Have I ruined my puppy?

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

Did I do sometthing wrong? The breeder chose Ollie for his calm temperament and that is what we thought too. Until today.Today suddenly I saw a different side of him. He was being playful and energetic. When my 9 year old tried to pet him, he suddenly growled and snapped at her. She was very upset about it. I immediately said 'NO' and distracted him. He was fine for a while. Then while we were playing with him the next time, he kept nipping and chewing at my jacket. When I tried to remove him by saying a stern 'NO' again he started growling and nipping. He was also really wound up and tried to hump my leg. I am so upset! I would have burst into tears if it had not been for my daughters. I pretended to be clam and assertive and removed him from the situation and put him in his crate. He calmed down and had a nap. In my inexperience with raising a puppy, am I doing something horribly wrong? How do I deal with this? I've been trying to search the forums for the past hour but mostly found stuff about normal puppy nipping. Not the dominant behavior he is showing. Ollie is only 9 weeks old and I don't want to lose any time in correcting this behavior.

Oh and he has already been neutered.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

You are right Ricki it is funny I keep picturing it! Ha ha, the little terror Tara.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

She WAS a little terror! You have that right!! And that was one of those "puppy days" that I don't miss at all!! :)

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

Lol! Sounds like Ollie and Tara might be related :-) I love the term "Coyote puppy"...describes Ollie perfectly! He constantly tries to Nip when I'm getting his leash on. Usually succeeds in grabbing my jacket sleeve.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

No you have not ruined your puppy. It sounds like you are doing everything right. Please dont believe everything Cesar Milan says - your puppy is not necessarily trying to be dominant. He is just learning what the rules are, and doing what comes naturally to a healthy pup. Dogs can be aggressive for many reasons, not just trying to get dominance, and really, Ollie isnt being aggressive as such. He was just disturbed from playing, which he was enjoying and letting you know he didnt appreciate it (though he has to learn its not always play time!).

I read "puppies for dummies" and "the other end of the leash" - two fantastic, easy to read books full of great, helpful information.

Cooper had to be put in her crate for nap time - she couldnt just rest. When she was being naughty, it usually meant she was tired. As she got older we could put her in her X-pen for rests. Now, she can lay down and nap when she needs to (though prefers to constantly walk the house, from Mummy, to Daddy, to the cats, and back again!)

I think you are doing really well - raising a puppy is tough, but totally worth it!

[Ellen aka BeauBeau's Mom]

I used the Puppies for Dummies book as my bible when Beau was a puppy, and I too found that the advice in that book was invaluable, whether it was behavioral, bathing, potty training,etc.

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

Thank you for the suggestions! Makes me feel a lot better. He probably was tired. When I put him in the crate, he went off to sleep almost right away. I'll watch out for signs of over-tiredness from now on. It seems like my daughters' terrible 2s were easier to figure out. I have the monk of new skete's book. I just haven't had a chance to read this behavior stuff yet. I stopped after puppy home-coming chapter. I'll do that asap.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Don't be afraid of your pup.Just remember that you are the boss, just like you are with your children.

[Leslie J]

I think puppies are like children... trying to test things. Cocoa used to growl sometimes when she was a young puppy and we just ignored it (such as when she growled because she didn't want to get up and go out for potty I just picked her up and did it anyway). Now she never growls. As far as the nipping... most puppies nip. Cocoa did until she was about 6 months old. She is now a sweetheart with the softest mouth in the world.

I think the "dominant" temperament fear has been overused. Certainly there are a few dogs with this issue, but I think that what you're describing is so normal. I was nervous that Cocoa would have issues when she went through the growling phase, but now at over a year old she is a fabulous dog. If you have a puppy kindergarten class in your area going there might give you some reassurance and Ollie some manners.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Nipping is normal for all puppies, we had two labs and they both as babies tried to get away with it. It is your job to not let Ollie get away with. Rooney's breeder is also a trainer and here is a portion of a note she sent me yesterday.

"NEVER allow Rooney to mouth you or your clothing. Remember that all puppies nip, and that it is your job to stop this behavior each time it occurs. I tell Rooney “ACK - no bite” and then give Rooney something he can bite or chew."

In this case she wants us to yelp the "ack" sound - to make it sound like the puppy is hurting us. The puppy will understand that as that is what he and his littermates would do to each other. They would play and nip each other but if one was too hard the other puppy would yelp.

When Ollie gets too wound up and excited - that is a good time for a rest break - an excited puppy can become an overly excited puppy which leads to nipping. I hope this helps you. I'm gearing up for Rooney's arrival this Saturday so you and I will be going through this together.

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

Thanks Jane. It'll be nice to exchange notes with another puppy mom who is going through the same things!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

A couple things I might suggest only because you mention a daughter. You need to make sure that the children understand that if they run and scream, that the puppy is going to chase them and nip at them ..... it is a game to the puppy. It took me a little while with my little niece to get her to understand this. She had to learn that when going from place to place in the house not to run to get away from the puppy because that just meant the puppy was going to try harder to catch her and nip her. The other thing, dealing with the crate. As others have mentioned, you don't want to use it for time outs, but I would suggest maybe getting a puppy play pen. You can get them at Petsmart or somewhere like that. normally they come in such a way that you can make them any shape necessary to fit where ever you want to place it in your house. We had 2 puppies at the same time, so I just got one and set it up on top of some rubber backed rugs in case of a potty accident. Anytime they got a little wound up or I wasn't able to keep my eyes on them I would just put them in the play pen. I could also put them outside in it, or take it with me to my Mom's house if I was taking the puppies over there. It has come in handy many times over the last couple years so it was money well spent. I've even been able to use it recently on a couple of foster dogs that were neutered/spayed and I had to keep them quiet. I'd just put them in the pen with some toys and a dog bed and they were fine.

[Phoebe's Mom]

I totally agree with Lucy and Sophie's Mom about the ex-pen or play yard. I found it to be indispensible when training Phoebe as a pup. We have four children and Phoebe was very rambunctious with our oldest son. She would growl and nip at him in a different way than with the othe children. When this would happen, I put her in the pen with a few toys and she would either play or sleep but either way, she was a different dog when she came out. I would talk to her and intereact with her while in there and she genuinely enjoyed. Phoebe will be 2 years old come January and she is now perfect! Well, at least in our eyes she is! Good luck and stay strong and consistent.