is this concerning?

[woodster]

I'll start off on a good note, woody is great about 97% of the time. However, there is still a slight issue with growling. He would get a bit possessive over toys that were new or existing toys that had started to break or tear. At the minute we are just giving him chews and rawhides which he has no problem with, prevention is better than cure right? There have been a few issues though with stuff that he steals such as socks or bits of paper. Usually we will ask him to drop in exchange for a treat or toy but there are occassions were he will growl quite aggressively, shaking visabley from head to toe with his tail between his legs, head and ears down as if he is absolutely terrified. I feel i dont quite know what is going on in his head. How can i change what im doing to help my dog?
The thing that concerned me really is when i phoned the vet to just see if they could recommened a behaviourist (just in case) and they said that a dog that had been neutered should not be aggressive!
Is that right?

[Mattie]

No, your vet has it wrong, a lot depends on the age and temperament of your dog, if you neuter between 6 and 12 months old the reduced hormons can make a dog that is nervous much worse resulting in the dog becoming aggressive. Your vet isn't keeping up with modern thinking. I would print this off for him, http://www.sheltieranch.com/articles/Lo ... InDogs.pdf

There have been a few issues though with stuff that he steals such as socks or bits of paper. Usually we will ask him to drop in exchange for a treat or toy but there are occassions were he will growl quite aggressively, shaking visabley from head to toe with his tail between his legs, head and ears down as if he is absolutely terrified. I feel i dont quite know what is going on in his head. How can i change what im doing to help my dog?

What I used to do instead of asking my dog to give it up, I would run out of the room saying in a very high excited voice, "Look what I have got" I would run into the kitchen and rattle the treat tin, it never failed, all my dogs would come running out Of course they got a treat, I was then able to go back into the other room and pick up what the dog had. If there is someone already in there they can pick it up much quicker. Your dog won't remember what he had been doing or if he does, he will just be puzzled. Eventually I was able to ask Merlin to give it up and he would.

[woodster]

We got him neutered at about 9/10 months. See he isnt usually a nervous dog at all, the rest of the time he is the worlds happiest and most excitable dog He is never aggressive or anything towards those outside the family. Could it be a phase he's going through?

[Noobs]

There is definitely an issue with how you're addressing when he's got something you need him to give up. Try Mattie's method. That's what I do for my dog and it works every time.

It is probably a phase...how old is he again? - but whether or not it passes can be determined by how you handle the situations that arise and/or how you've handled it before.

By the way I can't believe your vet said that.

[Mattie]

We got him neutered at about 9/10 months. See he isnt usually a nervous dog at all, the rest of the time he is the worlds happiest and most excitable dog He is never aggressive or anything towards those outside the family. Could it be a phase he's going through?

He may not be a nervous dog because of you and your family, you are not giving him any reason to be nervous apart from trying to get things off him, this alone shows that he is nervous sometimes.

99.5% of aggression is fear, take that fear away and the aggression goes, the problem is taking the fear away, that needs a lot of hard work on the owner's part and understanding of the dog.

Growling is communication, it is like is telling someone to, in a nice way, tell them to go away. If your dog growls you should listen to him, if you don't he will up this to air snapping and eventually biting. Just because you back away when your dog growls doesn't mean you give in to them, we have brains, we approach it from a difference angle to get what we want, this is why I race out of the room.

[woodster]

he's just over 11 months now.

What I used to do instead of asking my dog to give it up, I would run out of the room saying in a very high excited voice, "Look what I have got" I would run into the kitchen and rattle the treat tin, it never failed, all my dogs would come running out Of course they got a treat, I was then able to go back into the other room and pick up what the dog had. If there is someone already in there they can pick it up much quicker. Your dog won't remember what he had been doing or if he does, he will just be puzzled. Eventually I was able to ask Merlin to give it up and he would.

ive recently been trying something like that, running out of the room saying "who's that?!" a piece of sausage works quite well too. I must remember not to confront him in the future.
I know that not all growling is aggressive. he growled at the door the other day so he could be let out

thanks for the advie. just needed a bit of reassurance

[woodster]

running out of the room didnt work. it worked at first but then when he went back into the room he realised some one had taken away the lolly (which is what he stole) and he started growling and barking any other advice?

[Mattie]

Clever boy replace it with a treat or chew.

[woodster]

tried swapping it earlier. he took the treat and then snapped before we even got the chance to take what he stole away. just there now my mum just walked into the room were he was eating his dinner and he started growling and she moved to out a treat in his bowl to get him eating again and he jumped and bit her trouser leg. its only really the last few days that this has been escalating and we're starting to get worried. i dont know what we can do to stop it. i really really dont want to have to get rid of him

[Mattie]

His meals are his and nobody should go near him while he is eating, I would stay out of the room completely while he is eating, he is protecting his food. Has someone been either teasing him with his food or trying to teach him that you can take his food away when you want?

[woodster]

we normally try to leave him alone as much as possible when he's eating but the only lace he'll eat his food is in the kitchen so it can be difficult sometimes.

Has someone been either teasing him with his food or trying to teach him that you can take his food away when you want?

no we havent done anything like that. he will growl sometimes if you go near him when he's eating or go towards his food bowl when he's not done but we know not to do that. i think he's a bit on edge because there are some fireworks going off outside so maybe it has something to do with that
He's never done anything like that before, he's usually great with his food so im hoping it was just a one off!

[Horace's Mum]

The fireworks could well be upsetting him more than usual, so bear that in mind, but otherwise if he is that concerned about people near his food bowl you really need to find some way of accommodating him while he eats so he can relax. If he really will only eat in the kitchen then you need to time his meals so no-one needs to go in for the 10mins or so that he is there. The best option I think from the sounds of things would be to give him a crate somewhere, and help him learn that that is his space, so any meals, treats, chews, or toys he wants to feel safe with can be taken inside and he will not be disturbed there.

The funny thing about issues around bowls and resources is that the problem tends to escalate the more you try to work with it, if you just give him what he is asking for and make sure he has space then he will gradually learn to relax and realise that you are not trying to steal his things.

With the problem of him having things he shouldn't, try to give him another job rather than just a treat, and make sure you aren't making a big deal of dashing in to get the toy before he makes it back in. If you are having to race him back to the toy, then that will turn into a game and not end well. I live on my own and had similar issues in the past. I deal with it by leaving the room, reward for coming with me, then ask him to sit and stay while I go and calmly retrieve my item, and then he is rewarded for the sit stay. I did this consistently (and still do if the need arises) and after a couple of weeks I could skip the first treat and just ask him to sit stay, only rewarding after that.

Now I am able to call him away from an item he is after while staying in the same room, ask him to sit, and then move the item while he watches, putting it somewhere well out of the way on top of a cupboard or in a different room. If he still doesn't settle once it is out of sight then I do a couple of minutes training with him, or play a quick game, by which time he tends to accept that the item is gone. You do need to have a bit of a stay already trained to do this, but it is also an excellent way of teaching a stay with distraction - just keep returning the dog to the spot until they manage to stay as long as you need. Just make sure the reward is good enough when they do it!!

[woodster]

just giving an update:
we decided to get a dog behaviourist in just to see if he could be of any help. he told us to use two different bowls to feed him so he wont guard etc and it seems to be working great! he doesnt get possessive, he is eating all of his food and he doesnt mind us picking up the bowls after he has finished (even if there is a few bits left in it!). Apparently when he is taking some of the stuff like socks he is attention seeking a bit. we have thought this because sometimes when he steals stuff he will come in and show us that he has it and then run away! hopefully we can tackle this problem now and change what we are doing to help him.
thanks again for all your advice

just to add, the guy who came was talking about dogs usually stealling stuff that has our scent on it and used the example of a remote control (without picking it up or pointing to it). Since then, yesterday, woody has stolen the remote twice which he has never done before! coincidence? im starting to think he knows exactly what we are saying never again will i underestimate his intelligence....