naughty doggie

[gking]

I need advice what to do with my 3 yo goldie Barney
he is a lovely dog very calm obedient and well behaved at home (tho barks at people who walk past the house) the problem is when he is out he tends to bully younger and more submissive dogs rolling them over and standing over them growling. he doesn't hurt them but it obviously scares them and is very embarrassing this isn't every day but about every 2-3 weeks and I can't predict when it's going to happen.
at 3 years old I don't whether this is a hormone problem or behaviour and do I need to take the ultimate step and have him neutered

[ann1]

I'm no expert, but it sounds to me liked learned behaviour - and what has been learned can be unlearned!

I recently adopted a lovely 8yr old male from Jan. He's a typical fabulous goldie, but I soon discovered that he was incapable of walking past another dog whilst on the lead, without lunging at them and barking furiously. He would never bite or fight, but it was quite worrying; other owners certainly didn't like it and it made me anxious to avoid other dogs en route to where I could let him free-run. Even then. he would sometimes run up to other dogs when off the lead and bark at them and skip round them quite noisily for a few moments before losing interest.

So I contacted a local dog trainer with a good reputation and to cut a long story short, we had 5 lessons with him and bingo, perfect behaviour! It took a lot of effort between sessions to maintain what I learned, but it has paid off. I can take him anywhere now on or off the lead and not worry. In fact everyone loves him on our walks -he's quite a character and sooo handsome!

I really can't say all the strategies I learned in this post. I just wanted to say that I think if you find the right trainer, please be assured that you can learn how to work with your dog to change his behaviour. I know how unsettling it is to feel anxious about your dog's behaviour when you're out with him. I live in Yorkshire and can recommend the trainer I used, but I don't know which part of the country you live in.

Good luck!

[Mickey]

Hi. I can concur with Ann1 as I too took on a 7year old goldie from Jan earlier this year and experienced the same problems with Mickey. I have worked with him over the last 5 months letting him know in a very firm manner that his behaviour was totally unacceptable. Over that time we regularly meet the same dogs/owners and are now in a position with these where Mickey is well behaved and friendly towards the dogs. He can sometimes have a little lapse when he comes across a dog that he has not met before but in this situation as we approach the dog I keep telling him that he needs to be good and usually on the final approach I will make him sit and he is fine as the dog nears and they meet. After a good meeting Mickey is always praised.
Persevere with Barney and he will come round. Goldens are very intelligent and do learn quickly.
Best wishes. Paul.

[janrobinson]

I always tell new owners that when a dog goes into a new home it does not know who is going to protect it and as such it feels it is on it's own and has to be in charge of it's own destiny. So this is the behaviour of a Rescue dog and apart from the new owner training it has to get it's confidence that the new owner is not going to let anything happen to it. This is what Ann & Paul have done to great effect with rescue dogs that have had an upset in their lives, which yours has not, I am assuming you have had him from a puppy, unless he was attacked as a puppy which in itself would cause this behaviour.