A few questions on dog behavior...

[nenedafox]

My dog is about 8 months old, he's a Doberman Rottie Lab mix. He's fairly well mannered and his only problems at this point are barking at strangers or racoons(that was kinda my fault for screaming and nearly running up the side of the house when I saw one) and sitting on me and growling.
Since that 'sitting on me and growling' thing sounds bad and easily misunderstood so I'll elaborate to avoid warrented confusion.
I'm the youngest member of the family at 14, my papa works graveyard shift and my sister is in collage and my mother isn't with us anymore so I'm at home alone all night.
When we got Flinx he was only about 5 pounds and 6 weeks old. He grew...and grew and I think he probebly is still doing so...I already have elbowed him in the head by accident while standing(I'm short though )....anyway(sorry for getting sidetracted...)since he was about 5 months he's been horrible when my dad leaves for work, my other dog is usually asleep by then and just chills on her doggie bed or next to me on the floor(I sit on the floor most of the time...yes I know I'm weird) but flinx walks all around the room sniffing then lays down near me and kinda goes to sleep, but the second he hears a noise he either gowls and barks or sits on me(which hurts cause he weighs so much...) and growls off into the distance. I can get him off of me but its a battle and when I'm shoving I say off and when he FINALLY does I say good boy but then at the next sound he does it again!
He never does it when my dad or sister is home, and my other dog never does anything like it at all.
Sorry that took so long to explain, I'm not very good at this way of asking questions
So any advice and insight as to why he does this and how to make it stop? my legs are getting sore from his hinnie!

 

[GSDMom]

he could be sitting on you because he is scared ?
hard to say, is he timid?

or maybe he just feels a HUGE need to protect you when your Dad and sister are gone.

teach him OFF, put him off you and say OFF
this will take a few times before he understands you want him off you

hope this helps


Bonnie

 

[Doberluv]

When you do like GSDmom says about telling him off, be sure to reward him when he IS off. And/or....get up. I wouldn't let him sit on you. He will most likely get even heavier. And not only that, but when he's on top of you, he may be thinking that he'll take care of everything and you want him to know that it is YOU who will keep him safe, as you are the "leader." He will still always react and warn against strangers appropriately, but he doesn't need to think he's in complete control of the situation.

As far as growling at strange sounds and strangers, that's your Doberman and Rottweiler talking. LOL. Not much will slip past them and they won't be content to let the world go by unchecked. However, he needs to learn "enough" when you determine that there's nothing threatening. I'm still working on that with my dogs. They are quite reactive to sounds/smells etc even at quite a distance. I look out the window (make a show of it) and then if I don't see anything close to the house, I tell them in a sing songy, no big deal voice, "It's nothing, It's OK." (those words probably don't mean much, but my tone is telling them that everything is fine. Then I give the command "enough!" while distracting them. When they're silenced, I praise, "gooood enough."