I have a 2 year old Lab, the dog is a wondeful member of our family, however when we tie her up outside she goes nuts when anyone walks past.

The garden is about 30 ft from the road, however we are pretty open plan, but when ever she sees someone walking past she goes nuts. Once she got of her chain and chased after the person.

I really dont know what to do with her, if someone comes into the house she is very aggresive, but once she see that we are okay with the person she calms down and gets excited and starts to lick them.

We thought her behaviour would improve when we got her hystorectomy, but alas nothing.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Would it be possible to make your garden secure i.e fenced/wall around it so you do not have to chain her up outside??

Have you considered going to see a dog trainer or taking her to classes that she may benefit from greatly.

I think your Lab is being terratorial and is protecting her garden and being tied up is probably upsetting her because she knows she can't get away if another dog was to go near her or go for her.

I also think she is protecting you in the house when you have visitors but I've no idea how you stop her 'aggression' but someone like Wilhemena or Stress Monkey will be along with some good advice.

Why are you chaining the poor animal up? How would you like it,if someone came round to your garden and did the same to you?

No wonder your dog barks if you abuse it in this way.

Get a life you sad person. Should I let the dog loose so that it can attack people? Or should I lock it up all day in a room.

I let the dog have as much freedom as I can.

Thanks for the help, im afraid my gardens are open plan as I live in the country and my back garden has a road behind it. I am looking into fencing the garden or at least putting a hedge in, but these take time and cost a lot! My back garden is about 1 acre big.

It is animal cruelty. If I lived near you, I would be reporting you to animal welfare.

http://www.unchainyourdog.org/

If you can't provide a safe environment for your dog, you shouldn't be owning one.

No - you go outside with it and allow it to be a family member the rest of the time, or you build a secure fenced area within your garden.

I've got 6 labs who are the easiest going dogs alive - but Labs are very good watch dogs (not guard dogs) - if I chained any of mine they would go pyschotic, it IS cruel.

And if you have a Lab who poses a risk of attacking people, it has a serious problem with it's breeding or has been mistreated - and if it seriously poses this risk, then you should think very seriously about it's future.

Well said.

Google APDT and find yourself a decent beaviourist/trainer, before your dog is irrevocably screwed up.

Okay; So what do you do if you have this problem and your dog is not chained up. My dog is also very territorial (Jack Russell cross) and he has the run of my house and secure garden (his very own dog flap). I think the OP's problem is a territorial dog rather than a chained up dog. I don't agree with restraining your dog by a chain and I never have or would with my two because rightly or wrongly they are my babies, but to be fair when I was a kid I knew people with dogs who had a kennel outside and a chain to confine them.

What is your dog like when she's out on walks? Does she rush up to people & other dogs & bark at them then? If so, then you have problems & you need to see a properly qualified canine behaviourist, preferably after a vet check to make sure her behaviour is not caused by medical reasons.

If she only barks & lunges at people & dogs when she's chained up in the garden, then you have your answer ~ it's the chaining up that's causing it!

It is quite normal & natural for dogs to be territorial around their house & garden. This is their "home" ~ the place where they get fed, where they can feel safe & relax & sleep, where their family lives. By chaining her up you are taking away her options of avoiding anything that scares her & the only option you are leaving open to her is to bark & lunge to warn people not to come near. She knows she can't escape so what else can she do?

I don't know your circumstances so I don't know why you need to chain her up or how long she is left chained up outside but the longer this goes on, the worse she will get. This is causing her a great deal of fear & stress & as we all know, living under chronic stress for any length of time can cause huge health problems, let alone the behavioural problems that will escalate.

It is not a case of "giving her freedom" by chaining her up in the garden. Many people who live in flats without access to a garden, have very happy & normal dogs. If she's taken for at least 2 good walks a day & allowed plenty of off lead time to run around, interact with other dogs & have plenty of physical & mental stimulation, there should be no reason why she has to be chained up in the garden at all. You can easily attach a lead & give her a trot round the garden safely for toiletting in between walks.

The only dogs that you normally see chained up are guard dogs & how screwed up are they?!!!!

wilhemina is bang on the money, excellent post.

I agree with wilhemina. I have a golden retriever and I work. She has the run of the house and is a very happy dog. So long as they get lots of walks and attention when you are home, they will be okay!!

[quote=wilhemina;38342243]What is your dog like when she's out on walks? Does she rush up to people & other dogs & bark at them then? If so, then you have problems & you need to see a properly qualified canine behaviourist, preferably after a vet check to make sure her behaviour is not caused by medical reasons.

If she only barks & lunges at people & dogs when she's chained up in the garden, then you have your answer ~ it's the chaining up that's causing it!

It is quite normal & natural for dogs to be territorial around their house & garden. This is their "home" ~ the place where they get fed, where they can feel safe & relax & sleep, where their family lives. By chaining her up you are taking away her options of avoiding anything that scares her & the only option you are leaving open to her is to bark & lunge to warn people not to come near. She knows she can't escape so what else can she do?

I don't know your circumstances so I don't know why you need to chain her up or how long she is left chained up outside but the longer this goes on, the worse she will get. This is causing her a great deal of fear & stress & as we all know, living under chronic stress for any length of time can cause huge health problems, let alone the behavioural problems that will escalate.

It is not a case of "giving her freedom" by chaining her up in the garden. Many people who live in flats without access to a garden, have very happy & normal dogs. If she's taken for at least 2 good walks a day & allowed plenty of off lead time to run around, interact with other dogs & have plenty of physical & mental stimulation, there should be no reason why she has to be chained up in the garden at all. You can easily attach a lead & give her a trot round the garden safely for toiletting in between walks.

The only dogs that you normally see chained up are guard dogs & how screwed up are they?!!!![/






The voice of reason.Thank god!

Can I ask if the OP's dog is 'chained up' with a CHAIN or is it something softer like a rope? A chain does sound rather harsh!

It sounds as though it needs to go for a bloomin' long walk and get rid of some of it's pent up energy. I'd take it on a regular ramble through the fields if that's feasible as she sounds bored and frustrated and all her energy / focus is on protecting her little bit of patch. If you did that on a regular basis, she should calm down I would think. She's still young anyway, in a couple of years she'll be as docile as anything but if you can get a routine going where she knows that she's going on a ramble a couple of times a week and one decent long walk at least once a day (and at near enough the same time each day) she should improve.

Whether it's a rope or a chain, if it's attached to her collar & she's lunging & pulling, it can still do a lot of damage to her neck, back, throat etc.

But even worse......

my mother's neighbour left her little JRT tied up in the garden by a rope attached to her collar. The little dog used to bark & bark in fear & frustration at being left outside on her own. One day my mother heard choking sounds from the other side of the fence. When she looked through a hole in the fence she saw that the little dog must have jumped on a garden table made of wood slats, the rope had got stuck between the slats & when the dog jumped off the table, the rope was caught & the dog was hanging by it's collar from the trapped rope. My mother shouted for her neighbour & then rushed round to bang on the door. The neighbour was only just in time to rescue her dog & save it's life.

I would never ever leave a dog tied up somewhere, especially with anything attached to it's collar.

I don't agree with chaining a dog up by a collar as they can easily choke themselves. Our puppy is never left outside alone as we don't have a fence surrounding the garden. She is only 4 months old, but normally gets a good hour and a half of walks a day, all broken up of course, and she's fine. She gets the kitchen to herself whenever we have to leave her for an hour or so... The easiest way is to get a little picket fence, and as long as you teach your Lab not to jump over then you should be fine... normally dogs stay inside the boundaries around them, as long as they feel they are loved =]

Sorry to go slightly off topic here

What breed is your pup? an hour and a halfs walking a day for a 4 month old pup is WAY too much and risks doing irreperable damage to her joints

At that age, socialisation and training NOT excessive walking are what is required. The more you walk any pup, the more you build it's stamina, and hence they more energy they need to have burnt off.

The rule of thumb for Labradors is 5 minutes her month of their life up to 12 months.

Your exervise regime will be dictated by the breed of dog, but what she is having whatever breed she is (and if she is a large, giant or heavy boned breed you are risking untold damage )

To stop it barking just confuse it enough into making it believe that it's a cat.

Can I ask how long the poor thing is tied up for at any one time?

It sounds to me like you're treating the dog as an item of intermittent entertainment that gets put outside when it's presence is not wanted; rather than a member of your family.

Is there any particular reason, behavioural or otherwise, that it has to be chained up (or alternatively "locked up all day in a room")?

Funny how we never got a reply since.