PLEASE HELP... with my aggressive puppy!

zee_2

I have a 14 week old alsatian pup ,big and strong ,i've recently had major spine op. so have to train dog fast ,have had her 4 weeks now [ she was rescue dog ] have house trained her , have to trick her most times in garden when running free ,[too nimble for me ] to put her on lead and back to house , once inside the kitchen ,she sits on mat inside door while Iwipe her feet with old towel ] this has became a game ,she bites towel end while I use other end ,then I give her a few pieces of dried food and she has to realise towel to eat them. [I feed her dried food and put a few bits in my pocket out of her dish to use as 'rewards' while training her. she walks to heel with just a little pull.
having a pup can be hard to train unless you have patience, the live for the present and all is new and fun, remember their mouth is used to ' feel' things ,i've a few scratches due 'excitement' but only felt the full power of her jaws when I was silly and put my fingers inside a 'puppy KONG' she was playing with a BIG difference.
you can make or break a dog in first few month ,patienc and love will make it for life.

Lemony

Thanks for your sharing your experience Sammy_Girl.

I'm at my wits end tonight and feel like crying. I have been playing with the dog using a knotted rope toy with tasselly bits at the end, and a rope toy which has plastic sausages on it. I wiggled the toys (one at a time) along the floor for him to chase and when he 'caught' them I played tug of war with him. He didn't growl much and seemed to be loving it with his tail wagging. But all of a sudden he lunged between my legs (I was knelt on the floor) and nipped my inner thigh really hard, growling in quite a throaty way with his tail not wagging. I tried to ignore it and wiggle the toy to distract him but he latched onto my wrist and then as soon as I got free he jumped up aiming for my inner arms, biting whatever he could as he went. I tried to grab him to put him in his pen to calm down but as I approached to pick him up he bit my wrist and shook his head from side to side (still holding my skin) like they do when they shake prey. It was very aggressive with lots of throaty growling and I have to say it really upset me. If he did that to a child he would seriously hurt them. I'm sure this is more than just nipping (but I may be wrong). After he had been in his pen for a few minutes I picked him up and started to play with him again but he started lunging for my knees, arms or anything he could bite. I shouted 'enough' because that word stops him barking and it did make him stop momentarily and of course I praised him for stopping. I did this a few times and I thought it was working... but then he just ignored me and was biting me quite aggressively so in the end I had to just pick him up and put him in his pen. When I say pen I mean his large playpen in the lounge and NOT the crate that he sleeps in which is in the kitchen. He does not associate the pen with punishment and I did not tell him off other than when I shouted 'enough' which is the word I use to stop him barking (which works most of the time).

I really don't know if I should be concerned but this seems quite aggressive to me.

By the way, he is a really small, cute looking dog and if you saw him you really wouldn't believe how hard he bites!

dizzy_lizzie

Hi Lemony...I don't know if this would be any help but you can watch all the episodes of 'It's me or the dog' with Victoria Stilwell on 4oD. Just google, It's me or the dog and you'll be able to click on a link to watch them. Just thought there may be a few episodes were she has dealt with this before and may hopefully help your situation.
Don't give up and I'm sure your pup will settle down eventually though I know you must be very worried at the moment.
Luvz Dizzy x
Meant to add just click on the series link when the page comes up and gives you info about each episode. I think there may be a few you can watch that seem to have similar problems x

Lemony

Thanks for that dizzy lizzie. I will have a look when I've got time.

foreign_correspondent

It sounds to me like he had got really over excited - like kids who are a bit over tired, excited and hyper get daft before it 'all ends in tears'! I think, and this is just my personal opinion, that if I had tried to divert his attention onto a toy, and he was still determined that my arms and legs provoked more of an interesting response, I would at that point, stop reacting and go off and do something else for a while. Once he has got over excited, then calmed down a little, I would perhaps look at engaging in some calmer actvity with him next time we interacted, rather than going straight back to playing tuggy, perhaps just letting him settle in your lap for a quiet stroke.

~Chameleon~

I honestly don't think you're going to find the answers you're looking for on an internet forum. As helpful and knowledgeable as some of the posters here are, none of us can assess your dog without seeing it to observe the behaviour it displays during these biting episodes.

It's obviously starting to cause you considerable distress if he's driving you to tears so you really do need to find a local trainer to help you with this, for both yours and your puppy's sake.

How did you get on at the puppy party? At least I think you said you were going along to one the other night?

Silveralice

If he was taken away very young from his mother and littermates, he may never have learnt any bite inhibition in the normal way. That, combined with being high energy, might account for what you describe. Or it could be genuinely aggressive behaviour - I have certainly seen the very occasional puppy that showed serious aggression even when very young, though rarely. I completely agree with Chameleon, you really need to get an expert to see him in the flesh. You are upset enough to need someone to help, and nobody can help properly without seeing the puppy, IMO.

tandraig

I totally agree with Silveralice on this - it sounds like he has never learned not to bite hard with his littermates! but yes, take him along to an expert who can assess him in the flesh, and suggest training methods! we can try to help on here but you know i beleive each dog is an individual and some methods will work better than others or you may have to mix and match methods for individual behaviours (rather like with kids). also, perhaps you are trying too hard hun, it sounds as if you are getting a bit stressed out? I wouldnt try to play or fuss the dog for at least twenty minutes or so after it has been hyper and aggressive to allow both of you time to calm down. Please lemony, dont get upset and tearful, you arent doing anything wrong, you may just need to change tactics with this dog (and if it was a human kid i would be inclined to think it has ADHD and those kids need different handling to others). its early days yet and the dog has plenty of time to learn! and dont forget - bad habits CAN be unlearned! so dont worry hun, I am sure everything will work out when you hit upon the correct way to train him!

tandraig

darn - forgot to say - i seem to remember Victoria dealing with one dog with sound aversion - ie, when he (i think it was jumping up to steal food) was about to jump up she sounded an air horn - startled the dog so much he forgot what he was about to do! do you think something like this may help?

Raksha

Raksha wrote: »

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

I wouldn't use sound aversion on any dog, especially a pup with collie in it - collies can be excitable, but they can also be very sensitive, and at this age you do not need to be setting it off on the sound sensitive route.

http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/teaching-bite-inhibition - an article on teaching bite inhibition in the human/puppy world.