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bgit
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21-12-2017, 04:46 PM

Sudden Concerning Puppy Aggression

Thank you all in advance for your help. I have an 18 week old Maltese/Miniature Poodle. We have focused heavily on socialization (bringing him to my kids school when we pick them up, taking him on walks where they are lots of people, having him around other dogs etc.) and his interactions have always been positive.

However, almost overnight we have seen an aggressiveness that he has not displayed before. He has always had some issues with getting over excited and then beginning to nip (which our response has been to place him in time-out in the bathroom for about 30 seconds, also giving him something appropriate to chew on), but his behavior recently is more aggressive.

2 nights ago he had something that he shouldn't have and when I bent over to take it out of his mouth he simultaneously growled and bit my hand. Last night he was chewing on a bone and when my 6 year old daughter lightly went to pet his back he did the same to her. Also, he used to willingly run to us when we bent down to let us pick him up, now he stops about 3 feet away and starts barking (it looks like he wants us to chase him which we don't).

He is currently in an obedience class and has been doing great with the commands (sit, down, take it/leave it, come) but when he is worked up he forgets everything (usually when home)

I've had 3 other dogs who have never showed this type of aggressive behavior (they were bigger dogs if that matters). It also seems like my other dogs appeared to "feel" worse (head down, tail tucked between legs) when we would tell them "no", while "no" seems to amp this puppy up. His behavior has us concerned since we have a 6 and 9 year old who have friends over all the time.

I spoke to the breeder who said we need to establish dominance and start putting him on his back. I spoke to the trainer who said to never put him on his back and reward the behavior we are looking for.

Please HELP!
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tumbleweed
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Location: East sussex
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21-12-2017, 10:12 PM
This method is not approved of now but we had an Afghan hound in the early 1970's that did exactly the same thing,our first dog as a puppy.
So we went to training classes and the dog went for the instructor. he only tried it twice and never again
What the training instructor did was to ,with an open hand, slap the dogs mouth shut under the chin, never on the nose as that could cause nasal damage.
AS I said not a method approved of now but it work .

Before I get shouted down it is not something i would recommend now with new known methods , but remember it was over 40/50 years ago and things were done differently back then
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Trouble
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Location: Romford, uk
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22-12-2017, 08:48 AM
Tbh your puppy is showing perfectly normal behaviour. Trying to remove anything the pup considers to be high value or petting him in the same circumstances is asking for trouble. You need to train both your pup and your kids. The kids need to learn no petting when he has anything he considers valuable and that could be anything. Your dog needs to be taught to give things up when asked and to leave when told and reward him when he does so. Oh and you need to learn not to bend over him unannounced. I'd also get baby gates to separate him in another room when your kids friends are round. He's not your other dogs so he behaves differently and if they were bigger they probably didn't feel so threatened when you bent over them.
I think you'd benefit from a good puppy training book tbh.
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Ptolemy82
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23-12-2017, 01:50 PM
After you get your puppy, Ian Dunbar, FREE download

https://www.dogstardaily.com/files/d...Your_Puppy.pdf
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Ptolemy82
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23-12-2017, 01:52 PM
Start to teach your puppy "Leave" and "Swap"
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