jealously

[kuu...@gmail.com]

Our one-year-old chocolate lab is jealous when my boyfriend and I hug
or kiss. When we display affection towards one another the dog jumps
on us and barks. This is kind of harsh since the dog weighs 98
pounds. Anyone have a suggestion about stopping this behavior.
Thanks,
Kuuipu

[labazro]

it could be jealousy or even your labs instinct to be protective of
you, which they are. In either case, it's certainly behavior that
needs to change. I think, one, you need to invite the boyfriend into
the pack, in other words, your boyfriend needs to improve his own
relationship with the dog. and having all three of you play together
is also good. this will help your dog become familiar with your
boyfriend, create his own relationship to him and see that he belongs
as part of your three. two, I don't know what you do now, but it's
funny what a dog will see as a reward for bad behavior. anything from
yelling to laughing is a reward. in almost any situation I have
trouble with my dog, the one thing that consistantly works is ignoring
bad behavior. when the behavior happens, you both might try standing
up and turning your back on the dog until it (sorry, don't know the if
it's a he or she) calms down. if this isn't good enough, you two
should leave the room and go to another room and close the door. this
works much better than dragging the dog to another room (which i find
sends the wrong message). i'd stay in the room for about 5 minutes
after it calms down and let your dog try again. we've never had this
issue with our lab, but ignoring bad attention seeking behavior
consistantly work for us. and if your boyfriend makes his own
relationship with dog, it will help quite a bit. good luck. bella.