Dog getting overprotective to everyone but my wife and son, really starting to worry

[teamjesus4e]

Also posted this to /r/dogtraining but wanted to post here to try to get some advice. My wife and I are really stressing about this.

Little bit of a long story, but essentially my wife and I got a blue heeler pup in March of 2018, and moved about 3 months later. We had a child in June of 2019, and that's where the weirdness starts.

My wife's mom and grandma came to stay with us at our apartment for two weeks, and everything was fine. However, the day before they were going to leave, our dog jumped up on my wife's grandma as she was coming across the room to come grab our son so my wife could get up and go to the kitchen (no biting). This sort of becomes a pattern. We immediately kenneled him for a while and he returned to normal.

Later, my mother in law came to stay with us again. This time, about halfway through her stay, she was walking towards my wife to come get our son from her, and our dog did the same thing - just a warning jump, and some barking afterwards. Again, we kenneled him for a little and he returned to normal.

Anyway, I'm a student, and recently returned to school after a break - during the break, I had to sleep on a separate bed from my wife due to space constraints at my in-laws. Two days ago (back at our apartment), when I was walking across the room to join my wife and son on the couch, our dog got up from his bed and did the same thing to me. This obviously rattled me, so we kenneled him to calm down and tried to see if he would repeat the behavior. Sure enough, today, he did the exact same thing.

I'm really worried. We've both been his owners since we got him, and I don't have to be away from home too often - maybe 3 days a week 4 hours each of those days. My wife did have a complicated pregnancy (in the hospital for 3 weeks), so I'm not sure if that was a catalyst or not, who knows. Our son is beginning to learn to stand and crawl, and we really don't want any complications with respect to him.

Mainly, we just don't want to have to get rid of our dog. We love him very much. If anybody has any advice with regard to this over-protectiveness, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@teamjesus4e He's done this any number of times and you haven't corrected him once. Start there.

Blue heelers are rather awful pets for this very reason. They nip and bite and are generally not "people" dogs except MAYBE with their one handler. You need a very firm hand with them. You've already tolerated this behavior for a while so expect some pushback when you start correcting him. And I'd do it firmly, too.

 

[teamjesus4e]

@imagebeastmarkbeast I mean, when it occurred we definitely gave a solid “no”, and we’ve been trying to expose him to more people socially, but I think I understand what you mean.

 

[sinhowang]

@teamjesus4e And how exactly is your dog supposed to know what "no" means?

 

[ejmom3811]

@imagebeastmarkbeast This is an excellent way to get the dog to escalate dangerous behavior.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@ejmom3811 lol no, it's not. It's an excellent way to STOP the dog from doing unwanted behavior.

You want it to escalate, just keep ignoring it.

 

[truth_seekers]

@teamjesus4e Have you tried “umbilical” training with him?

Basically if he’s out of his kennel, he’s on a leash attached to a human.

Here’s a good place to start your search for more info:

https://www.certapet.com/tether-training/

Also, rather than have people always take Baby from Mom, be Mom hand Baby to people in your dogs presence. The more Baby is passed around, the less Dog should try to protect Baby.

 

[teamjesus4e]

@truth_seekers Yeah the last part we’ve actually been doing! But sometimes I need to run to help my wife yknow

I’ll definitely check out umbilical training!

 

[everest]

@teamjesus4e Not sure if this is helpful, but I wonder if viewing it as more “resource guarding” your wife & son might point your in some direction on how to change the behavior?

 

[cmarie]

@teamjesus4e Get the pup into a training class asap. I have a heeler mix and this was HUGE for his growth. Not only does he get to see other dogs and people but it teaches them to watch you when there are a bunch of other things going on. I would highly recommend doing at least a beginner class at the very least. it will help both you and him set limits.

 

[teamjesus4e]

@cmarie He’s actually already completed the beginner level obedience class.

 

[deeraj43]

@teamjesus4e Whenever a dog acts up and needs correction i like to run the scenario in question so they get structured practice in how we WANT it to go. Its not just not jumping up you want to train him on, it's what he SHOULD do. Pick something like getting a toy or going to a specific spot or even just sitting. Practice going towards your wife and try to get ten clean repeats of whatever the ideal scenario is. Then have others do the same thing.

 

[sinhowang]

@teamjesus4e You got yourself a herding dog and he is doing what he was bred for - herding. Just the object he's chosen to herd is your wife and son.

First of all - does that dog have enough physical and more important mental challenges? What do you do to "tire" him out? - Sorry I don't know the exact english term for it - What kind of work does he have in your home? Because that is a working dog breed.

 

[johnc2]

@teamjesus4e Check out https://thegooddog.net/. My pitbull boxer mix became very protective over me and I couldnt take him anywhere. Basically changing my whole life for this dog because I wasnt going to give him up. Anyway, this guy is awesome. He has so many free videos you can learn a lot from.