Aggressive Puppy?????

Question

We have a 4 1/2 month old Lab mix who has recently started acting aggressive with my husband and I. I know she is a puppy and puppies chew, but when she starts chewing on us we tell her no, when we tell her no she starts jumping at us and growling and biting harder. She also growls at us when we take her off the couch to go to bed. It is quite a mean growl and it's starting to scare me. We have enrolled her in obedience classes and they start tonight. Should we be concerned and should we be doing anything differently? Also we do not physically punish her, we put her in "time out" for 2-5 minutes when we can get control of her while biting/growling. Help!!!!

Answer 1

Plenty old enough to SPAY. Get it done ASAP.

When the pup growls and seems to get more aggressive as if she is dominanting you to do what she wants. Roll her on her back holding her snout closed and firmly tell her no. Be sure to make eye contact. Any vet will tell you this same trick. Probably cesar too.

Answer 2

pups when with siblings or mother will growl so this is a common behavior; they growl to try to show dominance and falling in line when with other dogs or siblings, that is how they move up in line without fighting by show of sound; at a young age she sees and opportunity to move up the food chain ladder b/c someone is not showing that they are the leader, THIS IS NORMAl and will happen from time to time when they try to test the waters again throughout their lifetime; a firm NO ; dogs are smart and will know that your tone has now changed and that is what a mother dog would do to scold; animals sense fear so the growl is working as it would with other dogs; a firm , stern NO ; she shouldn't be on the couch at this time b/c she is moving in and taking over so NOW no couch allowed. Pups play bite , if a dog really wanted to bite they would; don't encourage any rough play, or biting, no tug of war and stern tone; pups have a lot of energy and nerve when they are bored; exercise her ; challenge her ; rotate toys to prevent boredom ; show her that you know what you are doing as Boss as Leader and this will calm down; dog treat balls where she has to work at getting treats ; she is a puppy ; dogs don't know time out ; they know your tone etc; punishing isn't going to work ; you can't punish for past mistakes only prevent future ones; she is a baby looking to learn just like a toddler in the terrible twos ; give her treats by hand so she is less likely to bite the hand that feeds you ; the behavior is all puppy behavior that needs to be trained so it doesn't become bad adult behavior ; she is doing what puppies do , that part is normal ; just need to redirect her energy and poor choices

Answer 3

The obedience classes will help alot. Your puppy is testing you and exerting a little dominance. Practice obedeince regularly and it will help you establish your authority with him. It will also give you tools to redirect unwanted behaviour. (ie sit, lay down etc)

Regarding the chewing, it sounds to me from your post that your puppy is reading your signals wrong. Growling and biting are all part of puppy play, even though it may sound otherwise! It's not too early however, to begin establishing boundaries regarding this type of play.

Giving a firm "no" may seem like the reasonable thing to do, but in this case, I would say that you're puppy is misinterpreting your "no" as "game on." Even if in other circumstances, he knows what "no" means, your verbal acknowledgement of his behaviour is encouraging him. Perhaps in his excitement, he only hears your volume and tone.

The best way to react, is not to scold, or touch the puppy. Simply stand up, turn your back to him, fold your arms and look up at the ceiling. Remove your attention completely. If he persists or goes for your feet, leave the room. He will not misunderstand this, and will quickly learn, that kind of play takes your attention away.

Answer 4

Those razors at that age are horrible! If the dog bites you, immediately put something they are allowed to chew in its mouth. Instead of just saying no at the dog when it happens you can yelp "ouch" kind of like a dog does when it is hurt.

For the growling on the couch, you need to not let your dog up there at all. It is claiming itself as the alpha and that is its spot to rest. Never letting it up there will help with that.

Answer 5

the puppy class will help. dont worry. - instead of saying NO (she doesnt know english!) cry out, say ouch in a hurtful voice, yelp like she would - your puppy will understand this better than a no.

also giving her a time out is GREAT because she is not getting attention for her biting.

if she bites you, and you yelp and then she does it again, put her in time out- dont keep giving her attention for the bad behavior. and please dont smack her for that, shes trying to play!

as for growling when you are getting her off the couch, im not sure what to do about that. sorry. ask your trainer. when i took my puppy to puppy class it helped SO much!

Answer 6

Sounds like you've got a pretty dominant dog on your hands. I wouldn't say she's a killer or anything, but it could become a big problem if you let it go. It's good that you are taking cares of things now when she is still relatively young.

The obedience instructor should be able to help you, and you might also want to google NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) to find out about that training method.

Answer 7

1. Have her fixed
2. yell loudly "NO!!!" when she does this and smack the crap out of her... and HARD too, so she yelps in pain.

Dogs understand a rigid pack mentality as follows... they worship whoever gives them food and follow whoever can mess them up physically. When a dog in the pack starts growling and biting at other dogs, it is trying to make its place in the hierarchy higher than the others. Do NOT under any circumstances allow a domesticated dog to do this to its owners! Time out will not work, in fact it will just confuse the animal or make it forget what it has done. You have to be tough with them... talk to them on their own terms. Dogs bite eachother in the wild, so what's wrong with a little smack now and again?

Answer 8

Sounds like the dog needs more attention to me///Exercise to burn off energy and boredom.. Obedience school is a great idea....

Answer 9

i doubt it that she's aggressive..she might be trying the 'leader-oppression-hitler' technique..u know..i'm the queen of the house,u obey me and stuff.one of my dogs isCRAZY.she barks,growls,bite but is all the above technique.whatever happens,u sound as good bosses,take care of her.

Answer 10

scary, she could grow up to be a dangerous dog. Take her to obedience school.