In need of advice for unwanted behaviors

[terryhillman]

A short summary about my family. My family has a 9 months old Golden Retriever (Ozzy) and had recently moved about a month ago. I have recently moved in with them for 2 weeks now and my young brother just left to go back to college, when I arrived (he might have had something to do with Ozzy’s unwanted behavior). Ozzy has this behavior for a sudden outburst of energy and rough play. My younger brother would always rough play with Ozzy during his time here. One of Ozzy’s behavior is whenever he see me or my dad he would jump on us and then push his behind against us and would try to play bite our ankles (never does it to the girls or youngest brother in the house). If he’s unsuccessful with that, then he’ll either lay down and bite our shoes or pull on the end of our pants or shorts. I’ve been putting him in a sit, down or place whenever I see him about to jump on me me, or approach me with his behind. It’s gotten to a point where I can’t enter the room without a treat or my mother holding on to him. I’ve tried ignoring him but Ozzy just lays down next to me and chews on my shoes. Ozzy knows his basic obedience but is very stubborn. I just need help trying to curve that behavior he does to me and my dad. Thank you.

 

[AlisonF]

Absolute Dogs have a fb page called ‘Naughty But Nice (for NBN dog owners)’.
They also have ebooks and dvd’s.
They would be my first place to go for advice. They generally recommend a lot of simple game plays which build relationships and distraction. May sound odd as you’re trying to stop play, but it works.

EDIT: if you search for Absolute Dogs eBooks you should find some links to free ebooks.

 

[Keith Smith]

One thing you have to be very careful of is rewarding bad behaviour. Never give a dog a treat when it’s behaving in a way you don’t want it to. There was a really good program on TV called Dogs behaving badly. I’m not sure if it’s on catch up but there are some episodes on YouTube and the presenter is excellent and has a range of strategies for dealing with behaviours you don’t want.