Aggresive puppy?

I have a 5 month old beagle/cocker spaniel. Normaly he's very loving and he's a very good puppy. However, on two occasions now he's growled at me. The first time he had gotten a peice of pizza off the table and i was taking it out and he growled ( VERY meanly), then just tonight he got a brussel sprout ( of all things!) off my plate, and i went to get him and he actually bared his teeth to me.


I still took it out of his mouth grabbed him by the scruff of the neck ( kinda meanly) and took him to a time out in the dark bathroom.


I know that he needs obediance classes, I have him signed up for January. But for now is there other things i can be doing to stop him from being food agressive. I do all the regular stuff, I pet him and put my hand in his bowl while he eats, and i try to take his bones and toys away from him once in awhile so he knows im the alpha but it doesnt seem to be working.


Any tips would be appreciated.

Aggresive puppy?
I suggest you disregard any advice that encourages you to pull an item from your dog while he's guarding it. I have gotten bitten when I listened to this same horrible advice, and chances are you will get nipped as well.





SO, the big question is how to counter this. First, you need to teach him the command "Give". To do so, you have to teach your dog to "trade up". To build this behavior, begin playing with your dog or give him a low value treat like a carrot. Once he grabs the object, hold a high value treat, like chicken or hotdog, and let your dog sniff it. Upon sniffing the high value treat, he will loosen his grip on the low value object and most likely drop it. Say "GIVE" and as soon as he lets go of the object, and give him the high value reward. Repeat repeat repeat. In essence, you've taught your dog that it's a GOOD thing for him to give up objects because he will receive something even better. Over time, you can fade out the treat and simply say "Give" and your dog will give up whatever is in his mouth.





Believe me. If my dobie can do this with raw bones, your pup can do it, too! It just takes a lot of repetition and firm consistency.





Also, in the meantime, keep your food out of your dog's reach. Until your dog has mastered "Give", do not give him any chance to grab food and guard it from you. You want to set him up for success, not failure.
Reply:Dealing with this type you must not be afraid to yell NO! to him my dog I had was aggresive toward me because she thought she was dominant take control of the situation don't put him in the dark dogs get meaner like that spank him with newspaper many people doesn't know dogs do not like being spanked with paper they're very afraid of it tell him when to sit and lay down
Reply:It sounds like your doing pretty well. My advice is to not play tug-o-war, if you were, now is the time to stop, and when these insidents occur grab him muzzle in your hand and squeeze gently, saying "no bite", "no bark" or in this case"no growl". And if it happens when your playing, take the toy (if there is on) and stand up, and don't pay attention to it for a few minutes. Other than that your doing fine.
Reply:every time he does that, take whatever he has in his mouth away, and turn around and look up at the sky. for 15 seconds. after a couple of times it will work.
Reply:sounds great to me. i have a great dane puppy who is now about 10 months and 120 pounds! even though he could easily kill me i guilt trip him if he does ANYTHING like that. he is large enough to take things off the counter but when he used to as a puppy i screamed NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! and said "what did you do? thats a bad dog. basically just like you would a person. he understands well and is a perfect little angel now. oh obediances classes work MIRACLES!
Reply:Well don't spank him with newspaper like the first guy said. Lots of people don't know that spanking a dog will make it more aggressive.. Stick with the classes and what you are doing. Don't listen to the people here who have never trained a dog. You'll end up with a bigger problem by spanking your dog, hitting him with newpaper and all the goofy things people are likely to tell you.
Reply:When he growls at you, grab him firmly [do not hurt him] by the scruff of his neck and flip him over and hold him down until he is submissive. This shows him you are the pack leader.
Reply:My theory, and I have a lot of experience with dogs, is that dogs know you're not the "alpha dog." They know you're different from them. Your dog can tell one species from another.





For example, doesn't he play differently with another dog than say a cat? Does he play differently with you than a dog? People smell different, walk upright, wear clothes, talk, etc. He knows you're not a dog.





Which brings me to my next point... you have to teach him to respect and obey you, much like a child. He needs to know there are consequences for his actions. There has to be some sort of fear factor there. Otherwise, he will push his limits %26amp; possibly bite you or someone else if he doesn't get his way.





Putting him in a dark bathroom when he does something you consider bad behavior isn't effective. He doesn't see that as punishment. He just notices a change in scenery. Dogs aren't that complex.





There's this whole theory of positive reinforcement which I don't think is effective with all dogs. Some dogs are more easily rehabilitated than others. I have a difficult dog myself... a husky mix. None of those positive reinforcement techniques worked at all for him. Honestly, there is no sure-fire way of dealing with difficult dogs. It takes a lot of trial and error. No dog is the same %26amp; cannot be treated the same. I do not encourage any kind of spanking or physical abuse, but I do think your dog should fear you at times in order to take you seriously %26amp; to know you mean business.





Now back to the direct question you were asking about food aggression toward humans...





This can actually become very serious. No general obedience class will correct this. You should seek out a highly experience dog professional who works with aggressive dogs or dogs that may become aggressive, much like Cesar Millan.





No one on this forum will be able to effectively and accurately assess how serious this aggression is unless they were to meet with your dog %26amp; observe his behavior.





Don't get discouraged though, I believe most dogs that are showing signs of aggression can be rehabilitated with great success.





I'm sorry I could only provide you with a little bit of insight, but I'm glad you're taking your dog's behavior seriously enough to work with him instead of letting the behavior escalate.





Props to you! =)
Reply:You dont ever take a piece of food away from a dog, the pizza or brussell sprout will not hurt him......but you do need to food socialize this dog before he does take a chunk out of you.......give him a piece of meat by hand,,,tell him good boy, then not with your hand, you can buy an artifical hand at a pet store which is used for this very thinjg,, take the piece of meat away from him with the hand stick, if he becomes aggressive, you say bad boy, no very fimly...this is called food socialization.....you better start it now, or keep all other foods away from him...or your gonna get hurt, he has food aggression habit, which has to be stopped while he is young./////
Reply:my advice is too get a small peice of chain and when the dog does sumthing wrong through the chain at the dogs feet and yell Bah, ( bah is the dog language word for no) you shouldnt use no because it is used so often in everyday life so for example if your other half is yelling out asking if you've seen sumthing of his and you yell back "no" the dog will think he has done something wrong.. use the chain and " Bah" command everytime the dog does something naughty and he will soon realise that you are the boss.. trust me i had aggression problems with my German shepherd i was a bit skeptical about this method at first until now i have seen the results he is 9 months old now and we still use the chain.



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