# Very Aggressive Cockapoo Puppy



## Praveen (May 7, 2017)

I am in Toronto downtown. I have a 2 month and a week Cockapoo puppy. She is very aggressive and growling most of the time. Its been 10 days since we brought her to our apartment. The first two days she was scared and always crying. We gave a place near our bed but she doesn't wanna sleep there, but instead she kept crying for like 20 mins and came to our bed. on the day time she came to the sofa. It was only for the first two days. AFterwards we always try to put her to sleep at her place but she jumps upon the bed after sometime and sleeps (our is low bedding). But other than this, she has a separation anxiety, she shivers and cries a lot if left alone in a crate like spot which was given her with few toys. 

So the first four to six days the growling was towards my leg when I walk. I kept shouting "OW" or "Ouch" and she was little softer for two days and now for the past three days, she has become more and more aggressive and its like that for most of the time. We stopped her from getting to the bed, She still tries to sneak up but we grab her and put her at her place. We did this repeatedly for the last day and a half. Now she has a small realization that we are serious about this. As far as the aggressive growling, running around like a mad dog and biting very hard has been happening for the past three days and dont know how to stop her from doing it. tried asking her to SIT, saying NO, she listens but doesnt obey. she listens to SIT only at the feeding time. I am very concerned if it could be changed. I was thinking of buying a clicker today to see if she will atleast hear and respond something instead of just doing her own thing. 

In the first few days, when her growling was occasional, we put her in her crate like spot (not close to our bed) for sometime as a time out. she keeps crying and squeaking after few mins and we take her out only after asking her to sit and she sits for one sec and then again starts crying. This past three days, we did not put her in that spot as it sounded like punishment and I read somewhere it will only increase this behavior. 

I know its been only ten days since we have her, but i wanted fix this aggressive growling and that behaviour from the beginning. my wife has had dogs before and even she says this is too much. Please direct to a solution.

Note: Also today I took her to the terrace in my Apartment. She went nuts. She was very very very huper active. Not growling but didnt listen or care anything about me. She sniffed everything and ate leaves and dry leaves and what not. After 5 mins I took back inside home and she was crying sitting next to me. Then I took her to my balcony and again she went nuts.. There was mostly nothing on my balcony, so she came on to my shoes and started growling.


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

So your baby puppy is not aggressive. That almost scary sounding growling is just how they sound when they are small. I thought my two were the same way. Also what you describe is your puppy playing. Again, that crazy running around and nutty sound she makes and even the mouthing is normal cockapoo. We call them zoomies or doodle dash on this site. My two still do it but not as long as when they were puppies. So be assured your 9 week old puppy is not aggressive. And she will grow out of it. 

She is also very smart. And that's the challenge for most poo owners - how to stay on ahead of their very smart puppy. She's already figured out an incredibly fun game (you put her in her bed, she gets up and jumps on your bed, you pick her up and set her down, and the fun game begins). So is your crate like spot a crate? If it is I don't understand how she's leaving it on her own. I'd recommend getting one if you don't have one. And to use it not for punishments for when she's being bad but when she sleeps. And you will need to tolerate her whining for much longer than 20 minutes. If she knows you let her out if she whines/cries/barks long enough, then she will work to outlast you. And since she's experienced that already, you may need a couple of not sleeping nights on your part for her to learn. Play some soothing music. YouTube has a channel of music called RelaxMyDog and knocks my two out. 

I'm not sure how much activity your puppy gets. Get a rope toy so you can play with her with a little distance between you and her teeth. Start teaching her how to be comfortable on a leash and then start training loose leash walking and concepts like heel and stay. Get puzzle games so she has to work for her food. Find friends with older dogs for her to play with. Make sure they are vaccinated and either go visit or have them visit you. Let the older dog help teach your puppy good doggie behavior. Take her to new places, car rides, and have treats (at this age I used their kibble as treats) And when she goes nutters - let her go nutters. It will tire her out and make it easier to go to sleep. 

As for the separation anxiety, if she's exhausted in a covered denlike crate, she'll whine for a bit then fall asleep and won't even know you are gone. She's not going to be asleep for more than 2, maybe 3 hours if you are lucky. But for us, 30 minutes of play would = 2-3 hrs of sleeping. So getting her tired with activity before putting her in the crate will make a huge difference. 

It does get better. And the more time and effort you put in now, the greater the reward at the end. Oh and once she's done with her shots and can take a short walk - even better. One 20 walk around the block and these guys were out for hours. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## William Williams (May 2, 2017)

I had my cockapoo puppy 6 weeks ago, he was 8 weeks old. He has settled really well and has grown quite a bit. It made me feel so much better to find my puppy is behaving like all other cockapoo puppies. The crazy twenty minute bursts, drove me mad when they started a few weeks ago. Slippers, feet, dressing gowns, nothing was out of bounds. So to hear this is normal behaviour and I have not got a rogue puppy is a relief. We are about to join puppy training classes, so hopefully, I can be trained as well as William my puppy!!


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## Praveen (May 7, 2017)

hi Lexi&Beemer, Thank you very much for a detailed explanation. It does make me a bit calm. After reading your comment, my wife is like "I TOLD YOU SO" .. Anyways thanks again, for those information.. 

Apologies about my poor explanation for the crate like spot - its a corner in our apartment where we put her in and block the way out, when she is growling.. We did that only a couple of times but since I read somewhere that those sort of time out might look like punishment and will make the puppy even worse, we stopped it. 

I have a couple of questions to ask you

* She was peeing in the pee pad correctly the first day and then we moved the pee pad location which we thought would be the best. Now a days she sometimes pees in the pee pad correctly and she also pees and poops all over the house sometimes. We tried mopping the floor completely with Vinegar and still of no use. She does sniffs around and searches a spot to pee and poop. How do I remove the smell from the floor so she doesn't do everywhere except the pee pad or how do you train this behavior? She peed in our bed also a couple of times earlier where she slept. 

* When can we take her a obedience training classes? and also play dates classes? April 22nd she had her First shot it seems. We will do the Second by May 22nd or 26th.


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## Praveen (May 7, 2017)

And also, Taking her out might not work for us. Since we are in a apartment, It will be hard for us to take her out, as she pees and poops anytime without a proper timing and even if its Balcony, it wont last long since we have winters also. So its better if she pees and poops in the pad. I keep wondering how to to get there?


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Please be totally reassured that your puppy is not aggressive - but is just being a puppy. If you use kind consistent training with her she will learn how to interact with you as a person rather than just as another puppy! She was used to playing with her litter mates and puppies play with their teeth! While she is so tiny I think the best method to use is to just stand up and freeze if she is in a crocapup mood. Do not respond to her at all (wear long trousers and tall boots if necessary . When she calms down resume play gently but stop again as soon as the teeth come out.
Most of us have come to realise that a bitey puppy is overtired and over excited and needs a quiet safe place to sleep. Routine works well - food time, play time, sleep time repeat (with toilet breaks before and after every stage.

For those of us who live in more temperate climes the thought of not being able to take a dog out to toilet is too strange! My first dog I had in this country was a GSD and we were in temporary accommodation for 4 months caught in a house sale chain foul up eek we were living in a forth floor flat with no garden.... By the time Cheka was 14 weeks old she could alert me she needed out and then hold on while we went down 4 flights of stairs and crossed a main road to get to some rough land.... 
If this is really not an option for you then I think you need to restrict your pup to one room and completely cover the floor or area with puppy pads. Watch her like a hawk and praise her when she poops or pees and attach a word command - with mine I use 'be quick' so say 'good be quick' quietly as she finishes and immediately reward with bit of kibble.... word of warning if you say gooood be quick to early she will stop and come for her treat! If you note the times that she poops and pees you will find it easier to notice what her routine is - ie how long after eating or sleeping she needs to go. Over time you can reduce the number of pads you put out. But you must keep watching and rewarding her for doing her business in the right place. Remember accidents are your fault for expecting too much at this stage, so just clean them properly with a cleaner that is designed to do the job properly and ignore her..... praise successes, ignore failures.

As your pup gets older and you are taking her out for walks you should be able to time walks to coincide with when she will need to go.... 

Does she always have food available? If so this will make training more difficult - at this age you are better feeding 3 or 4 small meals at regular times.


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## Praveen (May 7, 2017)

thank you Marzi, Yes she does have food access always because she seems to be hungry very frequently. I dont know how to restrict her to proper timing. Like you said, will give food to her three or four times a day and monitor when she poops and pees. It is also hard to track her poop and pee cos its random. Last night she ate well. So i was awake for a very long time to see if she poops, I also took her to the pad and kept saying potty and all but she didn't.. She waked twice at during the middle of the night and I was there to see if she poops but nothing but early in the morning around 6 she did... but this is not the case every day. 

Thank you for pointing out that proper timing for food helps, and also for not just one pee pad..

You guys very helpful and I feel calm. Now i don't feel tensed or stressed when she is in that hyper mode.


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## Purples (Jun 15, 2017)

Unfortunately I don't have anything to offer that can help you because I am at the research stage in our dog acquisition and trying to learn as much as I can (hence this forum). I was wondering though, where did you get your puppy? I have been looking for breeders in the greater Toronto area and beyond and haven't been successful. I think now I'm paranoid about puppy mills and I have reservations about the few places I have managed to find. Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks!


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