Aggressive Puppy

[ginaknigga]

We recently purchased a beautiful black Newf who is now 9 weeks old. When we got him at 7 weeks, he was an absolute cream puff - for about 1 1/2 weeks. Now he is extremely aggressive. We have had many puppies - this is our first Newf. Everything we have been told and read indicates that Newfs are very loving and docile. Our puppy will not accept trying to take something out of his mouth (or anytime something goes against his will) - he becomes extremely aggressive and will not stop. It is to the point that we are very concerned - our 12 year old daughters are very upset. I called the breeder to see if she has experienced this and to seek council - her advise was to roll him on his back or slap his nose. My fear is that this will make him more aggressive. The whole family is truly in love with this pup, and for the most part, he is fairly good natured. But, his aggression is getting worse. I have called an obedience trainer to get some help. We are truly a loving home - in my wildest dreams, I never thought this would happen. We are crate training him - will this make a pup aggressive? We are desparate for suggestions.

 

[AmyPC]

Hi Riley,

sorry to hear about the problems with your Newfie puppy, there will be lots of good old posts on this topic for you to read through, quite a lot of people have experienced the same sort of problems with their pups when they were very young. (Me included).

Training school as soon as possible is a good start, puppy pre-school maybe, as he is probably too young for 'real' training classes yet. (They usually about 12 weeks before they can start them, I think). So you're definitely one step ahead of the game by calling a training person!

You will need to practive some dominance tactics by the sound of things. You could try the alpha-roll but I would read the post below titled alpha-roll before giving it a go, it is not for everyone. Other things I would try (and DID try, with my girl) is :

- thrusting your hand down your pups throat when they bite your hands, making them gag a little - it's kind of like a counter-attack and they really don't like it - I found this to be really effective.

- holding your pups mouth closed when they mouth you

- isolation for bad behaviour - for such a young puppy I would only do it for 10 minutes, maximum - I probably wouldn't use the crate for this though as you want positive feelings associated with the crate and not negative ones - maybe use the laundry or another small room.

- do alpha-type of things like walking through doors first, not letting them on furniture (it can make them think they're people!). I now let my grl on one particular armchair and on my bed, when invited, but could only really start doing this when she got older and her behaviour improved because it was causing a problem.

I know it seems really, really awful and serious now - I thought I'd made a HUGE mistake with Rory and had doubts and thought she was just awful at times - but it will get better if you perservere, it sounds like you are doing all the right things. Training school is what really corrected the problem for us. She used to growl, scratch, snap and bite from 12 weeks to about 5 months. It pretty much stopped when we began training, because she started to realise that yes, we WERE the boss of her! And not the other way around.

I'm sure others here can offer good advice or you could read back through the archives and you will find a lot of helpful stuff. (Set it to show posts from last year or so).

Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[newfloverqc]

Hi,

I've had dogs in the past and I've always gotten rid of the puppy biting by "counter-attacking" as Amy suggests.

They really don't like it. I have two young children and my newf pup when it arrives in the fall will certainly be taught that I can take anything out of it's mouth whenever I want (not that I find dog food attractive, but I don't want to fight with her if ever she bites a show or something like that).

My kids went through a biting phase too, especially my youngest, my son. It's like he didn't have the vocabulary to express his frustrations so he bit. A couple of times he bit my hand and I put hand right against the back of his jaw when he did, not down his throat. He stopped fast enough. Now that he can talk, it's no longer a problem.

Cheers

,

 

[dogger]

Boagie was aggressive when we first got her and occasionally will still test the waters.
Rolling her on her back, and leaning over her with one hand on her neck (like and alpha dog would do) and the other on her nose and in a low growling voice say no until she relaxed works really well. along with hand in the throat, going in and out before she does also help but most important is the obedience.
I know what a shock it is to find out they can be aggressive. Brian and I felt the same way. But if you stay in charge now, she will know every 2 legged creature is alpha over her.

 

[Annie Milliron]

Welcome to Newf Net. I'm sorry that you are having such a problem. It's one that you've got to get a grip on right now. Training is essential... and you really must find a puppy kindergarten class. Your children should go and observe, because consistancy is the key. You all have to deliver the same message... quickly and effectively. Once your puppy knows that you are ALL the boss... life should be easier. As Amy Mentioned, there are a lot of good posts about similar situations.

Another thing you should probably start doing if you haven't already is to put your hand in the puppy's food bowl while he's eating. You need to establish that you can take anything out of his mouth at anytime. This is imperative, because they can get into lots of things that aren't good for them, no matter how much you puppy/dog proof.

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

Welcome to the board, Riley! Sorry to hear you are having aggression problems with your pup. If you read the posts in the section titled "hyperactiveness" from Soxandwaffles, you will be able to get a lot of ideas from someone with a similar problem.
The bottom line is that you have to get control of this pup and let him know who is the alpha in the family. "Bothering" him when he eats is essential. Be firm, take away the food and give it right back and stand by him when he eats, pet him and stay close so he knows no one will take his food away. This way he will know that you and your family are no threat to his meals.
Good luck and let us know how it is going.

 

[Annie Milliron]

Hi Riley!

I see that you live in Indiana. Where in Indiana are you? I'm a member of SCNC (South Central Newfoundland Club), as are many other people on Newf Net. If you live close to Indianapolis, I could probably find out the names of some good obedience schools.

Annie

 

[ginaknigga]

Thanks so much for all of the helpful suggestions. We have been trying a few of your ideas, and he seems to be getting better - maybe a little too early to tell - but has not had a 'temper tantrum' the last 2 days. Anne - I live in Indiana but right on the Ohio line - 1/2 hour out of Cincy OH, 1 1/2 hours out of Indy.

 

[naturemama]

Crate training will not make them aggressive. Our Newfie is only 5 months old, but we have crate trained every dog that we have had and have never had problems with it leading to any sort of aggression issues.

My best advice would be to get him enrolled in a puppy kindergarten class. All of our pups have been in them and they have all been extremely successful. Often, you will get all sorts of helpful, hands-on suggestions for dealing with this and other behaviors. Also, one of the best ways of preventing fear-aggression is by well-socializing them while they are young. Kindergarten is a great way to start the socialization process.

Lisa