Puppy aggression?

My husband and I meet a nice couple with a 3 1/2 month old yellow lab in our neighborhood and we set up a play date with our 4 1/2 month old lab/shepherd mix. The dogs played very well for the first play date. However, during the second play date, it began to rain out and we had to bring the dogs into the neighbors kitchen. The kitchen was kinda small for 4 people and two dogs and our puppy found one of the other puppy's bones. Our dog became protective/aggressive with this bone and ended up biting the other puppy. There was no mark or blood from this, but it really scared the other puppy. After this, we took the bones away and the dogs seemed okay again. We let them back outside when it stopped raining and they seemed to play fine again.





We have our dog in obidence school and he has had many playful interactions with other dogs, including the one he bit. He is lossing his teeth now too, and I am wondering if that is making him cranky as well. Is this normal behaviour?

Puppy aggression?
Many dogs are more protective over certain things. You have to teach him no and that its not acceptable.
Reply:Him biting the other puppy was totally the fault of the people involved. You don't bring a new dog into another dog's house, have 2 puppies and one bone and expect everything to be fine! Use some common sense here. If there had been no bone, there'd have been no problem.





And yes, teething makes a dog's gums hurt. Make sure he's got lots of stuff of different textures to chew on.
Reply:What happened is prefectly normal for pups. Continue to socialize your dog as much as possible. Leave toys bones and other items out of the picture. The pup was just trying to show he was the leader of the pack. All puppies need to learn their place. He just needs more training, more time and a TON of socialization. He is young and thinks he is all that and a bag of chips. He wil learn how to behave.
Reply:Perfectly normal for two dogs with one bone. Resource guarding is a behavior ingrained into every dog, and that is exactly what your puppy was doing. Once you removed the resource (bone), there was no more competition, and no more tension.





I'm not sure that the teething had anything to do with it. In the future, neither puppy gets to have a treat/toy unless they both have one.
Reply:Yes, this is normal. If the puppy was stealing his bones, the dog is going to get protective 85% of the time. My dog is the same way with her favorite toy. Losing teeth would also make him cranky, as it is a different experience and some teeth losses can be painful. Just keep working at obeidince classes and you should be fine! Good luck.
Reply:the dog was just being protective. and if he was the one that ended up with the bone then he is the dominate one. Be glad ur dog is the alpha. pups love to play and nibble on each other. urs probably just bit the other hard enough to tell him "stay away from my bone". its just like kids and their toys. when one kid takes theirs they might hit the kid who took it. and in both situations u need to discipline the pup/kid
Reply:Your dog is acting dominate over the other. He think he is the pack leader. Taking the bone away doesn't change the behaivor. Stepping in as the pack leader to let your dog know that the behaivor is unacceptable will correct it.


Watch the Dog Whisperer
Reply:When a dog has a bone or anything such as food or toys it is perfectly normal for the dog to become aggressive. All your puppy is doing is protecting what it found. All you have to do is correct your puppy when he does this because if you don't it could end badly when he is older. When he is older if he becomes aggressive he could seriously hurt another dog or even a person for that matter.
Reply:Of course this is normal behavior!!!





Puppies are just like children.





If a child finds another child's toy they will take it and play with it sometimes not wanting to give it back!!!





Your puppy was acting out just like a child would do!! Our baby is still very young and still has a lot to learn!!!!


Yes your puppy is teething and can cause it to not feel well at times.





I have a 4 month old Yellow Lab puppy and she is teething now!!! I give her ice cubes to chew on!! This helps with the swelling and pain of the gums!!!





Your baby will grow up one day and be a good dog!!!
Reply:Your puppy let the other dog know the bone was his and also you were in the other dogs house so that creates a whole other situation. Your puppy is in school so if you have any concerns tell the instructor
Reply:your puppy is trying to show dominance over the other puppy, and trying to tell the puppy that it is "his" bone, next time he does this DO NOT LET HIM. when he does it grab him up and lay him on his back, say NO very sternly and hold him on his back until he gets limp, this shows him you are the "pack leader" and you dont put up with it. It may take a couple of times of doing so, but eventually he will get the hint. You do not want a food aggressive dog, nip it in the bud now!





-Heather-
Reply:hmmm, puppies can be so confusing eh....first remember its easier to teacha dog what todo than what not to do, but at the same time u have to figure a way to teach him not to bite... i would go about it like this....one never reward the pup for bad behavior, if she gets aggresive over a bone, tell him 'no' and take the bone away....by u letting the two continue too play in a way u are rewarding the behavior. If he bites another dog than play time is over...that way he learns that if he wants to play with othe dogs than NO biting. For my puppy i used a timeout kennel it was out in the garage and had no pad in it, not horrible but surely not fun. When she went the bathroom inside or chewed something up outside she would go in the timeout crate. She didn't want to be out there and soon learned what not to do to stay out of there. Two, when a dog doesn't get a lot of treats or food or toys when it find something it feels it must defend it or lose it, but when a dog is used to always having stuff around it doesn't feel that need to protect its catch. So keep that in mind also. Three, every dog is diffrent and some just aren't share pups, so just be careful where she plays check for things that may cause problems. and use the internet, thats what i did when i got my dog and i was suprised to learn how many things i did effect her. Dogs learn best from reward so try having a bone and letting the other dog take it from her and then rewarding her for letting the other dog have it with her favorite treat. Actually thats probably ur best bet....well good luck.
Reply:Chances are your dog is just possessive over toys and probably people too. Its normal. Keep the toys away from the puppies when they are playing, and later, when you are with your puppy see if you take one of the toys if he/she wil try and bite. If your pup tries to bite, scold in a loud angry voice and tap the puppy on the nose. If the pup continues to bite leave your puppy in the cage. They are pack animals and don't like to be seperated from their pack - aka your family. Its better to solve this problem when they are young, because when they get older they will only become more protective over you and your family, and their toys.
Reply:many dogs are toy/food aggression. you must teach him that that is not acceptable. for further interactions with other dogs, just make sure the toys/food/treats are put away.



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