PLEASE HELP... with my aggressive puppy!

Lemony

Hello folks,

I need some advice about puppy behaviour please. This is a long post, so be warned!

12 days ago I rescued an 8 week old puppy from the RSPCA (so he's almost 10 weeks old now). He was found abandoned with 4 other siblings in a cardboard box at the side of a road when he was about 6 weeks old. He is a black and white male dog but I'm not sure what breed he is. The RSPCA think he is a terrier cross and my vet thinks he is a collie cross - so that makes him a collie/terrier cross! He might be something completely different and obviously I know nothing about the temperament of his parents. Anyway... about his behaviour...

He is VERY bold, bitey and nippy and has what I call 'puppy power' fits where he gets really over excited and silly (and is possibly slightly aggressive). I know that young puppies want to put everything in their mouths and they love to chew, and mine is no exception to the rule (understatement)! He loves to chew fingers or anything that you put in front of his mouth which I think is pretty normal. But my dog seems to take it to the extreme! If I take my hand away from his mouth he gets frantic and starts jumping up and nipping my arms, face, hair, clothes... whatever he can reach, and the more I try to stop him or withdraw away, the more frantically and aggressively he tries to bite me! Sometimes the nipping and biting is accompanied by growling or barking but I think his body language tells me that he is playing as he does NOT snarl or have raised hair along his back etc. He also grabs hold of the skin on my wrist or hand in a kind of pinch and shakes his head from side to side which is very painful as I'm sure you can imagine.

He has a habit of stealing my slippers, tissues or other items (which again I think is normal) but when I try to take the items back he lunges at me and nips and bites whatever he can. If I pick him up he tries to bite the hand I'm holding him with, frantically spinning his head around in circles trying to get to me. He has nipped me on the nose and drawn blood (proper bleeding not just a scratch) and he likes to lunge for my toes and ankles which REALLY HURTS when I'm walking or sitting! I have tried standing or sitting still and ignoring him when he nips or bites me, but he continues to do it. I have tried making a yelping sound (as recommended by the RSPCA) but he is completely oblivious to me doing it. I have tried to startle him by clapping my hands but this has no effect (he is definitely not deaf as he has learnt the word 'cheese' with no trouble at all ). I have tried putting him in his play pen so he can't continue the behaviour but as soon as I let him out he does it again! The vet told me to ignore it but I don't know how I can ignore something that hurts so much! I also try to guide him to chew a toy instead of my hand so he can be rewarded for doing the right thing, but he only wants to chew me!

In other areas he is very good. He sleeps in a crate in the kitchen and hardly cries or whines at all when I leave him. He is starting to go to the front door when he needs the toilet so I can take him outside. He will 'give' on command sometimes (in exchange for a tiny piece of cheese). When I first introduced him to the hoover he was really good until I used the nozzle. He went crazy and yapped constantly trying to 'kill' it! I have started teaching him not to do this by offering him cheese if he sits quietly or plays with a toy and this has been very successful so far (although he still has the odd funny moment). I have also been moving his food bowl while he is eating (taking it away and giving it back) and he absolutely fine with me doing that. So overall he is quite a good boy and seems eager to please but the aggressive play is really getting me down because it hurts so much! I am worried that if I don't nip this in the bud now he will be difficult to control when he is older. I think it is just over-enthusiastic play at the moment but I don't have puppy experience and would like to hear what other people think.

Thanks very much in advance.

esmf73

Gosh - this sounds painful. Have you made sure that your pup is getting enough exercise - lots of walks etc? Have you got lots of chew toys for your pup? Have you tried being the dominant "dog"? I imagine others will come on and tell you that he is just treating you as he would have treated his brothers and sisters - this is where they would teach him about biting etc. If he hurt them they'd soon let him know! He needs to see you as leader of the pack, not his friend. My suggestion would be to behave like a pack leader for a while - so if he hurts you then immediately pin him by his neck to the floor - your hand will probably fit easily over his neck to the floor and he will have plenty of space to wriggle and breathe. Hold your hand there until your pup gives in - so stops wriggling and lies still.

It may well take quite a while. Then just make sure that you do things that a pack leader would - so you eat your meal before your pup. Am sure that other readers will be able to come up with better ideas and will probably rubbish my thoughts above - but it is what works for your pup. Best of luck and well done for rehoming a pup.

Lemony

He is too young to go for walks. He only had his second injections yesterday and I have to wait at least a week before I can walk him. I'm also having trouble with his halter collar because the smallest one I could buy is too big for him and he spends the whole time with his jaw hooked in it chewing it! As far as the 'top dog' thing goes, I have been feeding him after he has watched me eat, and I don't play any tug of war type games with him as I don't want to encourage any aggression. He has loads of chew toys but he prefers stealing anything he knows he's not allowed. I put toys in his mouth and shake them about to make them look interesting but he just grabs hold of my skin and pulls! On one occasion when I was trying to dry him with a towel he went crazy and was biting my wrists and growling and grabbing the towel so I did try holding him down absolutely still to calm him. However, it seemed to make him worse and then I was worried that if I ever scared him (he definitely wasn't scared that time) he might have a reason to bite humans in the future... so I haven't done that since.

Pitlanepiglet

Why wouldn't you play tug with him??? Personally I'm not a fan of the dominance theories....

Tug is a perfect game for a small puppy who can't go out to play.

TBH he sounds like a perfectly normal small puppy, especially considering he'd probably had very little socialisation until he came to you. Ours used to have absolute mad moments where she bit everything she could with noses being a favourite. Our approach was to stand up, fold our arms and turn away from pup thereby removing the attention that she was getting. She fairly soon learnt that she didn't like that.

Your pup will calm down, they all do. Swapsy for things you don't want him to have is a good routine to be in. Rather than moving his food bowl (which IMV is just an old dominance thing that serves no purpose) try adding to his bowl when you're passing so that he is happy that a hooman near his food bowl is a good thing not a bad thing.

Hang in there, it will get easier x

bouncydog1

This is normal puppy behaviour - some are just more exciteable than others! Do you have a local dog training club - if so speak to one of the trainers for advice - alternatively your vet may offer puppy classes. I wouldn't suggest holding him down as he may panic and try and bite. I would suggest saying "no" in a very firm voice and don't touch him - he should soon get the message.

If you have access to a beach you can take him on the beach at low water and keep him below the high water mark where other dogs are likely to have been.

I assume that you will be having him castrated which will certainly help - talk to your vet.

Lemony

I play with him all the time... in fact he has been playing with me most of today and even hoovering upstairs became a game of 'hide the cheese' and 'hide under the laundry pile'! I do encourage him to chew toys and and I wiggle things about for him to chase and grab but when he gets really over excited and bites me I stop playing with him because he starts nipping my inner thighs, legs, feet, wrists etc and has drawn blood a few times. I have been told that playing tug of war encourages aggressive behaviour in dogs with those tendencies and that's why I don't play tuggy games with him. It makes his biting worse and it makes him growl. I was given a book by the RSPCA to help me with training and it says in the book I should not play tuggy games with him. Surely it makes sense for me not to encourage a behaviour that I'm trying to teach him not to do?

As far as socialisation goes, I have no idea what happened to him during his first 6 weeks of life, but I know he spent about 10 days at the RSPCA centre with his siblings and all the staff made a fuss of him. He has met lots of different people with me and one other dog at the vets (it was the vets dog and he said it was ok). He is going to a puppy party tomorrow so that will help too.

The moving the bowl thing is mentioned in the book I was given. It is to prevent dogs becoming possesive and growling or even biting people who try to take their food, toys, or whatever. There are times when you need to take things away from your dog for safety and you need them to allow this. I already do the swaps thing - if I want him to give me something I give him something in return.

As I type this, he is growling at a cardboard tube, lol.

I will be having him castrated - I have to as the RSPCA insist on it. He is not old enough yet though.

Raksha

It sounds very normal puppy behaviour for a pup whose not been well socialised.

What dog food are you feeding him?

Lemony

He was on Eukanuba dry puppy food and now he is on Science Plan dry puppy food. He gets the occasional puppy milk biscuit as a treat (he has only had 3 in 12 days) and he gets teeny weeny pieces of cheese as a reward.

If he is behaving like this because he has not been well socialised what can I do? Can I train this behaviour out of him so he does not become an aggressive adult dog?

Debt_Free_Chick

Lemony wrote: »

If he is behaving like this because he has not been well socialised what can I do? Can I train this behaviour out of him so he does not become an aggressive adult dog?

yes you can. He sounds like a beautiful normal puppy to me. You will need time, buckets of patience and unflappable consistency.

A local dog training class will help - help you to train him, that is

Lemony

He is beautiful and I love him with all my heart. I only want what is best for him.

cyberbob

He just sounds like a normal excitable playful puppy. As soon as you can get him into puppy classes. He'll be fine. Once your able to walk him that will make a huge difference