Undoubtedly, Golden Retrievers are intelligent, affectionate, and well-behaved dog breeds with a friendly and generous attitude. Thus, they are the best companion of kids and suits every family. However, the Golden Retrievers can sometimes become aggressive and shows violent attribute which may raise a question in mind do Golden Retrievers attack their owners?
Mostly, the Golden Retrievers are quiet, calm, and friendly. Yet, they become very impatient and destructive sometimes. So, Yes, the Golden Retrievers do attack their owners when they are aggressive and impatient. They have various reasons for attacking their owners. Such as; mistreat, illness, insufficient food, torture, insecurity, and lack of training.
Although sometimes a single reason causes their attack, sometimes combinations of many reasons result in the attack. But whatever may be the cause, you should be careful and make efforts to prevent the violent behavior of your pet.
Are Golden Retrievers Always Defensive?
Golden Retrievers are rich in energy and very playful. Even though they like playing, hunting, fetching, and exercising, they never use their energy attacking and hurting other people. The Retrievers mostly have a very even-temper and show calm behavior.
However, they can sometimes show aggression as a way to indicate insecurity, illness, or pain. The owners must be responsible and understand their signs before they grow impatient and destructive.
Do you know the signs that indicate your Golden Retriever is about to attack?
If no, then let me disclose some of these signs through this article.
What Are The Signs That Indicates Your Golden Retriever Is About To Attack You?
The body language teaches a lot about the mood and behavior of the Golden Retrievers. And, if you observe your pet, you will know about them and their behavior a lot. Thus, it could help to prevent possible accidents in the future.
Adding up, Golden Retriever shows various signs when they are aggressive and about to attack. Some of which are:
- Stiffly swinging the tail side to side
- Intense and direct eye contact
- Erection of ears
- Excessive barking
- Growling and snarling
- Shows teeth by lifting their lips
- Tensed and curled mouth
Since you are familiar with the signs now, we will discuss why the Golden Retriever attacks their owners.
9 Reasons Why Golden Retrievers Attack Their Owners?
Generally, the dogs love their owners. And owners are the favorite people of the Golden Retrievers. Yet, the pets may sometimes attack their owners as a result of various reasons. Some of the reasons are:
1. Golden Retrievers Attack Their Owners Due To Poor Breeding Practice Of Breeder
The Golden Retrievers grown in a poor breeding environment where the breeders lock them in the cage for a long time, do not supply them enough food, and mistreats them makes the dogs aggressive. Since they develop insecurity and lacks trust in people, they will attack their owner.
2. Improper Training Causes Golden Retrievers To Attack Their Owners
Training plays a vital role in teaching the Retrievers manner and commands to make them obedient towards their owner. However, harsh training, scolding, and beating them when they fail to follow the orders degrade the bond between the Golden Retriever and owner rather than strengthening it.
As a result, when the dog thinks his life is in danger, it will attack the owner.
3. Golden Retriever Attacks Their Owners Due To Disregard And Lack Of Attention
Golden Retrievers love the attention of people. Thus, they do everything they could to please their owner. And, lack of care and attention from the owner discourages them.
Therefore, they grow violent, impatient, and aggressive. Thus, the pet attacks the owner to get attention.
4. Golden Retrievers Attack Their Owners Due To Mistreat And Abuse
Previous mistreatment, abuse, and harassment increase the insecurity and fear of the Retrievers. They feel like the owners will beat them even when the owners try brushing and growing them. Thus, the dogs will always be in a defensive mood.
As a result, they attack their owners in a way to defend themselves.
5. Genetical Factors Causes Golden Retrievers To Attack Their Owners
Generally, all the Golden Retriever are calm and seldom attack people. The Retrievers imitate the behaviors of their parents. Therefore, the offspring of the aggressive parent have more chances to become aggressive.
And they have more prone to attack the owners. An article on Genetic mapping of canine fear and aggression explains this concept in detail.
6. Golden Retrievers Attack Their Owners Due To Sickness and Disease
Golden Retrievers are more vulnerable when they are sick. And, thus they grow more aggressive and defensive to protect themselves.
Therefore, sick and diseased Golden Retriever can attack their owners.
7. Inadequate Amount Of Food
Golden Retrievers love eating. Thus, they need the proper amount of nutritious food to keep functioning both mentally and physically. However, when the owners fail to supply them with their proper diet, they become impatient and destructive.
And, eventually, lack of sufficient nutritious food for the long term encourage them to attack their owner to show their unhappiness.
8. Golden Retrievers Attack Their Owners To Protect Their Babies
Just like humans, the mother Golden Retrievers love their babies and want them to be safe at any cost. The mother dogs are very protective towards their offspring. Thus, if the owner tries to take their babies away from the mother soon after birth, they will attack and bite their owner.
For this, you must take time and slowly bond with the mother dog and puppies before touching them. Similarly, a report on Canine Maternal Behavior explains the nature of mother dogs.
9. Previous Threat Or Attack
The Golden Retrievers recovering from previous dangers (like an attack by other animals, hit by cars, etc.) feel anxious, fearful, insecure, impatient, and aggressive frequently. Since previous incidents degrade their trust, they find all approaching things as a threat to them and attacks in defense.
So, you should handle such vulnerable Retrievers with attention, patience, care, and love.
After knowing about the reasons for the attack, let us dig into the preventive measures for the attack.
How Can You Prevent The Attacks Of Your Golden Retriever?
Even though attacks of Golden Retriever are less common yet they can be very destructive and troublesome. So, it is necessary to manage and prevent the attacks of your Golden Retrievers.
Some tricks to avoid the attack of your Golden Retriever are;
Proper Training
A well-trained Golden Retriever is obedient and calm. They follow your every order. Thus, you can control your pet when it gets aggressive and prevent it from attacking. Besides this, proper training also utilizes the excess energy of the Golden Retrievers so that they will always remain calm, generous, and friendly.
Adequate Food
Providing your Golden Retriever proper nutritious and adequate food enlightens their food. Since the Retrievers love eating, the food can relax and calm them down.
Thus, you can give your pet balanced food, natural healthy snacks, and treats to avoid their attack.
Regular Checkups
Visiting the Vet twice every year and as soon as your pet starts showing disturbing behavior is necessary to maintain the healthy lifespan of your Golden Retriever. The Vet detects the illness of your pet and suggests advice to improve the health of your pal.
All this as a whole improves the behavior of your Golden Retriever and prevents the attack.
Selection Of Dog From Good Breeders
Since harassment and mistreat of the breeder results in aggression and frequent attacks of the Golden Retriever, the selection of a good breeder is vital. Apart from this, types of the breed also influence the behavior of the pet. And a study looking at 101 different types of breed found a strong tie between behavior and genes.
The good breeders nurture the Golden Retriever with care and love. Thus, the Golden Retrievers will grow gentle, friendly, and calm.
Affection and proper attention while breeding eliminates the insecurity and anxiety of the pet. As a result, it reduces the chance of attack.
Socialization
When you take your pet out in social meetings, parties, and gatherings, it makes them familiar with people. Thus, it reduces the fear of people from the mind of your Golden Retriever. Besides this, the time spent in the gatherings and socialization increases the bonding of the Retriever and owner.
Eventually, it builds and strengthens the trust of the pet towards owners and prevents the attack.
Avoid Punishment And Positive Reinforcement
Punishment threatens and scares the Golden Retrievers and breaks your bond with them. The pets are more likely to repeat bad behavior when you scold and beat them. Frequent punishment and mistreatment damage your relationship with your pet so, they will attack you.
Therefore, avoid punishment and ignore their mistakes. However, you can encourage them to continue their good attributes by rewarding them with healthy natural snacks and treat whenever the pet follows your command.
All of the above are the things that help you prevent the attack of Golden Retriever. But, do you know what to do when your Golden Retriever attacks you?
If your answer is no, then don’t worry. I will give you some tips on how to manage such a situation.
What Should You Do If Your Golden Attack You?
Have you faced this situation before? What did you do?
From personal experience, the most common mistake that we do, when a dog attacks us is running. Though it sounds a little senseless, you should never run or panic when a dog comes to attack you. Some of the tricks to handle this situation are:
- When an aggressive Golden Retriever confronts you, try being calm. Don’t yell, run or kick the pet. Instead, stay compose and calm.
- Avoid direct eye contact with the pet.
- Hold the thing that can deflect the attack of the pet if you can find something nearby.
- If you don’t have anything, use your shoe to protect yourself.
- Make a fist to protect your fingers. Also, cover your face, throat, and chest to protect them.
- Fight back with the pet, grab the legs and lift them off the ground.
- Seek medical assistance and get the vaccination.
- Report the bite to the Vet and consult with him.
All these things will help you to protect yourself during attacks. You can even teach your family and friends these tricks to avoid troublesome situations.
You can even take help from the article – Aggression in Golden Retriever, Identify and fix it.
Hopefully, these tips and tricks are helpful for you. If you find any flaws that need corrections, please comment on your suggestion below.
