Dog Training FAQ

I have a 12 week old golden retriever puppy. Whenever she is told not to do something, she seems to try and do it more. She protests when scolded by barking, growling, and attempts to bite. She will grab an object that she shouldn't have and when I try to remove it from her mouth, she growled. As soon as I got the object(small towel) away from her, she suddenly snarled and snapped at me and was trying to attack. I think this is beyond typical puppy behavior and I don't want to be naive to think she will grow out of it. I've read and watched everything I can get my hands on. Anything else you might suggest I do?

Dear Michele,
Thanks for your question.
The answer is simple, actually. Whatever method you are using to scold your dog or tell her not to do something is too little and ineffective. If you can fix how you correct your dog, your problem will be solved.
For starters, your puppy should wear a leash and a training collar whenever she is with you. When she goes to misbehave, be it grabbing an object or snapping at you, you should immediately grab the leash and give several strong corrections while telling her 'no'. A correction is a jerk on the leash that snaps and releases immediately.
I like to look at situations like this by using an analogy. Lets say the police came up with a new program where speeders were pulled over and politely reminded that they should go slower. How many people do you think would stop speeding? Okay, what if they came up with a program where speeders were pulled over, dragged out of their cars, and worked over with a billy club? Extreme, I know, but what would it do to speeding? You right now are the kind police officer, and you are asking your puppy kindly to stop his behavior. You are operating on one extreme. Now, you could go to the other extreme and be brutal but that is inhumane and would damage your puppy permanently. You must find the middle ground. You need to find a level of correction that is negative enough for your puppy that she doesnt want to repeat the behavior but not too negative that you damage her psyche.
There is a general rule for strength of corrections. If your puppy keeps repeating the undesired behavior your level of correction is not hard enough. Increase it slightly and check your results.
I have written a few articles that will help you. Check them out and let me know if there is anything else that could be of help.
Wear a leash at all times!
The 'NO' Command
Good luck,
Ty Brown