Over protective.

[patti b]

WE, have a 1 year old Labradoodle. Female, she is wonderful, the only problem is she is well behaved until our 13 year old daughter gets home from school, then she startes barking and chasing her . She will not stop . Now she has started, when she is being walked on her leash by the girl she not let another dog come near her. She goes after them, she does'nt do it with anyone else. WE take her to the dog park all the time she plays well with the other dogs. This just started and we want it to stop. She is very close to the girl and always watches her every where we go.

[kjd]

Hi, patti,

Sounds as if your daughter ranks beneath the dog. Have your daughter practice being the alpha to the dog. I bet when she gets home she immediately starts playing exitedly with the dog. She should ignore the dog and not make any contact until she has been home for 15 minutes.

Good luck,
kjd

[KOPsarah]

Hi Pattie, and thanks for your post.
I agree that this problem is most likely caused by your dog seeing your daughter as lower than her in the pack. Having your daughter practice alpha training with her will definitely help. You and everyone else in the household should also practice it with the dog too. Flick through your secrets to dog training manual again for a refresher on the basics of alpha dog training or alternatively download the whole book on alpha dog training from the premium members download area if you would like full details. To get started however have your daughter ignore the dog when she first gets home as suggested by kjd. Also tell your daughter that if at any time the dog behaves in a way it shouldn't such as barking at her, demanding attention etc then she should give it a 3 minute time out by either putting it calmly outside or in its crate or alternatively leaving the room herself. Either way the dog should get no attention from her at all until it is calm and behaving properly. Also have your daughter eat her meals before the dog and do not feed the dog until she has finished.

Once your dog becomes better behaved with your daughter you can have your daughter do some basic commands with your dog such as asking it to sit and then feeding it.

I hope this helps and please don't hesitate to ask if you have any further questions.