8 week old puppy being aggressive?
We have an 8 week old puppy. She will be 9 weeks in a few days. She has started being aggressive with my almost 2 year old daughter. My daughter will bend down to pet her or play with her and she will automatically start growling and trying to bite her. I first thought she was trying to play with her, but she sounds quite vicious and is truly trying to bite her. When she does this, I have been separating them and telling her “NO” firmly. She keeps doing it though. What can I do to stop this? She doesn’t just do it to my daughter, but will snap at my husband and I, also.
She is doing great house training though. We have only had a couple of poop accidents (she doesn’t poop on a schedule yet even though she is fed on a schedule).
Normal behavior toward a litter mate. You need to start obedience training to let her know her place in the pack. The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog’s natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat.
Young Labs, which I know best, and other puppies tend to very bad about biting. You see a litter of them, and all the ones that are awake are biting another one or themselves. I am not even sure they realize that when they are alone, if they quit biting, they would quit being bitten. At 3 to 4 months they are getting their adult teeth, and it seems they spend every waking moment biting or chewing. One thing you can do at that stage is to knot and wet a piece of cloth. Then freeze it. The cooling will soothe the gums. Only let the puppy have it when you are there to watch it. I maintain a Lab’s favorite chew toy is another Lab. Otherwise they settle for any person they can. They keep hoping to find one that won’t yelp, jerk their hand away, and leave.
You just have to keep on correcting them, hundreds of times, not dozens. Provide sturdy, safe toys such as Kongs and Nylabones. Avoid things they can chew pieces off and choke on them. Keep them away from electrical cords. Crates are essential for most young Labs and other dogs.
The pet stores are full of toys that many dogs will quickly chew up into pieces they could choke on or cause intestinal blockages. If you are not there to watch, stick to sturdy stuff such as Nylabones and Kongs. Keep a close eye on chew toys and quickly discard anything that is coming apart in pieces. Rawhide is especially bad because it swells after being swallowed. I don’t trust any of the consumable chews. The dogs just gnaw them down to a dangerous size too quickly. These problems are the worst with, but not limited to, large, aggressive chewers such as Labs.
Also 2 year olds need careful supervision around puppies. We spent last weekend trying to teach our 15 month old granddaughter not to hit our 9 month old Lab. Once the puppy is a little bigger, it will be more tolerant of the toddler’s abuse.
South Bend Dog Training – In Home Dog Trainer