# Puppy aggressive? Growling/teeth/biting



## NotreDameGuy10 (Nov 17, 2016)

Hello,

Our boy Kingsley has my wife and I a little worried. He is 9.5 weeks old right now. He gets into nippy playful/bitey phases throughout the day which we understand is just puppy play and we are working on that. However, there are times when we are trying to put on his collar/harness or carry him up/down stairs outside and he starts to growl and bare his teeth. This isn't every time but it happens every so often and has us a little scared. The worst is whenever he gets really unruly and we set him on his back. he growls a lot and bares his teeth and tries to bite us. Can someone please give us a recommendation on how best to proceed? Should we be continuing that to teach him to stop? or no?


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## Guido (Sep 2, 2016)

Lucy showed this kind of behavior when she was about that age (and older) too. She would passionately defend mouthfuls of dirt which she would chew on in a nearby park. Whenever we tried to take it from her, she would get into some pretty ferocious growling and showing of teeth.

I'm not sure what you mean by "set him on his back". If you mean that you "alpha roll" your dog (roll him on his back and keep hem down) when he gets unruly, that is likely to make things worse rather than better. The reason your puppy is growling and showing teeth is probably because he is scared. Therefore, the solution is not to scare him even more by rolling him on his back. This tactic does not make any sense in any situation. It departs from the assumption that your puppy is trying to be "dominant" and that you need to show him who's the "alpha". That is a training method from thirty years ago, which is sub-optimal at best and counterproductive at worst. I would use a positive approach, especially with a young dog from a sensitive breed.

So what did work for Lucy? Treats. Anytime you put the harness on your pup or have to carry him, turn it in to a party. His mindset should be: "Oh joy! Here comes that lovely harness that comes with all those wonderful treats!" Should he growl or show teeth, give him more treats. You will not be rewarding the growling and teeth bearing, but you will be taking away the fear and replacing it by joy. The dog will start to associate the harness or being carried with the treats. 

Summary:
- do NOT alpha roll
- DO treat / bribe

I would love to hear how it works out for you.


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

Putting on a collar and leash restricts a pups freedom. Most don't like it at first. There is a game to play to help your dog feel more comfortable with you holding the collar and putting on a leash.


Some dogs actually need to start the game with you just reaching toward the collar vs starting by grabbing it. 

1. reach toward the collar then reward
2. reach toward the collar and touch it gently and reward
3. other instruction on video

Don't go to the next step until the pup is comfortable and not biting at you during each step.







You have to think that your pup is seeing this big scary hand moving fast toward him/her and sometimes it frightens them. They are also smart enough to know it restricts their freedom and their only way to communicate to you that they don't want to is how they are doing it. To the pup this is acceptable communication to us it is not. But we need to teach them that we aren't scary.

Why are you putting you pup on his/her back?


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## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

Please don't set him on his back. Get in some training classes that do positive renforcement.


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## maggie83 (Dec 12, 2016)

Following.... My little Maggie is getting really bitey in the last few days. I want to nip this behavior in the bud. She's only about 6 weeks old


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

maggie83 said:


> Following.... My little Maggie is getting really bitey in the last few days. I want to nip this behavior in the bud. She's only about 6 weeks old



6 weeks old? Is this a typo?


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## Gleepers (Apr 20, 2016)

nolefan said:


> maggie83 said:
> 
> 
> > Following.... My little Maggie is getting really bitey in the last few days. I want to nip this behavior in the bud. She's only about 6 weeks old
> ...



Nope, check out the thread Maggie's Progress. She has an itty bitty.


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## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

Getting bitey and nippy at this age is very normal, and I doubt it is something you need to worry about. I remember worrying about my first Golden, Luke, at this age. I was so worried that his bitey, nippy behavior - many times accompanied by growling - meant he was showing aggression. But he turned out to be the sweetest, gentlest, calmest adult dog I ever knew. Now Sam is doing the same thing at the same age, and it's bringing back memories! 

Remember that Goldens are mouthier dogs than most other breeds. And growling at this age is most likely just playful growling. 

Make sure Kingsley is getting plenty of exercise - tire him out several times a day. Be sure he has plenty of things to chew on (with supervision), all different types of textures like hard, rubbery, soft, fluffy, etc. Learn about "bite inhibition" and read/watch Ian Dunbar. 

Then make sure you are giving him some mental challenges throughout the day - Goldies are smart and get bored if they don't have a "job"! Work on training, give him a meal in a Kong instead of a food bowl, etc. 

Also, since Goldens are very people-oriented, be sure he gets plenty of time to just be with you. 

But also make sure he has time to really rest and get some good, hard sleep. Sam has a crate in our bedroom and when he has eaten, exercised, played, chewed, and trained - I put him in his crate, throw a black blanket over the crate to absorb sound and block light, and he sleeps soundly for 2-3 hours at a time, several times a day. I think it really helps. Basically, if I have done *everything* I listed and Sam is going crazy with nipping, biting, growling, I just put him in his bed (crate) and he goes to sleep pretty quickly. It's like he gets overtired and just doesn't know how to handle it. In fact, he has already learned to associate my words "night-night" with calming down. I pick him up and say, "It's time for night-night" and he immediately calms down. I didn't even make this association on purpose at the beginning, but noticed that he started calming down when I said it. 

As for turning him on his back, when we first got Sam he hated being on his back. He was the "runt" of the litter (the smallest yet perfectly healthy), and our breeder said his littermates tended to "bully" him because he was small. (This is probably why he had learned how to escape from the wading pool they played in when the bigger pups couldn't, lol!) We figured this is why he hated being on his back - it is a vulnerable position. We just kept gently working on gaining his trust from day one - first gently rolling him on his side while feeding him tiny treats and rubbing his belly, until we got him to go completely on his back. It took about a week. Now he does it all the time. He even sleeps on his back with his legs hanging up in the air sometimes. I think it's something you can work up to slowly, on a day-to-day basis. Just make sure he associates something really good (yummy treats and belly rubs) with being on his back.


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## TanyaS (Oct 27, 2016)

Just adding on here - also be sure to socialize as much as possible at this age, right now. Take him out in the neighborhood, take him to the park, take him shopping; introduce him to any and all people and safe dogs as possible. This age seems to be crucial. I read somewhere that 10-11 weeks is a "fearful" age and just the right time to show them that they don't need to be afraid, by gently exposing them to as many different people and places as possible. This is supposed to reduce the chances of future aggression.


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## Shae's Mom (May 14, 2020)

NotreDameGuy10 said:


> Hello,
> 
> Our boy Kingsley has my wife and I a little worried. He is 9.5 weeks old right now. He gets into nippy playful/bitey phases throughout the day which we understand is just puppy play and we are working on that. However, there are times when we are trying to put on his collar/harness or carry him up/down stairs outside and he starts to growl and bare his teeth. This isn't every time but it happens every so often and has us a little scared. The worst is whenever he gets really unruly and we set him on his back. he growls a lot and bares his teeth and tries to bite us. Can someone please give us a recommendation on how best to proceed? Should we be continuing that to teach him to stop? or no?


Hi there,

I just came across your comment about Kingsley from a few years ago. My pup Shae is at that same age and displaying the same signs of aggression. I am curious how you guys ended up handling him when he had these aggressive outburst. It is hard to discipline Shae during these times but don't feel as if I should be rewarding her... would love to know what worked for you!


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## Ffcmm (May 4, 2016)

Shae's Mom said:


> Hi there,
> 
> I just came across your comment about Kingsley from a few years ago. My pup Shae is at that same age and displaying the same signs of aggression. I am curious how you guys ended up handling him when he had these aggressive outburst. It is hard to discipline Shae during these times but don't feel as if I should be rewarding her... would love to know what worked for you!


As this is an old thread the Original poster has not logged in since 2017, so you might not be getting a reply from them. You could start a new thread, that might be helpful.


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## Louise341 (May 27, 2021)

Ffcmm said:


> As this is an old thread the Original poster has not logged in since 2017, so you might not be getting a reply from them. You could start a new thread, that might be helpful.


Hi Shae's Mum. Did you start a new thread or get any replies? As we are currently having the same issue with iur 5 month old. 
Louise


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

These are little babies acting in the way that is normal within their litter. They are not aggressive even though it can feel that way to you. They just need lots of training. There are "aggressive puppy"posts several times a week here and it's usually for puppies 10-20 weeks old. Use the search here with terms like puppy biting or aggressive puppy or just scroll through the puppy forum pages for advice. Also have you signed up for puppy classes? They are very helpful in teaching you how to train your dog.


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## Louise341 (May 27, 2021)

Hi cwag,

Thanks for your reply. I'll have a read through the other similar posts on here. Have signed her up fir classes staring this week. It's been put off unfortunately due to covid. We are working on 'drop it' with swaps and rewards. We usually keep a lead on her in the house so we can move her if she jumps up on to the sofa. If she gets on when we're in the room and she won't come off for a treat then we use the lead. Am looking forward to starting puppy classes and hoping it helps!


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## Monica_K (Mar 3, 2021)

Louise341 said:


> Hi cwag,
> 
> Thanks for your reply. I'll have a read through the other similar posts on here. Have signed her up fir classes staring this week. It's been put off unfortunately due to covid. We are working on 'drop it' with swaps and rewards. We usually keep a lead on her in the house so we can move her if she jumps up on to the sofa. If she gets on when we're in the room and she won't come off for a treat then we use the lead. Am looking forward to starting puppy classes and hoping it helps!


I’m hopeful you’ll find classes to be useful! My last dog was 5 months old (so somewhere in the bratty teenager phase) at the time of adoption and I enrolled her in training right away. It was honestly like night and day- she LOVED training and I think it helped us bond as well. Given that your puppy is so young I have hopes she’ll pick up the training very quickly, especially if your practicing what you’re learning at home as well. Good luck!


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