# Puppy showing aggressive tendencies



## BoscoLuna (Jan 22, 2021)

Hi, and thanks to everyone for the advice I’ve been reading over the last few days on situations similar to mine. (And sorry for the long post)

We got our Luna when she was almost 9 weeks old. She was sweet and cuddly and so loveable. We have an older Shihpoo named Jet who she runs after but she has never tried to be aggressive with him. (He is however terrified of her and runs away but our vet said in time they will be friends).

She met another Cockapoo puppy that was quite dominant and would not stop barking in her face. She did snarl which I found quite concerning given her age and we removed her from the situation.

Since then she has been showing aggressive tendencies with us. She is quite small (only 3lbs) so we have to pick her up often to take her down the stairs to do her business outside. Sometimes she lets us pick her up happily and other times she’s growls. She seems to growl when she doesn’t want to do something. The vet also found this behaviour concerning for how young she is. She is no longer allowed on the couch but she doesn’t show possession aggression. She’s fine with us taking her toys and she eats treats out of our hands. When the vet went to look at her teeth she growled and tried to bite him. She calmed down quickly and let him finish the exam but the reaction was quite surprising.

I have started to teach her the stairs to limit the amount of times we handle her since she clearly doesn’t like it. But this won’t always be realistic. I know the growling can be fear and I’m afraid this fear will turn into aggression (especially at vet and grooming visits).

For the most part she’s very sweet and great with my 3 kids. But I’m on edge anytime we have to pick her up. We do positive reinforcement and she’s super obedient. She does sit, stay, come, leave it, off, and go to bed. She does extremely well with treats and we reward her good behaviour instead of punishing the not so pleasant behaviour

Has anyone been in a situation like this and have their puppy grow up to be happy and friendly? Did the growling ever get better as their trust grew? My vet is worried this is genetics and her aggression will escalate as her confidence grows.

Thanks so much for any advice you can provide. We love her so much and just want to make sure we do everything to make her feel safe and happy.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

If you can get a reward based trainer in to see her they will be able to assess her and make sure all is OK but to be honest she just sounds like a normal pup who is getting worried at times and growling is all she can do to tell you that. Try to call her to you and use a word when you are going to pick her up for the stairs and try to avoid using picking up to stop her doing things as this can be a prime cause of dogs disliking being picked up.

Practice handing her and grooming her and reward her for cooperating with this and include mouth opening and looking at ears, eyes and feet so she gets used to all of the routine she will need to experience when being groomed. Get her booked in for a very short puppy visit with a good groomer so she can start to build some good associations with that too.


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## BoscoLuna (Jan 22, 2021)

Thank you for this response. It was very reassuring. We have been in contact with a trainer and working closely with our vet also. Unfortunately we are in a “stay at home”
Order at the moment due to covid so grooming is out of the question. But I brush her everyday and we make sure to touch all of the sensitive areas and luckily she seems ok with that.
Hopefully it is just typical puppy behaviour. We will for sure continue the positive reinforcement and keep an eye on the growling but respect her boundaries. Thank you again for the reply!


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## Smartspork (Sep 9, 2019)

my 18 month dog is having the same issues. i went to a dog behaviourist and she said it is part genetics and part fear and trust issues. Training him and gaining confidence and trust in us is what she is suggesting. i am working on NILIF system. He has to work for everything he does. here is https://www.sfspca.org/sites/default/files/dog_commands_nothing-in-life-is-free.pdf. Also, working on handling, touch command, Look command etc. give yourself a trainer before it gets worse.. because it will! good luck


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## BoscoLuna (Jan 22, 2021)

Thank you so much for this info. That is exactly what I am afraid of....it escalating. Did your pup growl from a very young age? Or is this behaviour new?


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## Smartspork (Sep 9, 2019)

hi, he started nipping us pretty young and then it just got worse when we got mad at him.. basically he was giving us signs and we didn't read them and then he just decided growling and biting was his only method for us to back off! this article here helps to read the signs before it get worse! Box


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## ClairM (10 mo ago)

BoscoLuna said:


> Hi, and thanks to everyone for the advice I’ve been reading over the last few days on situations similar to mine. (And sorry for the long post)
> 
> We got our Luna when she was almost 9 weeks old. She was sweet and cuddly and so loveable. We have an older Shihpoo named Jet who she runs after but she has never tried to be aggressive with him. (He is however terrified of her and runs away but our vet said in time they will be friends).
> 
> ...


Hello, I wondered how your situation is now? I have a 12 week old cockapoo with very similar behaviour. It’s when we stop him doing something/pick him up he growls and bites. He also did this to our vet and she said we need to stop this behaviour now. I believe it’s quite rare for puppies to act aggressively and I’m worried it will escalate!


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## BoscoLuna (Jan 22, 2021)

ClairM said:


> Hello, I wondered how your situation is now? I have a 12 week old cockapoo with very similar behaviour. It’s when we stop him doing something/pick him up he growls and bites. He also did this to our vet and she said we need to stop this behaviour now. I believe it’s quite rare for puppies to act aggressively and I’m worried it will escalate!


Hi, our little Luna has come a long way since writing this post. For her it was definitely a trust issue. She’s a very timid dog and when she is afraid her instinct is to growl. Now we can pick her up whenever we want and she is a sweet dog. She goes to the vet and groomers without a problem but she is still afraid of new people and it takes her a bit to warm up. Now that we are aware of her fear she is so much easier to understand. We try our best to help her gain confidence and to not put her into scary situations that will set her up for failure. A year ago I never would’ve thought she’d ever become a cuddly little sweetheart, but here we are. She’s so full of personality and loves affection. So in our situation is was a positive outcome, and just took a little bit of patience and lots of reward based training.


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## ClairM (10 mo ago)

Thank you for the reply. I saw the vet tonight and Benji was quite naughty with lots of growls and biting. She suggested one on one behaviour training so I’ll look into that.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

For a trainer I strongly suggest positive reward based training with someone who is assessed so look here https://apdt.co.uk/find-a-trainer/


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## ClairM (10 mo ago)

2ndhandgal said:


> For a trainer I strongly suggest positive reward based training with someone who is assessed so look here https://apdt.co.uk/find-a-trainer/


Thanks for the advice. We had a brilliant trainer visit us over the weekend, she advised that Benji is not aggressive, just scared and gave us lots of tips for positive reinforcement in scary situations. She also said not to worry about the vets as lots of dogs get nervous at the vets. I should have mentioned that the vet held his mouth shut and told him no, so I don’t think this helped. We would never do things like that. Anyway, will see how he gets on now.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Excellent - sounds like the trainer will soon have you on the right track.

Vets are excellent for health care but some can be very old fashioned in views about training.


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