Young malamute

hello there i just got a a/m to train today.2 monthes and vicious,aggresive and all round a mess ...bitting barking and totally confused.friends got him as a rescue and told me he was taken from his mom at 5 weeks!what a shame.iv got lots of work ahead..any help would be great, i do train dogs and never seen this so bad in a pup..i will get him in my yard with the otheres but not yet. it s bad..where would you start?

I think first of all you have to determine if this puppy is just a normal one or one of those rare ones that have an extremely poor genetic background and which are genuinely aggressive at this age.

Sue Sternberg would say that for these (thankfully rare) specimens you may be on a road to nowhere.

that is what i was thinking also.iv put pits down.in the pass that were fight stock ,so to speek.the folk that own him are good with dogs and training.usually if a dog hits my house for training,its bad ,and it is.im his last resort, so they tell me.ill give him my best.so i feel its back to basics, if i cant get buy that..im not so shure of this pups future.

In what situation is he snapping? U say he is 8weeks? Could be very fearfull and need time and paitience,what have his owners been doing in these situ's? 8 weeks is to young to consider pts imo

oh no...please dont get me wrong.this guy needs lots of my time,he may be a dog that needs to be managed.its very early in his developtment,i will do what it takes and time is not an issue for me.once a dog is a risk to the puplic then we look at other options for a dog...pts is the ultamite last resort ....we are nowear near there...he would be a dog that i would keep and manage...if need be.

the great thing with this dog is that his owners are good with dogs also..we are all putting ower heads together on this guy .he is down right defensive about all things... almost ferral..iv handled fox pups once that were better. this guy is relentless...he is going to the vet tomarrow.start there first .

Where did he come from?
(As in, why was he taken away from his mum at 5 weeks? Did they buy him from a breeder?)

It'll be hard work ahead, but possible. I'm a crisis trainer, so I'll help if you want to discuss ideas at some point - let us know what the vet says.

All the best with him

I agree. He's more than likely very afraid and trying to defend himself the only way he knows how and because he's been taken from mum and siblings too young his bite inhibition won't be all it should be. But I don't think by any means he is a lost cause. It's amazing how someone can completely mess up a puppy in just 3 weeks if he's only 8 weeks old now. He may come round very quickly once he feels safe in a stable environment.

I'm no behaviour expert, but I've had my fair share of experience with dogs and puppies and this is what I would try. You need to be gentle and patient with the poor little thing and think how scary everything is to him right now. Be hands off as much as possible for now until he approaches you and even if he bites you do not reprimand him as it will make him fearful of you. It's your job to work out how to work with him without eliciting a bite. If he won't come to you due to fear, try lying flat out on the floor with no eye contact with him and see if his curiosity gets the better of him. Then gently touch him without trying to restrain him in any way. Or try sitting with your back to him if he's confident enough to approach you.

I'd personally start with taking the lead from the pup's reactions. Work out what his tipping point is for reacting and try not to cross it for now. I'd personally hand feed him to help you bond. Then that will naturally lead into you putting food in a bowl and hopefully negating any chance of food aggression as he grows. Once you've gained his trust you can work at building his confidence and extending his range before his fear aggression kicks in.

Just a note the vast majority of people will have never encountered the type of dog I am talking about, fortunately. However they DO exist, we are not talking about run of the mill puppy biting here, but a puppy which has not LEARNED from anything or anyone; neither has its behaviour been CAUSED by anything or anyone (other than genetics)

It may be difficult to imagine for many people. I have only ever seen 2 such puppies, both were PTS very quickly.

I am not suggesting this pup IS definitely one of these type, but until and unless you have met one, you may believe that such puppies do not exist or can be turned around and be SAFE, you would be wrong on both counts.

Puppies are not necessarily always the clean slates people assume them to be.

Sue Sternberg has an excellent chapter on this in her book

hey guys,it was a good day for the pup at the vet, he seems to be all good,we are waiting for blood test.im going to be his mom, so to speek,for the next few months,this pup was dropped off at the shelter, in my area,my friends got a call to go and see him they adopted him on site.they said he was tied to there door,im the middle of the night.so we dont know much.at 8 week im going slow and tring to make a relationship of trust.iv got him fallowing me today and he will come to me on his own terms.and he is scared.thanks for the info guys,ill keep all posted, please send info and experiences...phil