Dog owners/trainers, hear my plea!

i have a beautiful 2 year old samoyed X golden labrador ***** that i originally adopted from the spca as a pup
since i adopted her she has been uneasy around men (especially with beards), large hats and large sticks
we would joke that she was once abused by the amish
she is wonderfully trained (by yours truly) and has a wonderful, devoted and compationate yet playful temperment
my family and close realatives see her as a big baby
as she enjoys playing, cuddling and always has to sit on your lap or at least lean against you
this dog is so gentle you can remove toys, even food directly from her mouth without so much as a nip
the problem,
she seems to be so devoted to the family that she is far too over protective
if anyone that is not close family or frequent visiting friends tries even to approach us when we are no longer on our property (or our "territory") she will bark, growl and even lunge forward a bit
this usually giant teddy bear, when approached, quickly turns into 155lbs of snarly wolf like temperment

we had a close call one day when a boy dropped a bag of candy behind her
she usually loves children but because the boy was out of sight and reached for her hind quarters she lunged and nipped
it wasn't a full bite but rather a teensy "nip-nip-nip"
still, a 155lb dog growling and snapping can be pretty tramatic for a child

i now walk her with a halty (simular to a horse halter, only it hangs open unless the leash is pulled) and i always carry a full muzzle in my purse in case we have to pass through a large crowed
the muzzle does not allow her to bark or even nip, but it allows panting and drinking
she is a wonderful dog and as she grows older, her temperment gets better, but she is getting more and more protective

it scares me to think that if anyone in my family other then me walks her, they may not know her body language or comfort zone aswell as me
if she bites one person, she will have to be destroyed
it breaks my heart to have to worry about such a gruesome thing

so anyways
i was wondering
has anyone ever successfuly decreased this?
is there any obediance training that would help, or even better fully correct this?
being a responsible dog owner i would never put this behind me
even if it was corrected
i would still walk her with a halti and muzzle in my purse just in case
but for once i would like peace of mind
i can't just lock her up in the yard and cease all walks

can anyone help me?

Hi Pointy.

I'm sorry that you are going through this right now. There are many reasons why dogs show aggression and you're right...unless you do something it usually only gets worse with age.

Is it possible that she was abused by a male before you got her? Was she socialized a lot with many people when she was younger(male and females)? Did she witness anything negative being done to you(or another family member) by another person outside of the family? How do you react when she shows this aggression?

I'm not going to give you any specific excercises on here of what you can do. I'm not there to see and/or evaluate the dogs behaviour(and knowing what is safe or not) and I would hate to have you do something that would put either you or another at risk.

I would definately take her to a dog behaviourist as they can diagnose/evaluate the problem and help you and your family take the steps needed to improve this. Usually only severe cases are the ones that can't be helped and in my opinion your dog isn't anywhere near that level. It does need to be addressed though as people are at risk of getting bitten...and it will most likely get worse. I am going to tell you that the longer you wait(and the older the dog gets) the harder it is to change the behaviour but it has been done successfully many times.

Good luck and keep us posted. She is a gorgeous dog!

thank you so much for your reply

we are quite sure she came from a very unfit home
as a pup she was afraid of strange men and would bark at the (but not growl)
she started off my dads dog and he didn't want her to be a nusance so she was not socialized as much as she could have been
so i think she had a bad experience with the owners of her parents, and my father did the opposite of what he should have and had us keep her away from people
*holds wrists out to be slapped* i know i know big mistake
she is such a wonderful and gentle family dog that we just let it go
it should have been corrected from the time we got her

its not too bad yet so i think there is hope
she only barks and snarls if they reach for either me or her, or if the get within a meter and keep walking towards us
if we are walking past someone she is just fine, although very alert to make sure they don't "come at us"

to tell you the truth, i don't know how to act
usually it scares the hell out of me because she is such a big girl and so strong
she would never harm our family in the least but i fear for the stranger and feal bad for giving them a scare
i exadurate and call her a watch dog and say "don't pet her she bites" but ALOT of people still keep coming and try to pet her
i can control the dog, just not the people
if only i could train them
a man had me hopping backwards today
he said "deos she bite?
and i said "yes sir, sorry she's not to be pet" but he kept walking forward and i continued to hop backwards and said "sir please don't pet her she bites" and then he got a third of a meter away and she lunged and snarled
but i had her leash short and tight and i pulled her halti (open muzzle that closes when pulled)closed
he looked at me like she was a monster
i wanted to cry
she's such a sweet dog, she just didn't want him reaching for us

sorry to go on and on
i'll get back to your questions
when she did this at first i would pull her away and comfort her and reasure her, but i was told that i am rewarding her actions
so now i pull her away, shorted her leash, close the halti and say "no sam! hush!"
i honestly have no clue what i am doing
tomorrow i will look for obediance schools/ behaviourists
but still more imput from you on what you think so far would be very valued
here is a side view of her compared to the rather large cooler behind her
she's a big girl

He is HUUUUUUUGE Chelsey.

An ex-boss of mine had a Samoyed. He was sweet around the family, but if a stranger looked at him wrong, look out. The big problem was the dog was not suited for the city. Too many people, too much noise.

Did you ever consider bringing her to obiedience school? I know she's trained, but it might do her some good to get used to being around people. Plus, it would be a safe, controlled environment.

I brought Comet to classes offered by the Park District. I might do a class at Pet Smart with him in the fall. There has to be something like this in Mayberry.

ive got a border collie and she was realy nippy towards children,joggers and cycleists when she was young.She chewed the back of the car seat to get at buses.But as she got older she does'nt do much like that at all.She seems to just like sleeping most of the time.She seemed to stop her nipping when we divided the garden so she had half of it as her 'terotory' and that seemed to help stop her agression.

Beautiful dog you have there.

I just wanted to let you know pointy that the others are right professional training is going to be a must if this behavior is to be controlled. Right now as I write this my year old Cocker spaniel is at "dog camp" She is boarded at the trainers for 4 weeks... she is my baby.. and because I'm an ole softy when it comes to her we have to deal with some not nice problems.. she was on her way to being a fear biter.. because we didn't train her very well ) The trainers we are now dealing with are WONDERFUL and are making up for all our mistakes.

I really think it would help your family alot to have your dog evaluated. Usually the evaluation is free at most training facilities.

Please let us know how it goes & Good Luck

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww cutiE

thanks all
i am surrently researching each obediance school at this moment and i will be making calls tomorrow
she won't be too happy and will have to be muzzled for the trainers saftey, as the trainer will have to have contact
but i will kepp everyone posted on if i find a school and how she does

good Luck!!

Hi Pointy Kitty,
She really is a beautiful dog!!! I've been reading a book called the dog listener by Jan Fennell that I think you may find helpful as well. It certainly hasn't solved all of my problems, but it has given me some new insight as to the subtle messages that I have been sending my dogs. You hear everyone say that you need to be the alpha in the family and this book really explains how to achieve that. Your dog is not a monster and shame on that man for coming toward you and your dog after you told him not to!!! Good luck with finding a dog trainer, I would get one that comes to your home for one on one training, if you go to a class you just won't get the attention you need.

thanks again
i told you guys she's a BIG girl but to her family she might as well be a puppy
my only worry,
*opens up wallet revealing cobwebs*
oh well, i'm about to check out schools right now

imo a class with other dogs would be better in the long run. While a one on one trainer has more time to focus on actual obedience, this dog needs to have contact with other people. It will give her a chance to be around other dogs and their owners. Good luck.

well,
i'm not having much luck so far
i looked online AND in the phone book and it looks like my town only has one obedience school (other then petcetera but their classes are a joke)
i kept getting an answering maching at the one we have
i'll try again tomorrow
my father doesn't seem to think there is anything wrong with her
he says she's a good protection/ guard dog