# Puppy Aggression



## jhooper465 (Mar 1, 2015)

Hi all, 

I would liek to ask some advice. We have a 13 week old cockapoo who has been completely lovely up until now, very laid back and friendly to everyone. However, a few times in the last week he has had episodes where he has growled and snapped at me for various things. 

The first time a few days ago I think was entirely my fault. I was changing the bedding in his crate after an accident and as usual he decided to get in his crate as I was doing this. As I went to pick him up to allow me to lie the vet bed flat, he snarled and snapped at me and bit my hand. In retrospect, I was in his safe area and looming over him as I went to pick him up he might've felt intimidated and reacted to this. So lesson learnt, in future - keep him out of the way when messing around in his crate. 

However, this has continued to happen over the last few days. Last night I went to pick him up off the kitchen floor and I think he mustve caught his claw in the mat or something as he yelped then growled and delivered a good going bite to my hand which nearly broke the skin. I understand that if he was hurt he would react, but on previous occasions where one of us has accidently stood on his paw or something when he's been under our feet, he has yelped but never gone to bite before. 

This morning, I was cleaning sleep out of his eyes (which I do almost every morning as it gets stuck in all his fluffy face hair) and he struggled a bit which he usually does, then again growled and bit me quite hard. He did the same an hour or so later when I went to put his harness on, again something we have done most mornings for the last 2 weeks or so. 

He hasnt yet done the same to my OH, but that is possibly as hes not been around much this week so hasnt had the chance. The only thing that's been different is that he went to the vet last week for his 2nd jabs and she diagnosed him with an ear infection. We started his ear drops on Monday which involves usually me holding him, and my OH doing the drops. I am wondering as he will mainly associate me with this stressful experience if that is why he is behaving this way with me?

I am so worried about this, I dont know if this is just normal for puppies his age, means I have damaged my bond with him or he is developing into an aggressive dog. Either way, its very upsetting and I don't know how best to deal with it. 

Any suggestions? 

:'-(


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

My trainer used to worry about the laid back, overly friendly pups. Pups are supposed to be practicing their adult skills with lots of chase, take down and attack type play.  A pup who lacks confidence might skip all this and not learn the vital lesson of bite inhibition. Compound this with guarding issues and it could escalate to become a problem. In any case it is vital, in my opinion, that everyone in the family be able to control the dog at all times. Given the number of posts here from people who have had things go wrong at this early stage if I were you I'd get to a positive based obedience school asap so you can learn the very best ways to deal with this type of behaviour.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

I totally agree with Fairlie about positive reward based puppy classes - the right classes can help you iron out all the handling and training issues and set you all up for a positive future together.

It is very difficult to say - but I think it is important to remember that every single dog/puppy/human is perfectly capable of aggression if they feel threatened enough and it could be that all things added together mean your pup has lost a little confidence in you and needs to build this up again. I prefer to minimise the amount of force and achieve the things I need to do with co-operation as much as possible. This means minimising picking up to only when essential (and making sure the pup is aware you are there so not just scooping them up) rewarding co-operation for things like ear drops and eye cleaning with a tasty treat which generally means they get used to them quicker and resist less,


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Breath. Your puppy is a puppy. He has very sharp teeth and a whole range of grumble growls to full on yodelling howls that he can use.
Pretty much all of us have had our skin broken by sharp puppy teeth ... A friend with a labrador pup recently had to come into work with a modified nose courtesy of her pup who had nipped her face when playing...
Fairlie and 2nd have given great advice.... I'd just add relax and don't stress, enjoy your pup.
Keep some puppy kibble in a nice crinkly bag (old crisp packet works well). Call your pup, crinkle the bag and give him a treat when he comes. It is much better for your pup to come rather than to have to rely on catching hold of him and lifting him.
Next time you are sorting out his crate and he comes to investigate just say "hello you funny puppy" and toss one of his toys away from you. He'll bounce off to get his toy and probably bring it back to you. Playing is so much fun. Enjoy it. Playing is the best way to build a bond with a dog.
His sharp puppy teeth will start falling out before Christmas. ... It will get easier. Just remember to be gentle and have fun and keep a sense of proportion.
Ear drops are grim. You'll get better with practice and when his ears are not so sore he won't mind so much. Super treats each time you have done the deed.


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## Bagpuss73 (Oct 12, 2015)

Hi, 

I'm glad I'm not alone. I too have a 13 week old pup, who has periods of being a bit of a grump. It has been getting me down too, but after reading a couple of blogs on the net I have finally realised, as people have also been saying on here too, he is just being a typical puppy, who is 
amongst other things teething (and we all know how painful that can be), as well as needing to mix with other dogs in order to learn some lessons in socialisation. From now on I am just going to enjoy my loving baby boy, as there are more good times than bad and can't wait until I start puppy training with him in a couple of weeks! 

I hope this helps 


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