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Advice on some puppy behaviors


DesertBlossom
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Long story short, a couple months ago we got a (then) 7 month old male Golden Retriever mix and an 8 week old female Australian Shepherd. It's been a little crazy, but on the plus side they play and run and chase each other all day and wear each other out. We're working on training but there are a few things I am not sure how to handle. 

#1 - We have 2 dog food bowls but neither dog is inclined to snarf their food down all in one gulp so food is available in the bowl all day long. They don't fight over kibble and when we're training they don't get jealous of the little treats the other dog is getting. I don't  feel like either has any food agression issues. I can take the bowl away or pet them while eating and they are fine. I can tell the GR to "leave it" when it's a training treat intended for the AS and he is fine. But with any "high value treats" like bully sticks, the GR will take his, growl at the AS and then take hers away. I can tell the AS is jumpy now if she has something she thinks he will take. How concerning is this and what can I do, besides separating them when I give out a HVT? 

#2 - We have chickens in a coop with a large run and while I don't have any hope that I will ever be able to trust the dogs unsupervised around chickens I would like them to at least ignore them. We have a big yard and it was about a month before the GR even paid them much attention. But then a couple kept flying out and into the yard, and the GR had a hey day plucking their feathers. Wings are clipped and they are no longer getting out, but now he loves to stalk the hens from outside the fence and then startle them into a frenzy. I don't want this to escalate into him trying to jump the fence or dig under it. What's the best way to get him to just ignore the birds, if at all possible?  

#3 - I  have been on a few walks with the GR and he is doing better on the leash with one of those training collars. Twice now, during a night time walk the GR growled at people we walked past. The first time we were walking across an almost empty parking lot, came around a car and there were 2 people outside of the car making out. (Who looked entirely too old to need a parking lot for making out, but to each their own) He growled at them, but they startled me too so I didn't think much of it. Then a week or so later he growled at some people out in front of their house as we walked past. He doesn't growl at everybody we pass, but I am not sure how worried I should be about the behavior. 

I already love both these dogs a lot and all I know about training comes from these boards and Zak George videos, so be gentle.

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another channel - for more problems - is "what would jeff do?"  he does swear . . . . but he had a disobedient pit bull scheduled to be euthanized because the rescue agency couldn't train it, obeying him within 10 minutes.  He shows the whole thing - he was just very firm, and let the dog know nothing short of obedience would be allowed.  (e.g. the kennel door was opened, dog not allowed to go out without permission.  he wouldn't allow the dog to go through the kennel door until he gave it permission.  it got the message to pay attention to him for cues.

growling while out for a walk shouldn't be tolerated. it could be he is nervous - and that has to be dealt with because nervous dogs are more likely to bite unprovoked.  training walks should be entirely focused on one dog - not one person with two dogs.

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9 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

growling while out for a walk shouldn't be tolerated. it could be he is nervous - and that has to be dealt with because nervous dogs are more likely to bite unprovoked.  training walks should be entirely focused on one dog - not one person with two dogs.

Thank you. And I have never attempted to take both dogs at once. I know my limits. 😊 So it's only just been me with the GR, rewarding him for good leash behavior throughout the walk. He doesn't seem like a nervous dog in general. He is fine with new people that come over. I wondered if it was because it was dark? When you say "should not be tolerated" what does that look like? It was a short, low growl and he was happy to just keep walking past them. 

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1 hour ago, DesertBlossom said:

Thank you. And I have never attempted to take both dogs at once. I know my limits. 😊 So it's only just been me with the GR, rewarding him for good leash behavior throughout the walk. He doesn't seem like a nervous dog in general. He is fine with new people that come over. I wondered if it was because it was dark? When you say "should not be tolerated" what does that look like? It was a short, low growl and he was happy to just keep walking past them. 

If he made no move to stop, lunge, cower, change directions, etc and just did a low throat "grumble" from being startled (and you being startled) but kept his calm otherwise, I'd not stress over it. 

if he seemed more intense than that I might give a slight pop of the collar and say "no" firmly. I'd walk a bit further, make sure he was behaving normally, then walk back again and see if he was okay walking by them this time. i'd probably walk back and forth like and idiot a few times to be sure, and at least one of those times give him a little treat for being nice about it. 

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9 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

If he made no move to stop, lunge, cower, change directions, etc and just did a low throat "grumble" from being startled (and you being startled) but kept his calm otherwise, I'd not stress over it. 

if he seemed more intense than that I might give a slight pop of the collar and say "no" firmly. I'd walk a bit further, make sure he was behaving normally, then walk back again and see if he was okay walking by them this time. i'd probably walk back and forth like and idiot a few times to be sure, and at least one of those times give him a little treat for being nice about it. 

Yes, it was exactly that so I won't stress over it. The walking back and forth is a great idea if it happens again though. See, those are tips and tricks I would never think of on my own. 😊

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