# need help - puppy showing signs of aggression/dominance



## bbeau78 (Jan 10, 2014)

Shelby is 4 1/2 months now and as sweet as she is, over the past couple of weeks she is showing signs of aggression/dominance. She loves socks and the kid's stuffies and stealing dirty bibs from my toddler's laundry hamper when I forget to close his bedroom door. When I try to take them from her she growls and snaps at me, which honestly scares me a little bit as I don't want to end up with a mean dog. She seems to only be like this with me, not my kids (2 boys, one is 21 months and one almost 5) nor my husband. But still, I worry about her acting this way towards the kids one day. I am the one who does the majority of the training. Is this just a puppy thing that will pass? I have started asking her to 'give' and trading with a dried liver treat (which she loves!) which seems to help but would appreciate any other tips/tricks on how to stop this behaviour. 

Also any tips on how to keep her from pulling socks off my kid's feet? I can't even let my little one wear them in the house anymore!


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

First, your puppy is not aggressive or dominant, she is just a puppy. lots of training is needed at that age, and you are doing the right thing with the trading game. keep at it. lots of training and this will pass.


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

I would have the little ones keep shoes on for now! Puppies love reactions, good or bad, it is hard but be firm but gentle with her, the trading game is good, but I do remember Dudley getting quite cocky at 5-6 months when he was quite big and worrying that he was getting too dominant, I had to tell him off a few times but kept calm using a growly voice to show disapproval. Just remember to tell her how good she is a lot of times to, even if its things you are starting to take for granted that she will do right, the more praise they get the more they will want to do the things that earnt it.


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

i was worried about that at first too, but then I had to think about it - I'm afraid of this little tiny thing that's not even 10 pounds. It's not comfortable, but if you tell yourself they are too small to do any real damage and that you control the situation, it doesn't seem as bad. They do make an awful going to kill you growl sound, don't they? Like others say it's also a good time to do the training. Are you sure she wasn't playing with you? I know my two around that time would easily get confused with me as their plaything and their plaything as their plaything. I got toys that I could play with them so that my hands were out of reach but still get to interact. Teaching her to leave it, drop it - comes in handy - at those times and she learns that listening gets her rewards. Also having her used to having you handle her mouth (teeth brushing, swiping junk out of her mouth) also really important. Also I notice when my energy is up (excited, anxious, irritable), they respond with elevated energy and sometimes that not what I want. If nothing else, she sure got your attention, right? Aren't they smart ones?


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

Why do our poos love socks so? Phoebe ignores all feet in shoes or slippers, but feet glad in socks are like a magnet to her. is it the pattern, the colour, the texture? Our funny quirky little poos. Agree with Dawn, you are doing the right thing......


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

She is starting to resource guard but keep trading up, try not to get angry with her and keep to the plan. It will pass. What you don't want to do is reinforce the guarding by just trying to take things from her. It sounds like you are doing all the right things.


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## bbeau78 (Jan 10, 2014)

Ok, I feel a bit relieved after reading your replies. When we were at the vet's last week I asked about it and he said it sounded like an aggression issue and that training will help but I may need to have a behaviourist come observe! I thought "How is this possible, she is only 11lbs and so submissive around strangers?". 

Lexi&Beemer, very good tip about handling her mouth. Thank you! I will do that for sure! I am pretty sure this isn't playing. She does get growly/barky sometimes during play however the deep scary growls always happen when I try to remove her from things like mentioned...laundry hampers and socks as well as when I pick her up to remove her from my children's bedrooms or off the sofa chairs. She is allowed on them, however due to lack of space we don't have a full sofa on the main floor so sometimes we need to boot her off the chairs when we need them! 

Thank you everyone so far for your replies. I will keep up the training and continue to praise her for her good behaviour!


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## Florida Cockapoo (Aug 24, 2012)

I think they "pick" certain members for the house to "toy" with. Piper was more aggressive with me then my husband. My husband has complete control over Piper, which is weird as I pretty much take care of all her "needs". But she will do what ever he says. Although she is aggressive over food and certain items when it involves other dogs. But regular play time she great.

When it comes to her food we have decided to leave her alone for the most part when she eats. Also we remove "huffs and chews" when other dogs around. As for the other aggressive with people, Piper has gotten a lot better with as she gets older. She was aggressive with me, but not hubby. But she grown out of a lot of her aggression issues. She stills pays more attention to hubby then me. But when he "corrects' her she will run to "mommy" being me.

I think with training and control, you puppy will improve over time. Piper is 8 months now and is still making improvements.


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## Caira (May 27, 2013)

Hi Bianca, 

I remember one time when I was wondering the same, Summer was under a chair, chewing her pig ear and I wanted to move it ( and her) out of the kids way and as I was reaching for the pig ear she just went after me with this terrible grown and really scary look.. I was really shaken up, I even contacted our breeder for advice as I was quite scared of her for a moment...In our case what worked really well was growling back at her and holding her muzzle if she was getting too rough/cheeky. She's almost 7 months old and good as gold ( if it wasn't for the constant barking)) if she gets too rough while we play I say "STOP" and she imediatelly stops and sits down. With the kids she can get bit naughty- she will steal their toys and if they want to take it back she tries to growl at them, but loud NO or muzzle hold always does the trick. And if the kids get naugty - if my younger one does something to annoy her (like trying to sqeeze in her crate with her) she will growl at him and come and "tell" me ;D


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