Help ! aggressive puppy alert !?

I bought a pug/collie puppy just over a month ago. She is now 3 months old .The problem with her is that she is very aggressive and never stops. When she gets too spiteful i lock her in her large cage where she is happy to be and goes to sleep, but this is getting more and more regular. I didn't buy a puppy to keep her locked up all day but she hurts myself and the kids with her constant snapping. When she starts snapping at my kids, the cat or myself, i immediately tell her "No" but she just comes back for more. I've tried out all the advice my friends have given me but it's not working. When she snaps she shows her teeth and actually bites any part of the body she can get hold of. She has also pinned the cat to the floor while on top. Is this normal behaviour for a puppy, will she grow out of it, and what am i doing so wrong ? She has a lovely big garden to play in but chooses to stay by the back door and gnaw at the step. She is walked daily for about a mile and loves it.

Help ! aggressive puppy alert !?
no knowing for sure how it is but what you have said is kind of normal you have to teach her what is right and wrong and a cage is not the answer...... toys she can chew on should be used when playing really be best if you get a book or do some reading about you breed and her name and good dog and bad dog are the first word she should know
Reply:Uhm Thats normal cuz shes teething rember when your kids were teething and they always wanted to bight things? But if she alredy has her teeth thats a diffrent problem... Try using a spray bottle instead of a cage. If the cage has come as normal thing and she enjoys thats a luxry not a time out place. buy a squirt bottle and hit her directly in the face saying NO! sternly if she comes back again repeat but this time with 2 squirts. Oh yeah and at night(if she already does this)put her in your cage.
Reply:This is not aggression but normal puppy behavior. It's up to you and your family to teach your pup proper behavior/bite inhibition. When she mouths/bites/acts inproperly *yelp* to get her attention. Redirect her to something she can have such as a toy. If the improper behavior continues cross your arms and turn your back. Give NO attention-not even a spoken *no*. It takes time but with consistent training your pup will learn how to behave without mouthing ,nipping or biting.
Reply:She is a puppy and yes that is normal but locking her in the cage isnt the right thing to do when she snaps at you or the kids or the cat just tell her no no bite also keep a squirt bottle handy and wheen she starts to go after the cat or anyone squirt her. I was having problems with my german shepard black lab teying to grab my little dogs collars all the time and i ask on her what could I do and I was told get a squirt bottle and spray him he should stop doung it and he did now all I have to do is ay King mommy has the squirt bottle and boy he is one good boy
Reply:Normal puppies play and bite sometimes but they're playing.


What you're describing sounds vicious, if so, she might have a real problem and might need to be put down.


Before going to such extreme measures like that, I would contact a vet and ask.


You could try doing what her litter mates would do and that's screaming really loud and scaring her whenever she bites. You might have to get physical with her and spank her mouth also.
Reply:Whatever you do stop caging her. The cage or kennel is supposed to be the one place your dog can go to get away and feel safe, it is not to be used as punishment. Being that she seems so comfortable being kenneled it;s almaost as though she prefers it. Hence the biting may be a reaction to some incident that has happened. By yourself a very inexpensive muzzle. Depending on the dog you may even be able to just use a tube or crew sock (my puppy hates it and it nipped the biting in the butt very fast). Everytime she nips or bites muzzle her for 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 minutes, progressively longer each time she does it. Reward her when she plays with you and does not bite. She needs to be tought that she is the dog and not the leader. You say you got her over a month ago and that she is only 3 months old, that leads me to believe she missed out on some much needed socialization time with her litter mates and the teachings of her mama.
Reply:A 12wk old pup isn't being spiteful. That's a human emotion. She is a baby who is learning and that's how pups play with each other. Think about a litter of pups playing. They bite, snarl, tumble and make a lot of noise.





Take her to training with other pups who she can play with. They learn together how to play...





Locking her in a cage where she's happy to be won't help. If you want to use a time out technique it has to be in a place she doesn't normally go - laundry etc. Don't leave her more than a few minutes and ignore her when you let her out. If she does it again put her straight back in again.





12 week old puppies do not have aggression problems but if you don't train her now you may have yourself a dominant adult dog.





She is still in the critical learning period now and socialisation and training with other pups will teach her lessons for life in order to make her a well behaved adult dog.





Adult dogs with behavioural probs are usually the ones who miss out on socialisation between 8-16 weeks as pups.





Dogs need leaders. You have to be her pack leader. Take her to training (i can't say it enough).





Give her commands to obey. They need it. Biting is normal for puppies but you have to know the difference between an acceptable mouthing bite and a hard bite bite.





Your kids need to be more dominant than her too, if they are old enough to make a growling noise and be firm then use it to deter her.





You are now her surrogate pack. If she bites hard, yelp and walk away. Don't yell at her, as far as she's concerned you're just joining in the game. Put her in timeout like I said above.





A lovely big garden is lovely. But what environmental enrichment does she have? Toys? Sandpit to dig in? You can't just leave her in the back yard - she's a baby. It's the same as putting your kids in the house with nothing to do.


Also offer different toys daily. The same toy day after day is dead boring.





She's a collie x. A working dog. She's going to need a lot of exercise. Think about swimming. 10 mins of swimming is equivalent to an hour of walking.





Gosh, I could go on forever but really take her to preschool or obedience classes and get training! 10 mins a day is enough at her age!





Good luck!!!
Reply:Take her to obedience or puppy classes or consult a trainer on how to help you.





She sounds like my puppy and crating her that much or as a punishment is not good. My trainer told me it is okay to put her in the crate sometimes but you have to be calm and not angry when you do it.





He also said to put a leash on her and use it to stop her from biting you, no need to yank on it just sternly (not angrily) say no and pull her back or away. They can sense your frustration and they take advantage like it is a fun game. Also that is just from my experience not all dogs are the same but it seems to be helping with her, she is 15 weeks old now so it could also be that she is growing out of it I really don't know for sure.
Reply:She's teething and has bad manners. It isn't aggression at this point, and never ever "spank" your dog in the mouth. That encourages the behavior because they think it means play time.





Keep a squirt bottle handy and spray her whenever she nips. If she keeps doing it then separate her from you and the kids (block her in a bathroom or loop her leash over a door handle in a deserted hallway.)





Give her plenty of toys to play with. Nylabone, Kong, and puppy designed toys work well (Kong you can stuff with treats) but no rawhide, it's too dangerous for puppies.





Remember that collies are herding dogs and were bred to "herd" things. So your kids running and flapping around could trigger the nipping behavior. Teach your kids to play nicely and to move slower with the puppy until you find a way to correct the nipping behavior.





Talk to a trainer for more tips, someone who can see the behavior can help you better.
Reply:i would check around and if i were you i would try my best to get her in a puppy class. even if she knows sit down and all that it because most puppy classes will let all the pups play at the end. i would think that what she is doing is trying to play and she just does not know how. if you get her plenty of toys and chews this may help.


if she has toys and she trys to snap tell her NO then hand her one of her toys. she may be having dominance issues and is trying to be the dominate one in the house hold. (which you have to let her know she is not).


If you can not find puppy classes i would get her in obedience classes so she can learn manners. It is not your fault, sometimes its hard to know what to do with a snappy puppy. there have been many a times i have had to take my Aunts dog to the ground because of bad behavior. i dont know if you should really do that but i do and it helps. What i mean by this is i force her to the ground and make her stay there until she stops moving. My best advice is find puppy class or obedience. Good Luck
Reply:Yes, it's normal puppy behavior. Our cocker spaniel was doing the same thing with us. He'll still do it occassionally- when we try petting him and he wants to play he'll try to get our fingers. He's not trying to do it to hurt- it's a combination of him wanting to play and having our fingers in his mouth feels good on his teeth. Look at puppies playing together- they usually nip at each other. It's how they play and learn.





What we've been doing is saying no when he goes to bite us and removing our hands. If he does get us, we say ouch (depending on how much it actually hurt we say it louder) so he knows it hurts us, which he is slowly learning. The thing that has been working best is redirecting him to one of his toys when he starts trying to bite. After we say no and remove our hands we give him one of his toys he likes to chew on- and then we play with him using that toy for a while. That way he still gets something to chew on to help his teeth feel better and he still gets to play.





Remember, when he's biting as a puppy it's because he's teething and/or wants to play. Teach him that there are appropriate things to bite and that he can play with you without biting and he'll be happy. He'll learn- it just takes time and patience.
Reply:She's a puppy! This is normal for a puppy to act like this but you must correct her behavior in a different way.





I just got through training a St.Bernard puppy with this same bad habit. I took her to training classes and the first thing they told me is this:





1. When she bites you scream in a high pitch squeal almost just like she'd sound when something hurt her. This will get her attention and she'll pulse for a second. When she stops you get up and stop playing with her. If she comes to you ignore her for about 5 minutes. Then you can go back and play with her after about 5 minutes.





The signal this is giving to your dog is if she hurts you- NO PLAY. A dogs mind is simple and this will be very easy for them to understand.





2. The trainer we used told us that when you know the dog is getting ready to bite you, to put a toy or yummy chew bone in the dogs mouth. This really does work also. I bought the old roy brand of marrow bones. (Off white outside with brown on the inside.) She couldn't eat this bone but she could chew on it and it tasted good to her and it would keep her mind off of biting.





Hope this has helped some. I don't recommend putting you dog in her crate every time she does something wrong because it will get to where she doesn't like going into the crate. My dog goes to her crate when it is bed time or when she knows I'm leaving. She understands that the crate is not a place where she's punished and that makes it easier for me to crate her when I leave and not feel guilty. (I will only crate her until she's potty trained.)
Reply:she is the alpha female in your house and if you don't start interacting with her instead of locking her up you will have a dangerous dog on your hands you have to establish leader ship don't feed her until after you and your kids have ate then when you do feed her make her sit and wait act like your eating it make sure she sees you do this. walk her on a lead don't let her pull or get in front of you because that is also alpha behavior if she bites you yelp and turn away from her with your hands crossed don't give her attention after she bites you. let her settle down before you pet her again it's tuff love but she needs to know her place hitting her or locking her up will only fuel the fire she has to learn from you what is expected of her and putting her in the cage is only making her more distant from you and your kids she is a puppy and this is puppy behavior and can be corrected with some training it wont happen over night but puppy's learn quickly and this can be fixed but i cant emphasize enough how keeping her in a cage is causing a lot of your problems puppy's have lots of energy and need to burn it off and you are denying her this and there for causing more problems not to be rude but keeping a puppy in a cage all the time is how you make a dog aggressive and fearful of people and other animals....
Reply:Your puppy wants to be the leader of the pack and at the moment - she is!





All pups need to be trained just like toddlers do.





My suggestion is : get a small plastic bottle and half fill it with gravel and every time she gets aggressive throw the bottle near her and say no, but this must be done every time. Now and again will not work.





She should soon realise that she is not the boss that you are and this should put things to rights.





Let us know if this helps but it will take a little time.





When she is good - tell her so and if you feel she deserves it give her a little doggy treat. She will soon realise that being good is far better then trying to be the boss.





You shouldn't need to put her in a cage.
Reply:A major cause of aggression in dogs is dominance issues. The dog needs to know you're dominant not her. That's why people say it's the owners fault. You can't tell the dog you're dominant so you must act it. Your dog pinned the cat to the floor - that is a clear signal of her dominance over the cat. I have used pinning a dog to the floor (on her back) and staring at her as a method for disciplining. It's a very clear message to the dog that I am in charge.





Now as for snapping - puppies often bite and chew inappropriately. It can be from teething but is often because no-one has taught them not to. Your discipline methods obviously don't work. You don't mention the methods your friends have suggested - that would've been helpful.





First I would suggest ensuring your dog knows you're dominant. I have cut and pasted an answer to a previous question about this issue. When you are doing that then deal with the snapping.





Instantly slapping a dog on the nose the second it goes to snap can be a good deterrent BUT only if the dog knows you are dominant. If the dog thinks she is dominant then slapping her nose is a challenge to her to escalate the encounter!





So be careful and make sure you're sending her signals that you are dominant before you try any aggressive discipline otherwise it will make the snapping worse. A simple method is to eat in front of the dog (NEVER giving food from your plate) BEFORE you feed the dog. In dog society the dominant eat first. Make sure you're not doing this in reverse.





Finally, a mile is not far for that type of dog. She also will not see that the garden is 'lovely'. You need to exercise her more. Get some toys for her to chew and a ball to fetch and throw it for her in the garden. make sure she knows what 'good dog' means. Like children dogs respond better to praise.





You have an energetic, confident and dominant dog. They make fantastic pets if trained properly but if you can't deal with her then you need to give her to someone who can and get a less challenging dog.





Cut and pasted bit:





re. dominant aggressive behaviour....


.....dogs act like that when they think they're in charge. people think shouting at them will make them stop but that makes them worse (dominant wolves are usually the quietest)





shouting, restraining, slapping etc can all make the dog worse cos you seem out of control to him and it convinces him he's right that you need to be taken care of.





you gotta be calm and consistent. put him out of the room or isolate him in some other way without speaking when he misbehaves.





Is he with other dogs? If so do you know the hierarchy? it's v important. we have 3 dogs. we had some vicious fighting a while back and after some observation realised the hierarchy had changed. a younger dog had assumed dominance among the dogs. since i'm dominant over all the dogs it was my behaviour that was causing the problem. I was still rubbing and feeding the previously dominant dog first. that angers the new dominant dog who takes it out on the other dogs.





the order you show attention - particularly food - signals who you think is dominant. If you're wrong you're in trouble. Feed YOU first, then the genuinely dominant dog then the others n order. Same with attention and treats.








You're probably acting subordinate with your pup. do you get down on the floor with him and talk to him like he's a baby? do you allow him lick your face or jump on you? you need to act dominant. A very good test is to prepare his food then stand and eat something without giving his food to him. does he get angry or try to take it? that means he thinks you've no right to eat first.





You should do this every feed time - eat something first and make him wait. it's a clear signal you're in charge.


don't ever lose your calm with him (shouting etc.) and find some way to withdraw your attention from him when he misbehaves (I have house dogs so I just put them out of the room until they're calm and continue to do it until they learn)





Don't let him run to the door/gate or squeeze out in front of you - also dominant behaviour. He waits for YOU.





Don't EVER let him jump on you or stand over you. Push him down and say no firmly and continue to do it until he takes the hint. Being 'higher' is a dominant position. That's where you should be.





He may be your baby but he thinks you're his and will become more protective and aggressive unless you show him he doesn't need to be.





Also make sure he lets you take his food. If you haven't done this he may even snap at you. In that case I would give his nose a quick slap! give the food back and do it again. repeat until he gives up complaining. Do it on a regular basis until he obviously doesn't care. this is important cos kids will fiddle with his food and if he's not used to it he'll behave like a dog and snap - he must be used to people fiddling with his food. put your fingers in it while he's eating and act generally annoying- weird but effective! Dogs are VERY territorial around their food bowls and beds - where children are usually bitten. Make sure he knows that you can do what you want with it, you're in charge of it not him.





Have you been handling him to get him used to being handled? Like running your hands over him, his belly, legs, neck, giving his legs a shake, pull or squeeze, flapping his ears, opening his mouth and putting fingers in?





If he's used to this he'll react better to a vet and a child. If you haven't then start slow and ease into it. It'll be worth it when you're child pulls his ears and he barely notices.
Reply:1, you shouldn't use the crate as a punishment. You want the dog to be comfy in the crate, so you need to associate it with good things, not punishment.





2, are you really sure the dog is not just play fighting? My two dogs play fight, and to a passerby, it probably sounds like they're killing each other. But they really are playing you can tell by their body language.





3. if the dog really is being aggressive, contact your local humane society. they have behavioral experts on staff and are usually willing to offer their EXPERT advice over the phone for FREE. they can also point you to other resources or trainers if you need extra help.



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