Our 14 month old male exhibits periods of aggression. He has been neutered. He has chew toys which he wants to put on the furniture or have you hold them while he chews them. When we try to stop this behavior he barks continually. Sometimes he snaps or grabs clothing. Bitter apple spray seems to be most effective. He alternates between very docile and sweet behavior and aggessive behavior. Suggestions would be most appreciated. Also, is this a common trait for goldens and should we expedct to see a change in behavior at a certain age ?

From what you describe, it seems to me that he likes to play tug a war and not aggression.

Bratty perhaps, but doesn't appear to be agressive. We had an Aussie who would bark at us when we wouldn't give her what she wanted. We were told to let her bark that she would learn to stop. She just kept barking. I talked to our vet and said she won't stop barking and he said that we were giving in and that was the reason. He said if she barked non stop for 3 hours she would get the message eventually. That may be the case. She barks you comply. Grabbing clothes is a Golden bratty trait that Tayla grew out of thankfully. Let them know it's unexceptable and make him work for any play time. Make him sit if he bring you the toy and wants you to play. Every time you toss the toy make him do something for that toss.

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Barb, Rick and Tayla (STAR Puppy)



Cheyenne (CGC) and Jesse (CGC) who will be always loved and never forgotten.

Sounds like young dog brattiness rather than aggression. He wants your attention.

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**Fraulein "Maggie" Louise 8/2/95 - 7/20/09**
*At Rainbow Bridge but Forever in Our Hearts*

I agree, he's just being bratty, HOWEVER, at his age I would suggest you get him into classes asap. He has to learn what he can and can not do with his mouth. Snapping is a no-no.
The barking I believe you can stop on your own by ignoring but I'm really concerned about the snapping. I continue training my dogs throughout their lives. It will also help you get his brattyness under control.
Good luck and keep us posted.

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Also, since he is looking for attention - can you spend more time walking, training, playing outdoors?

Yup, teenage behavior, which some classes for him, more exercise and getting some training tips for you should fix pretty quickly.

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Golden retrievers think life is a party thrown especially for them

Ugh. We still struggle at times with our Tucker, who is about 19 months old. Even though he's going on two years, he still has moments of that "bratty" behaviour. We are constantly working with him/using those "nothing in life is free" tactics, and exercising him a TON, which has worked tremendously for us. During these past few cold, muddy winter weeks, he is definitely showing his frustration at not being able to get out and run freely as often as he would like by getting very testy/barky/tugging at our clothes in the evening. We give him a couple reminder "off" commands, and if he refuses to go into a "sit" for us when we command, we put him in his crate for a VERY short (like a minute) timeout to show him that he doesn't get to be with us if he's acting this way. Usually after 2 or three rounds of this, he realizes we're not going to relent, and he goes and finds a bone to chew at our feet.

When he was a bit younger (about 9 months) I was very concerned about this brattiness, as he was very nippy/snarly at that stage, too, but as time has gone on, he's not nearly as mouthy (although these past few weeks have been a little rougher than normal). Give it time, be consistent, and work those commands with your dog, both inside and outside. I'm learning that our dog needs constant reminding/review of the basics to maintain his good manners both inside and outside. We're still a work in progress outside - that's where he can get REALLY wound up and jumpy/nippy/snappy with us, but we're always prepared to work some training in when he gets like this, and it calms him right down after a few repititions. Feel free to review some of my older posts, back in April of 2012. Boy were we at our wits end with our adolescent pup back then! We've come a long way, but like I said, it will always be a work in progress. Good luck!