Puppy Aggression

[Shrek]

Hi, I have a beautiful 13 week old pup. He has always been great with people, dogs etc, until now. My girlfriend and sister(14) were coming home from the beach with her sisters poodle which my dog spends most of the day with while we are in work. They were driving along she picked up the poodle and it growled and snapped at her which she then proceeded to give out to it and smacked it on the snout, when then out of nowhere my dog turned and growled and nipped at her. My girlfriend then stopped the car and corrected our dog for it. I am bringing it to obedience classes soon and am training it the way I have read from this site and a book I have on rotties. My Dogs parents are giant teddy bears which have no history of aggression. My main question is that is this a sign of an agressive dog? or was it just its natural instinct to try protect its companion. Which is still totally unnacceptable. What should I do???

[zorro13]

This sounds more to me like an aggressive girlfriend. Who the heck drives while trying to pick up a poodle or any dog for that matter and what on earth for? As to the 'whys', just looking at dog behavior isn't the only thing to do, one must look at human behaviors as well. You have to find other methods of training besides smacking a dog, that can put you on a path to aggression perhaps.

[Shrek]

Apologies. I wrote that in a hurry the other day, I didn't explain it properly. It was actually my g/f sister who picked up her dog, she was sitting in the back seat with the two of them while I don't agree with how she controls her dog, I am not in the position to tell her what to do with her dog. My question is, is this a sign of an aggressive dog???

[zorro13]

Originally Posted by Shrek

Apologies. I wrote that in a hurry the other day, I didn't explain it properly. It was actually my g/f sister who picked up her dog, she was sitting in the back seat with the two of them while I don't agree with how she controls her dog, I am not in the position to tell her what to do with her dog. My question is, is this a sign of an aggressive dog???

Since we're speaking about a puppy here, I'm going to say no. I wasn't there to see what was going on in the backseat, nor do I know the temperment of your pup. It doesn't take a whole lot to initiate play drive in a pup, this is a possibility here. I hope you are in training with your pup.

[Shrek]

I am waiting for a free space, which will be in two weeks. When he plays he doesn't growl though which is what he did.

[zorro13]

Originally Posted by Shrek

I am waiting for a free space, which will be in two weeks. When he plays he doesn't growl though which is what he did.

Give it time, he will. LOL I can initiate and build up drive in both of my dogs by playing with just one of them. It's always hard to pinpoint exactly what is going on with a dog on the internet be it, not being able to see a behavior, but again, since it's a pup, aggression I will always put last on the list. Can't help but say you seemed maybe a bit obsessed with trying to put an aggression lable on your pup, just relax and start training.

[Shrek]

Your probably right, it's probably just that I am always defending Rottweilers to people and am scared that I am proved wrong. I will train and look after him as best I can and hopefully everything will work out. Thanks for the reply.