# Agressive Puppy Behavior



## Jmacsx3 (Sep 30, 2018)

My sixteen week old golden is developing some real aggressive behavior. This is not my first Rodeo. I am well aware of puppy bites and teaching bite inhibition. I am dealing with something new to me.

Abby does puppy bites, we say ouch she backs off. So typical puppy stuff. Then I take her for a walk in my yard, about two acres. All is well, then she gets what we call the zoomies. She runs at max speed (usually in circles). Then she charges, nips really hard, draws blood, and continues until I get a leash on her and hold her off. 

I have tried calming her, toy substitution, treats. Nothing seems to work.
I contacted several trainers and my first available appointment is another month away.

Any suggestions appreciated.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Bumping up


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## 2manyboats (Jun 6, 2021)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> Bumping up


My 18 week old Field Golden gets the zoomies pretty regularly, but without the biting. Pretty funny really. Aside from that, to deter biting, we fold her lips into her teeth and let her bite her lips while giving a stern "no Bite" command. If you can't get to top and bottom lips, grab her top lips and press against her front canines. This always results in a yelp and submission. Obviously, this is impossible during the zoomies, but is very effective other times to completely deter biting. It has only taken maybe 10 times to get her to quit biting, with the occasional reminder. Blood and torn clothing have been a thing of the past for 4 or 5 weeks now. All that said, her otherwise aggressive behavior should be dealt with during the normal course of training at her age. This age is when they need to understand they are dog and you are loving master- but master just the same. I am still having a bit of trouble with her treating my 13 and 14 year old grandsons like littermates, but the boys are learning.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

Rukie did this outside in the yard some too. I really didn't think it was aggressive so much as immaturity and hyperactivity but it was definitely out of control and painful. There were times I fled into the house to get away, but he finally matured out of it. Does Abby get some good off leash running time every day? I think that exercise was helpful and we did it with him dragging a 30 foot leash until he had good recall. He liked chasing a frisbee that rolled along on its edge. Then it helped to work with him to instantly sit on command in any situation so that when he started getting wound up like that we could head it off.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Jmacsx3 said:


> I have tried calming her, toy substitution, treats. Nothing seems to work.


None of those things ever work. they are distractions and do not teach or train anything.
What you are describing is not an aggressive dog. Your puppy has energy and needs exercise. She also needs obedience training. You can work on both at the same time and your pup and you will both enjoy it.
For the biting, tempt her to do it, when she does stick your thumb in her throat and pinch the back of her tongue against the bottom of her mouth. It will not hurt her but she will not like it, and it may make her gag. It shouldn’t take long for her to decide that that is not a fun game.
The first step in obedience training is to teach “sit”. A dog that knows “sit” Will stop whatever it’s doing and sit upon hearing the command. I recommend teaching voice and whistle, A single toot means sit.
Without a solid understanding of the sit command you cannot advance in obedience training.


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## Spiderpig (Nov 7, 2019)

How long are the walks and are they on leash? On leash walks can be very frustrating especially for puppies. She doesn’t sound aggressive but sounds over stimulated. It sounds counter intuitive but try taking her out for a shorter period of time. Get the leash on her before she gets out of control. Then take her inside and give her a kong in her crate. She sounds like a cranky puppy who needs a nap.


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

Jmacsx3 said:


> My sixteen week old golden is developing some real aggressive behavior. This is not my first Rodeo. I am well aware of puppy bites and teaching bite inhibition. I am dealing with something new to me.
> 
> Abby does puppy bites, we say ouch she backs off. So typical puppy stuff. Then I take her for a walk in my yard, about two acres. All is well, then she gets what we call the zoomies. She runs at max speed (usually in circles). Then she charges, nips really hard, draws blood, and continues until I get a leash on her and hold her off.
> 
> ...


So she bites you and you give her toys or treats? Ponder that for a moment. It's always good to look at things from the dog's point of view.

She's not aggressive. This isn't aggression, it's bratty behaviour that she keeps doing because you keep allowing it by reacting ineffectually. Not only that, but you're actually rewarding it by getting out the treats. So she keeps doing it (a) because she can and (b) because she gets rewarded for it.

Both of you need some good training. Obedience training isn't just to teach the dog how to sit and lie down, it's also to establish a relationship between you and the dog where you're in charge and the dog does what you ask. Right now that clearly isn't the case because she's biting you. SRW is spot on: teach and proof a basic command such as "sit" so that she'll obey it immediately, in any situation, in any place. Then you have an alternative behaviour that you can ask for when she becomes bratty. I know COVID has made things difficult, but four to five months old is very late to start training. These things are much easier to deal with if you start when the dog is very young.

The other thing I would do is to have her wear a long line when you go out for walks. That way, when she starts "zooming", you can grab the line, reel her in and get control before she starts biting you. Right now you're in reactive mode - she does something, you react. You need to be a lot more proactive and take charge before the behaviour starts.

Once you get into a position where you're calling the shots and not her, the behaviour will stop.

Best of luck!


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Spiderpig said:


> How long are the walks and are they on leash? On leash walks can be very frustrating especially for puppies. She doesn’t sound aggressive but sounds over stimulated. It sounds counter intuitive but try taking her out for a shorter period of time. Get the leash on her before she gets out of control. Then take her inside and give her a kong in her crate. She sounds like a cranky puppy who needs a nap.


Wrong
Don't do this, it is terrible advice and would be abuse of a young energetic puppy.


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