I have a three month old Golden Retriever bitch. I have never had this breed before and I have never had a dog from a puppy.

She is obviously teething as she is biting everything but sometimes she lunges and snaps and growls. Is this just puppy playing or should I be worried that she has an agressive personality.

I have been carefully monitoring what she eats but the cat brought in a dead mouse and before we had a chance to dispose of it the puppy grabbed it and was really agressive and rushed out to the garden where she ate it. Three things really how much damage could she have done to herself eating the mouse, is this normal beheavour for GR's and how can I curb her agression. In all other aspects she is healthy, playful and friendly but she is getting bigger and I want to nip this is the bud before she gets much bigger. Any help would be appreciated.

sounds like a normal puppy to me, :-D do you take her to training classes? as for the mouse i woudnt Know, someone will post you about it im sure,

Mice, regularly on my dogs menu along with rabbits, rats and the odd mole. Perfectly natural, not going to damage herself at all; that is what they would eat in the wild :) (Unless of course the mouse had been poisoned).

Puppies will often lunge and growl in fun, often in the evening, a sort of mad half hour.

It can be difficult without seeing, whether this is just silly stuff, or real snappiness: for instance, when you sau she got aggressive when she took the mouse, do you mean she snapped at you (i'm presuming so, just want to make sure?). If so, there is a possibility she is showing some sort of possessive aggression, for example if she steals things andthen wont let you take them.

If this sounds like it, it can be sorted out with training but the worst thing is to snatch stuff off her ;) Not saying you do, but just offering up ideas..... :)

It may not be this, for instance if she doesn't nick stuff and snaps at other times, it probably isn't! Can you tell us more about what happens when she gets snappy? A few examples maybe?

Lindsay

Your puppy sounds fine, just a little possesive. Give her something that she really likes, eg. a toy, marrow bone, hide chew etc, let her have it for a while, then gently take it from her telling her what a good puppy she is, give it back and then repeat every few minutes. If she does grow or snap, be firm, tell her in a stern voice NO, take it, don't make it a game though and keep repeating until she learns who is boss. She's just trying it on. As for the mouse, very tasty, believe me they eat a lot worse tnings, it wont do her any harm in moderation.

Good luck with your puppy

Annette

hi

probably playing how it would in the litter,maybe it was the boss of the litter if you watch the bitch with her puppies theres always one that will push its luck with her by biting and barking she'll first give it a warning if it still does'nt stop she'll give it a right telling off and it will shoot off with its tail between its legs and then creep back to her you need to do the same kind of thing make the puppie realise hes at the bottom of the pack not the top, you have to teach him whats exceptable and what is'nt.

Thanks everybody for your imput. She is not agressive if I take her food bowl away, a little depressed maybe LOL.

But the mouse was a different thing altogether she snarled and growled and snapped. She also nicked a piece of meat which my daughter accidentally dropped off her plate and we got the same reaction as the mouse. It seems to be with meat that I get this aggression.

Because she is only 3 months old I really wasn't expecting the ferocity of her attack. Actually I wasn't expecting her to eat the mouse. I have been so concerned about a puppies "delicate" digestion and shocked to discover it is about as delicate as a cast iron stomach LOL. She is not a bad girl but I really do need to put a block on this over the top reaction.

She is constantally looking for more food. She fell in the kitchen bin and emerged covered in baked beans but that didn't stop her trying again. I have now placed the bin out of her reach but is it better to leave the bin where it was and try to get her to understand it is out of bounds or just move the bloody thing. This forum has been invaluable to me and I really appreciate all the responses. Keep up the good work!!!!!

I have to add, i was outside with my 6 1/2 month old Golden retriever this lunchtime, and a little mouse ran past, within a few seconds Ellie had caught it and was munching on it! I couldn't believe it! She is such a greedy dog though, she will eat anything, typical retriever!

hi

don't be surprised at the way your puppie reacted why would'nt it ,its an animal ,as soon as she begins to learn its not exceptable with her new pack she'll stop.

Is the bin stable and with a secure lid Paula? If not, the smells in there might just be too tempting to resist.

Hallo again

<<she is not aggressive if i take her food bowl away, a little depressed maybe LOL"

Sorry not sure how to do exact quotes, but that was the gist i think...

Have you been told to take her bowl away and if so, what is the reason? It's not something i ever advise, as it usually causes trouble. Dogs must allow the owner to do anything, but need to be shown that owner + food bowl = food, rather than owner + food bowl = food disappearing ! It's just that it may be affecting her "grabbiness" - for example she may accept you taking say, dried food which although her meal isn't that exciting, so she isn't bothered, and may have learnt you give it back, But is prepared to fight for precious exciting morsels . .......

Goldies can tend towards possessiveness(sp?) with "treasures" but many can also be trained out of it, but it helps if the cause is known too :)

Lindsay

She is being a puppy but her behaviour IMO is not acceptable, make sure she know it, give her an inch and the next thing you will be telling us about will be that she has nipped.

Hi thanks for everybodies input. It has been very difficult for me to log into this site something to do with cookies so I could not respond.

Lindsay thanks for the reply. I do not take her food away as a matter of course. I took it away once to see if that was the problem but it wasn't. Althou I was told with my previous dog that you should take bones off them occasionally while they were eating them (and we did) so if a child took one accidentally the dog would not react badly. Was that advice wrong as obviously she is too young for bones at the moment but I was going to do that when she was allowed to eat them. Is that the wrong thing to do?

But for an update she is now four months. She is a little sweetheart. She sleeps thru the night and the "accidents" are quite rare now. She is still biting but not with the agression she had altho after she had flung her teddy around for a while she does forget we are human and skin and bones and for a couple of minutes after rough play with her toys she does still "bite" us but it is not a BITE.

My problem now is the barking. When she is excited she can bark for England for long periods, if there is food same thing. Can anyone suggest anything. You have all been so helpful to me and I thank you.

I have managed to stop her chasing the cat in the house but can't seem to stop her chasing him in the garden. I am sure as she gets older that will come.

It is much harder to stop dogs chasing cats outside than it si inside but they will calm down as they get older you just have to perservere with the same method you sued inside.

The barking is usually for attention and you just have to ignore it and I know exactly how hard that can be as I have a very vocal lab who will go on for hours. Try ignoring her for as long as possible and if she still doesnt stop put her in another room and this time definitely wait until she stops.

Lindsay,I totally agree about not taking the bowl away,by all means the poster should tell the dog to wait,wait and then give the grub but we never take our dogs bowls away,really how would we feel if we sat down to really scrummy dinner and some sod took it away,I'd be fizzin!!But then again I'm a hungry horace!!!,sandra.

I like my food too Sandra ;)

Paula, many years ago i did take bones off my dogs, and immediately gave them a treat and then they got the bones back. They were always very happy with that, but looking back can see that they werent being taught to give theirbones to everyone, just to me. To be honest these days i just take stuff off my dog without thinking, but that is because we have a bond of trust and she knows she gets rewarded with praise or rewards if she does as i ask her to do. If you want to take bones off dogs, make sure you have a training plan and that the dogs is highly rewarded for giving up such a desirable thing as a bone.

I would recommend maybe a mroe general obedience reward based programme, so that dogs give up toys, goodies, etc etc (you can also teach "bring" ) and so the owner taking any food away in an emergency is not seen as a threat :)

I's late, hope i am making some kind of sense!!

Lindsay

It's a strange thing with our big boy,he loves both myself and my hubby but if I need to move the water or food bowls for anything,out of way of pups or for cleaning etc it's no problem but when hubby tries to do it its a battle of wills,guess he doesn't see me as the threat but harry is.He was rescue dog so we have to make certain allowances when you know what went on in his background,rest of dogs are not a problem,sandra.