppies, or adults and puppies alike?  If she is just barking and growling at the other dogs, w/o following up with any other behavior, I wouldn't necessarily say it's a dominance issue.  She may just have issues with dogs she doesn't know well.  Or, now that she's older, she may not tolerate some of the behavior of the other dogs as well as she used to.  Barking and growling is corrective/warning behavior.  It's hard to get a good idea of what is going on w/o actually seeing the dog in action, and I'm sure you can't really get the whole picture from the day care people either.

Someone posted an excellent article awhile back that sounds like it might be very similar to this situation.  I'll see if I can find it, but I'm not sure which section it's in.

[Kermit]

Last night I read some great stuff about aggression.

Even if you do figure out what is going on, why she is growling, etc. you will want to know what you can do about it! So I read this: often in retriever dogs who have a strong prey drive (that's what makes them good at retrieving) if they don't get their urges fulfilled, they can have misplaced angst. So the way you help the dog is by fulfilling their need to retrieve! That means spending time every day throwing them something and letting them bring it back to you!  Sounds fun, eh? Once you wear out that urge, you will have a happier dog and one who is less likely to get into trouble.
There are other types of dog who have a different drive, like a working dog who would have a fight drive. The way you help them curb their misplaaced energy is by playing tug-o-war with them for a good ten minutes a day. Then they get out all the growling and snarling, and of you course play with them in a safe area and you end the game when it is time.
It is some really neat info. If you want to read more about it I found it in the book Dog Training for Dummies!

[meg]

All your information is great.   I want to thank all of you.  Also, regarding the daycare she is in, the have dogs of all sizes, breeds and ages together.  I have recently heard of another smaller one in town where they will allow the dog to progress at her own pace.  They apparently first try to start with dogs of the same size and age and work from there.  This sounds better to me.  Anyone else have any ideas of any problems from switching daycares?  Also another thought, I have been thinking of rescuing an older dog for company for her and perhaps she can learn from a more settled in behavior 

The retriever information makes sense also and she loves the ball so will try that also.

Thank you again everyone.