10 Week Puppy Agression HELP!

[Julie Mison]

Hi...we have had our cute little Chewie for 2 weeks and we are seeing some dominant behavior. We are consulting with a trainer but I was hoping to hear some of your experiences. I know pups are "nippy" and need to learn who is the leader. We are working on all of that. What concerns us is his growling and then his attempts to "snap" or "bite" when he is tired or does not want to be corrected. He only does this when he is sleeping and we try to pick him up to move him into his crate or when we try to correct his behavior. He also plays with other dogs/pups very rough....mounts them, wrestles, nips, etc.

Is this normal...will this agressive behavior improve....? We have two little kids (6) and (8).

Thanks in advance! We had planned on "hard work" just hadn't planned on this!

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Yup, Lucca was like that too. We ended up doing a private session with the trainer at around 5 months. I never admitted it but I was worried. He had attitude, esp when he was tired. We also had big issues with "resource guarding". As we worked with him and he got older he grew out of it but he also learned who was boss. I was wimpy in my discipline and had to learn how to be "pack leader" not part of the pack. He also had to have "time-outs" in his crate when he was too nippy. With little kids it's harder but it is only short term. Be consistent - that's the most important rule. Also, after Lucca was neutered he became alot less aggressive.
Keep positive. As with babies, you know (their crying) is only temporary. It's just exhausting and stressful going through it. Lucca is 10 months old now and he is a fantastic dog.

[Adina P]

Oh yeah Dixie...MANY of us. Go to the tabs at the top of the page and click on "Forum" then in the search box within the forum type in 'nipping' or 'biting' and you'll get a TON of past discussions and tips on this to make you feel better and show you your pup is VERY normal =)

[Julie Mison]

I know what you mean...I HATE feeling "worried"! We bought a goldendoodle cuz of temperment and to be a family dog with the kids. I hate feeling anxious that he could be a mean or aggressive dog. I am praying it is pack leader stuff and that he will adapt to training. He is an awesome dog in so many ways.

DId your pup ever growl and or snap at you? Chewie does seem to do it mostly when he is tired or mad about being corrected?

Thanks for the encouragement...glad to hear your Lucca grew out of it!

[Lynne B]

playing rough is absolutely normal for puppies, Beck does the same thing. Mounting (according to my trainer) is freqently just a sign of excitement. I am not sure about the snapping or biting, but when you say he 'attempts' to snap or bite, my guess is that he's not really trying. By the time you see a dog 'attempt' to bite- if they really want to bite you have 1/4 of a second to do something about it, so his snapping is probably just warnings to you, but I would talk to a trainer or behaviorist- just make sure that you find one who is apdt or cpdt certified

[Maggie and Reese]

the biting/growling when you go to pick your puppy up from sleeping sounds a little weird---but everything else you are experiencing is the same stuff that my puppy Reese- does or did when we tried to correct her. She is 10 weeks as well and when we brough her home she was very nipping and no correction seemed to work but instead make her want to do it more b/c she thought we were playing with her ( the nipping seemed to turn into snapping when we would try to say no). My husband adn I were told to get up and stop playing with Reese is she got to biting/playful. We get up, walk away, sit on the couch where she can't reach us or leave the room- and she settles down and stops the biting. We were also told that she can give her a "puppy timeout" for her to cool off if the biting gets too intense for us. Saying "no" or punishing/correcting her for nipping just makes her want to do it more ( and harder!)- I have been told that this is normal. SHe has been playing with several dogs as well and she bites and nips at them all - even though they are bigger- its just the way puppies play. Your puppy is just playing normally with biting, wretling etc- the other dog would quickly correct your puppy if he was getting to rough. We've found that as reese is getting more socialization with other dogs they will correct her if she bites too hard, she in turned has settled down on biting us.

Just give your puppy lots of chew toys to give when he starts biting you and dont give any attention to the things that are bag, only give him attention when he does something good. maybe put him in the crate right when he starts to fall alseep. maybe he is being startled when you go to move him and that causes him to snap??

hope this helps- all just suggestions that have helped us!

[Laura & Chewie]

I'm going to jump in here. In my introductory post a week - 10 days ago, I explained how my daughter (the original poster in this thread) and I have "joint custody" of Chewie. She wants my granddaughters to grow up knowing the love and affection of a dog, yet works and would find it difficult to devote the time a puppy needs. On the other hand, the girls are with me daily, live 5 minutes away and I am retired...thus our "alternative" dog arrangement. Chewie is at my home especially during the training period.

Anyway, thanks for all the responses, it definitely has eased the anxiety about his behavior. I think he will be fine...he already is responding to training well and is such a joy in every other way.

I hope Julie and I don't confuse anyone with us both posting about the same dog on occasion.

[Cherri]

Hi Julie,
We are having the exact same problem with our eight week old puppy. I was very concerned as well. He bit my little girl in the face and snapped at her when she went to grab his bone out of the way. He also snaps if they try to put him outside when he does not want to go there. I called a friend of mine that is a dog trainer and she told me that I had less of an aggressive dog behavior as I do a comeptitive dog behavior. Doodles come from such a large litter that they feel like they need to compete for everything including food and sleep. She told me to hand feed for the next couple of days so he knows I am here to give and not take away or compete with him for his food. We still are supposed to establish that we are the leader of the pack but right now he just sees us and our kids as a threat to his food and sleep. Still make your doodle sit before giving the food to him. Hope that helps! I am praying this all works for our family too.

[Julie Mison]

Ours had gotten better ...mostly still "cranky...a.k.a more snippy or growly " when is is tired or chewing his bully stick...so makes sense!