Pup with dominance/aggression problems

J

JennaAndGov

New member
Hello all
I have a 9 month old,unaltered, male Newfoundland puppy. Lately he has been showing signs of dominance and aggression. This started about a week ago when I had him at a park. He would bark and lunge at children when they would run past him. He also has started mounting other dogs and showing aggression towards them. This is all new and I'm really worried about him doing harm to a child or another dog. I wasn't planning on neutering him until about 2 years old but I decided to schedule to have him neutered next week. Any suggestions/comments would be awesome! Thanks!
 
victoria1140

victoria1140

Active member
Actually it sounds like teenager stage kicking in.
Start retraining and working on techniques that work for him.

He is just being a boisterous boy pushing his boundaries from the sounds of it.kids running and playing mean fun and playtime to him.has he been well socialised in this area?

What is he like in a calm controlled environment
 
J

JennaAndGov

New member
Thank you for the reply! He is great in a calm environment. At home he's dosile and gets along with my other two dogs and cat. He has not be socialized with kids much but that same day I had children feeding him treats and petting him,etc and he was okay with it... Until they started screaming and running. It almost seemed like he was saying HEY,calm down!! I hate to get him neutered so young. Maybe I should see my vet and check for possible UTI and see a trainer first? What do you think?
Thanks again
 
Jeannie

Jeannie

Super Moderator
I don't see how a UTI can cause these behavior problems. As stated above he is growing up and pushing his limits. A trainer/socialization would be the way to go. Also neutering at 9 months can cause many health problems as he gets older. I'd wait at least until he is over a year. 18 months is idea. However there are exceptions to every rule.

Hopefully Jane will chime in. She gives great advise.
 
Angela

Angela

Super Moderator
Find a trainer and try not to have him neutered this young. Kids screaming can trigger this type of behaviour. He is becoming a teenager and a good trainer should be able to get you through this phase.
 
J

JennaAndGov

New member
Okay Thanks guys... I just mentioned the UTI thing because a friend of mine said her newfie had started showing lots of aggression and acting out and it ended up being a UTI-- wanted to rule that out cause he's somehow had one before. Do you guys think I should use any kind of training devices like certain type of collar,etc? Any stance on citronella collars? Someone mentioned that to me. Not sure how I feel about them. I think this all stemmed from a new neighbor moving in behind my house- their dog is extremely aggressive through the 6 ft fence, growls and barks every day and gov(my newf) just tarted barking and growling back so I made a barrier fence infront of the other fence but of course he already jumped over it. Ha
 
R Taft

R Taft

Active member
That is why we should socialise our puppies well, long before they become teenagers... Do you atend any training classes at all or do you see a trainer?

Neutering does not fix problems...you need to start retraining and doing some behaviour training, lots of work. WRKNNWF, Jane, always has great plans written out... i am lazy, I just say go and look at Kikkopup Youtubes and google The BAT system.... The BAT system should really help you and you can buy a couple of great books on Dogswise... E- Books

If you have no experience maybe find a good positive reinforcement trainer to help. this needs to be nipped in the bud.

I am not one for equipment, it only covers behaviour, I like to sort the problem and stick with flat collars and martingale collars
 
J

JennaAndGov

New member
Yes he's been through 3 training classes. Was doing so well! I went on a vacation at the end of January and he stayed with a dog sitter for a week and seems like all that training went out the door.
 
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