15wk puppy showing aggression please help!!

[gnwhite]

well most of you already know about sampson from previous posts. he is 15 weeks old. he is smart, loving, nows all his commands and overall a happy puppy.

but today, i caught him chewing on my rocker chair, which he has already chewed on before. walked up to him, and went to correct him. with a no and take him by the collar. and baby gate him up as a correction and a timeout. he starting fighting with me, growing and making it difficult to get of him. it was very nasty!!

i finally was able to get a hold of him and walked him into the hallway to be gated. i did scold him for his behaviour. i left him there and ingored him. the puppy got out and i then went to put him back (he was'nt there long enough) he tryed to do it again, but i was able to get his collar and gated him for the rest of his timeout.

he's only showed this one other time simular to this. other than today he has been a great puppy. there is no problem with my husband thou. the puppy is well aware on who the top dog is.

my question is, what is the correct way of handling the puppy when he is behaviing like this. please any help is VERY APPREICATED. :



norma and jerr

[yogi53]

don't make a big fuss - you are giving him the attention he is asking for! When catching him in the act simply and calmly tell him no - if he does not stop or attempts to growl or bite at you (not agressive just puppy stuff - they all go through it!) CALMLY take his collar and hold him still - do not yell or struggle just get it done - he will give in and calm down - as soon as his body relaxes praise him immediately in a soothing voice and release him (you may need to hold him for quite a few minutes - I remember holding mine by the collar for almost 10 minutes one day before she stopped squirming-it was good advice from JudiW that was difficult to carry out but worth it)

You may have to repeat this process a few times - the more animated you become the more you will stimulate his bad behavior - he is a baby and looking to play - my little girl always wanted to play hard and it took me a while to figure out the louder and more upset I got with her the worse she acted! Remember: CALM AND COLLECTED - you are building trust.

Good Luck and remember this is not agression this is a puppy pushing his limits - establish those limits and stick to them always.

[rsaarinen]

I have gone threw the same thing with Chopper ( 19 weeks) and will do it from time to time still. HE usually does this when he is in a place he knows he shouldn't be. I will walk up to him if he doesn't leave when I say "out" and grap his colar. He will try to dig in with his feet like playing tug and get ahold of my wrist. This isn't aggressive and he's not growling nor snarling. Just kinda saying " hey I want to stay her and play with all the cool stuff Mom and Dad don't want me to". I simple make him walk out the room and say " good out Chopper". He's seemed to get the point lately!

[gnwhite]

thanks for the advice, i see now what i did wrong. i think i was too confrontational. normally i would just tell him off and if he did'nt then i would gate him. i do try to keep calm and speak in a firm voice. i know he's is now testing me and trying to move him self up on the chain. i have seen the difference between puppy wanting to play and the aggression i seen today. we have never had a problem with any of our dogs like i have seen today.

the methods that i've always used is , positive rewards, making him or her word for everything they get. gating them up and always with a firm voice. when i have tryed to calmily take him by the collar, to gate him is the only time he behaves like this. in my opinion he is trying to bully me, a couple of times when he did this i hesitated. because he made it difficult to get a hold of him. but it was'nt puppy play. thats where i messed up, and i know it. but not to late to change.

i will use the advice given by YOGI53, next time when he acts up, i will calmly hold him until he settles down. anyways any other suggestions would be greatly welcome. thanks again for your time and support.


norma and jerr

[rsaarinen]

I don't know that I would "gate" him when he's like this. You don't want him to think his crate is for punishment. Just my 2 cents!

[SWEETBREW]

If this is something that happens all time when you grab his collar, why not do some collar exercises - like grab his collar and give him a treat, so that he doesn't associate you grabbing his collar with a bad thing all the time. I have done this with Brew, and now if I say the word collar he turns his head giving me total access to the collar. Much easier when he is into something he shouldn't be and I NEVER raise my voice with it. Maybe this will help with some of his crankiness.

[alexav]

Why not have a lead on him while he's out and bound to get into trouble?

I would also suggest you practice the collar grab=treat exercises too. (good call SWEETBREW.)

[gnwhite]

thanks again guys, great advice

i don't put him in his crate, that is only used for sleeping. his happy place. we use the baby gate to remove him from the room if he does'nt listen. and also when off or no does'nt work. its his timeout place. we always in his eye site, and we ingore him for about 10 to 15 min. it works great.

its only when he is behaving badly, like when chewing on my rocker. he never has a problem with me touching his collar, its only when he's in trouble.

i have used this method always, with no problems. i think that trying to hold him until he calms down. may be the answer, then i can praise him verbally and resume walking him into his timeout. wish me luck. any other input is welcome. we love sampsom he is a great puppy.

he only just starting doing this to me lately. of course not to my husband. sorry.......if i have been repeating myself. just worried a little and looking for some suggestions.

thanks to everyone, for taking the time to read this post and offering your suggestions. WE GREATLY APPREICATE IT VERY VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!:


a after thouhgt, we have been leash training him. he has been doing so well in the house, that we trust him to be off his leash while under our supervision of course. ANYWAYS....not to go on anymore. will be waiting for your input.



sincerely grateful, norma and jerr

[Ilovemypuppy]

Time outs don't work...he's not behind the baby gate thinking about what he did wrong...I suggest leaving his leash attached and re-direct him to what you WANT him to be doing. Keep him in the learning game..not behind a gate.

[alexav]

Originally Posted by gnwhite

... he has been doing so well in the house, that we trust him to be off his leash while under our supervision of course. ...

and "so well" includes chewing on your rocker?

Get a line on that boy. It's SO much easier to redirect without the "up close and personal" part. Trust me on this.

[tilly]

he is still a baby, he needs to be attached to you on the leash for most of the time. he will learn better if you can correct him immediately when he is doing wrong. likewise, if he listens well, you can praise him immediately, and will get better results either way.

[gnwhite]

i totally agree with you guys. but the leash attached to the hips thing, works great for awhile then he starts chewing on it.. i have had to get a chain leash so he could'nt chew on it. it seems to work better. he can't chew it so it isn't as fun to chew on. but not long enough to be able to give him some freedom.

today we spent a pocket full of money in getting a kong for both ours dogs.( you know if one has it the other has to have one too. i can already to tell that they are worth every penny. dogs chew and stuffed animals.

this has been one of his worst days. i've noticed that he reponds better to off with pointing with my finger, in the directon away from the object. more so then immediatly.... ( sorry if spelled wrong? ) taking him by the collar and correcting him. it seems that the other is too confrontational.

a couple of hours ago, he was waking up from his nap ( in his crate ) and went to put his leash on. i always make him sit in his crate and wait while i open the door. then i say ok. he listens well. but when he went into his sit position, i praised him for sitting and told him to wait, which means to sit still.

when to put his collar on and he turn his head around and starting to struggle with me. this time i calmly said no sampson, i had to hold his head in my hands. then i looked at him only for a few seconds and said firmly no!!

he layed down on his own after that, i immediatly prasied him as so as he listened. i then told him to wait while i put on his leash. he has been fine after that since. we will keep patience with him and try to remmeber to be calm and yet firm and clear on what i expect from him.

he's very smart and trying to test me. thanks again, forgive me if i go on to much, but i want to make sure i don't leave to much out, so maybe it will help in getting more input.


sincerely norma,

[RottsNScotts]

Norma, use his chewing on the leash as an opportunity to teach him NOT to chew on the leash by correcting him and giving him something he may chew on. You will be showing him not only to not chew on the leash - something he needs to know! - but that when he is bored, he is not to chew something that does not belong to him but instead to chew something that DOES belong to him.

I have an analogy to puppy training. If you watched Star Trek - any of them - you would have seen someone - bad or good guys - in a confined area, enclosed by a force field. Invariably, the person inside the confined area would walk up to the force field and touch it, usually in several places, to see where it was on and how strong it was.

Puppy naughtiness is very much the same as that person in the confined area. They are testing the boundaries to see where they are and how strong they are!

[gnwhite]

thanks i hear you guys, but the confinedment worked on my other puppies. heeler and malinois, are rotts sooo different that they can not be confined.?

i will take the advice thou on putting hem back on his leash. so i can keep better control on him, as you said ( when in trouble easier to correct ) do you have any tips on what kind of leash to use. he has chewed one of them up, a thin lite one retrackable.


ok i just had him on the leash and he starting to get nasty again,he has been leash trained already thats not the problem. he goes to chew on it and it becomes a game to him. i'm at my wits end.

i repeat have never encounted problem like this before. i am a very patience person, i was a teacher assisitant for 4 years. so i don't lose my cool easy.

norma,

[frontierrots]

this may sound simplistic, but how much exercise is he getting? He sounds bored and bratty, both the result of not enough exercise

I have my kitchen gated off and too much trouble gets the pup in there, NOT as punishment but as a time out for me until I can get her outside. Scheduled crate time again NOT as punishment but as a scheduled amount of time in a crate helps as well. ie: Annie is crated 2-6 most days (she's 4 1/2 months)


Training class or sessions also help exhaust the wee little brain

"I" personally have never had good luck tieing a pup to me. It makes "me" nuts