# Aggressive Biting! Please Help!!!



## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

I think it's more likely that he is getting sassy rather than aggressive. I have never heard of a 10 week old puppy actually being agressive, especially a golden. Try to keep with one type of behavior (leaving the room) each time for several days before you write it off as not working. I think with time you will see an improvement.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Well, puppies playbite "aggressively" (meaning they could bite your nose off while playing). Is that what your little pup is doing? Playbiting and guarding turf are two very different things.

Is he playing? If so then this is a "training" time. They need to be taught what hurts and what doesn't.

I put this link up alot because it was such a great help for me. 

http://www.jersey.net/~mountaindog/berner1/bitestop.htm

And bite inhibition is a wonderful thing when they are older and a kid steps on a sleeping dog.

The tapping on the nose, holding the muzzle made Lucky worse. Just made him more ummmmm playfully aggressive.

I know its frustrating however with gentle, firm and consistant corrections and training your Golden will learn. They are just babies right now.

And you will need patience...because it won't "click" for a while. About 13 or 14 weeks in when things start improving.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Deep breath! An 8 week old puppy is definitely not being aggressive. he might be scared or he might be playing- but biting his littermates was his way of playing with them, and he doesnt yet know biting isnt something to do with humans! This is an infant, and it helps to remember that. The puppy biting is so common there's even a joke name for pups that age- Land Sharks. When you listen to puppies play together, the fake-menacing play growls are hillarious. I bet he is trying to play with you the best way he knows how, and he'll learn. Teach him a few simple words so your relationship can be full of praise.Put a bit of peanut butter on your finger, and let him llick it- telling him "KISS". After a little while, when he bites, you'll be able to tell him "No bite, Kiss, Kiss. Try to but a good puppy book or two, like Nicholas Dodman's Puppy's First Steps. It's a great idea to have a positive method trainer come and do 3 priavte lessons with you on clicker training. Mostly, try to take for granted your puppy is well-meaning- your his world, his future, his family, and his teacher!


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

Lots of golden puppies go through that stage. Try sitting on the floor and hand feeding Shadow from her bowl. I had to do this with Oakly when he was a pup.


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## Shadow's Ransom (Feb 5, 2009)

Are you sure its not aggressive. I read online that when a puppy growls, pulls their lips back and snaps that they're being aggressive. He seems to do it the most when he wants to be left alone or when we're trying to get him to do something he doesnt want to do. Im sorry if I seem paranoid, Im a little nervous around big dogs and im just afraid of him being aggressive when hes all grown up


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## Emma&Tilly (May 15, 2005)

You need to allow time for this to work...also try to stick to one reaction for the biting else you will have a very confused pup. If he is only 8 weeks now you must of gotten him very young so he has missed some quite important interection with his littermates...so he is treating you like those littermates instead. If you watch 6/7/8 week old pups play with each other you will see very rough interaction and lots of biting...this is where they learn how hard they _can_ bite each other. I would suggest moving away and ignoring him completely when he exhibits the unwated behaviour...he will soon learn that everytime he nips you will move away and he will not get any interaction at all. But you need to keep this up consistently and for a decent amount of time. Do hang in there...he is certainly not aggressive, he is a very, very young baby and hasn't learnt HOW to interect with this odd species he has found himself with. Give him time to learn. Im sure you will get lots more advice, good luck!


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## Emma&Tilly (May 15, 2005)

Shadow's Ransom said:


> Are you sure its not aggressive.


I would bet my life on it that he is not showing signs of 'aggression', he is behaving like a normal puppy.

It would be like comparing a tantruming, kicking, screaming 2 year old to how that child will behave as an adult! In the same way as a toddler hasn't yet learnt how to express themselves your puppy hasn't learnt yet how to interact with people. A matter of weeks ago he was surrounded by fellow 'land sharks' where this kind of thing was the _only_ way to interact...now he has been plucked from that environment and is expected to behave how a trained adult dog would. Unfortunately it doesn't quite happen like that. He needs time to learn how to interact with you. Keep going, he is a very young baby.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Shadow's Ransom said:


> Are you sure its not aggressive. I read online that when a puppy growls, pulls their lips back and snaps that they're being aggressive. He seems to do it the most when he wants to be left alone or when we're trying to get him to do something he doesnt want to do. Im sorry if I seem paranoid, Im a little nervous around big dogs and im just afraid of him being aggressive when hes all grown up


Can you relay a situation from beginning to end? That might be helpful. 

My thought is that puppies do alot of "reacting". They don't know where they stand in your family (meaning they don't know whether to lead you or follow you) and they are insecure. So your puppy is needing your leadership. Hope that makes sense.

Do you have a good relationship with the breeder?


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## Shadow's Ransom (Feb 5, 2009)

Thanks for all the responses everyone! I know I may be overreacting a bit, something which i am quite famous for :doh: He was 7 weeks when we got him he just turned 9 weeks today. I thought 7 weeks was ok to bring them home... I love him to death Im just so afraid he'll be aggressive as an adult, which I know in my heart probably wont happen. Hes so fun and affectionate most of the time.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Emma&Tilly said:


> I would bet my life on it that he is not showing signs of 'aggression', he is behaving like a normal puppy.
> 
> It would be like comparing a tantruming, kicking, screaming 2 year old to how that child will behave as an adult! In the same way as a toddler hasn't yet learnt how to express themselves your puppy hasn't learnt yet how to interact with people. A matter of weeks ago he was surrounded by fellow 'land sharks' where this kind of thing was the _only_ way to interact...now he has been plucked from that environment and is expected to behave how a trained adult dog would. Unfortunately it doesn't quite happen like that. He needs time to learn how to interact with you. Keep going, he is a very young baby.


Great analogy and well put.

He is just a little puppy right now. I know it can be stressful, but he just plain doesn't know any better.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Shadow's Ransom said:


> Thanks for all the responses everyone! I know I may be overreacting a bit, something which i am quite famous for :doh: He was 7 weeks when we got him he just turned 9 weeks today. I thought 7 weeks was ok to bring them home... I love him to death Im just so afraid he'll be aggressive as an adult, which I know in my heart probably wont happen. Hes so fun and affectionate most of the time.


Don't worry, I'm excellent at overreacting as well.  I think your puppy is perfectly normal - Flora is one of the most submissive dogs ever (she'll roll over onto her back pretty much every time I start to pet her), and she'll growl at me and bite so hard she scrapes my skin with her sharp little teeth. It's how they try to get you to play. It's annoying - and it can hurt - but it's normal.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

He is a perfectly normal puppy. This is what puppies do with littermates, and he just needs to learn it's not ok on skin. 

When he goes to bite you, offer him a toy to chew on instead, then tell him good boy. Start teaching him "kiss", but some peanut better on your hand and when he licks it say good "kiss" or good "lick", be consistent with that. Eventually when he starts to bite you, you can say "lick" and he will lick instead of bite, but it takes time and patience to teach him that.

As others have said, he is just a baby, doing what baby puppies do naturally, use his mouth. Compare it to human babies crying, they eventually learn to talk and ask for what they want.


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## gold'nchocolate (May 31, 2005)

It may be that over-reacting is making the problem worse. Try to remain calm when teaching your pup. Here is another article about teaching bite inhibition:

http://www.crickethollowfarm.com/biteinhib.htm

All puppies pass through this "pirhanna" stage and pretty soon it will be only a memory...LOL!


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## Jilly66 (Nov 25, 2008)

I have an 8 week old pup and he has done the same thing recently. If I take him away from something he is interested in he has snarled at me. I was surprised at first as my other golden never did that but I also realize that he isn't sure yet how this hierarchy works. He plays rough with my year old golden and he thinks we are all equal at this point and trying to figure it out. I am certain he will outgrow this phase.


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## *~Pry&Kasper~* (Dec 25, 2008)

I did what Oaklys dad suggested, everyone in our house took turns to hand feed Kasper, what also worked whas when he nips to act like your crying:.....sounds funny but Kasper did stop en then he just looks at you and I would turn my back and walk away. I know not all pups are the same but you can try it....don't loose faith..

Good Luck:wavey:


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## Shadow's Ransom (Feb 5, 2009)

He's learning "kiss" pretty well, if he nips I say "no, kisses" and most of the time he'll start licking. He's learned his name, he's learning "come" very well, he sits, lays down and shakes "hands" And the only time I really see him nip or snap anymore is when hes "upset" like if we wont let him have something he wants, he throws a tantrum, lol. But yeah he's doing A LOT better!


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## avincent52 (Jul 23, 2008)

One of the strategies is to "yelp" like a hurt puppy when he bites.
That said, it never worked for Tessie--she just thought it was a sign to play harder. 

FWIW, I think you're doing fine, and he'll absolutely grow out of this phase. He's just treating you like a littermate, nipping when he's not quite getting his way. The other thing you can do is just expose him to lots and lots of people and situations. Puppies that are well-adjusted and confident turn into calm, happy adult dogs who never even think to use those teeth on anything but a Kong. 

To give you an idea about how much they change, my Tessie (who's absolutely mellow, calm and easy by puppy standards) was visiting her two-year old Uncle Jester (who was, I've heard, quite boisterous when he was a pup). 

Tessie was the little terror, still nipping at him and us, play growling up a storm (she actually taught him to growl when they played tug). Jester has matured into a splendid, gentle, patient adult Golden.

And that's what Shadow will become if you're consistent with your training and socialization.

allen


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## paraduxx (Nov 3, 2008)

If it is aggression, sometimes this can be caused from a reaction to their shots/vaccines. Has your pup had any vaccines and did this start after the pup received them? Many will say "oh that's a bunch of hogwash" but, I've seen this happen over and over again especially, when multiple vaccines are lumped together in one shot. I've also seen many dogs react to Rabies shots. There are homeopathy remedies called "Nosodes" that can help counteract the side affects of the vaccines but, they should be given right after they are administered. You can still give them afterwards, but it will take some time to correct. In the future, I would suggest keeping notes on a calendar or journal when major things are changed/occur so that you have it to fall back on when needed i.e. when it gets it's shots, when/if you change it's food, and any behavioral changes you see, etc. This will give you a better understanding. 
In addition, since you stated that you are new at this, I highly recommend that you get your hands on as many books as possible and read all you can about diet, vaccines, behavioral issues, etc. Now on the other hand, if it is not caused from the above, I would suggest you find a good dog trainer to consult with so they can determine if it is truly aggression, fear-aggression, and my just need to be socialized. Or, sometimes dogs don't want to be touched when they are in pain. Check your pup all over and make sure it doesn't have any ear issues/infections. Does the aggression happen only after it eats? There are a number of things that could cause this. So, again, without seeing your dog, keep notes and that will help if you decide to consult with a trainer, or a vet, etc. Good Luck.


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## Bogart'sMom (Sep 16, 2005)

I used to call Bogart Sharktooth Bogie LOL. He was a very mouthy puppy. Puppyteeth are just so sharp, hands looks like they got into a hord of cats. I used to put toys into Bogart's mouth just so he coudln't bite my hands in stead. Also I put a harness on him then a cable that had a plastic coating over it for a time out I didn't put Bogart in a crate but I hooked the cable to our very heavy coffeetable leg and then put Bogart on tie down until he settled down. He couldn't get to me or ZsaZsa anymore and he actualy calmed down quiet nicely when he realized that he couldn't get us (Well me) since ZsaZsa didn't take any puppy stuff from Bogart and she was the big disciplinarian. 
Bogart hat a Zoomie Time in the evenning between about 7 and 9 pm he was specialy mouthy then and was like a frantic little lounetic biting everything and everyone at that time. If he got too horrible I put him on tiedown again he helped him to seddle again. After he was calm I let him go if he was over the top maniac back on tiedown he went. He also was a very nice little puppy, calm and cuddly and he loved his crate since I never put him in there as a punishment. I also took him to puppyclass at 11 weeks old. All of a sudden I didn't feel alone anymore. Lots of people with pups (specialy retrievers) have the same troubles.
He has grown up to be a nice guy, happy go lucky and friendly with everyone.
All the best,


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Shadow's Ransom said:


> He's learning "kiss" pretty well, if he nips I say "no, kisses" and most of the time he'll start licking. He's learned his name, he's learning "come" very well, he sits, lays down and shakes "hands" And the only time I really see him nip or snap anymore is when hes "upset" like if we wont let him have something he wants, he throws a tantrum, lol. But yeah he's doing A LOT better!


It's nice to hear that KISS works for you. It's one of my favorite puppy training tricks.


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## furrygodmother (Jun 12, 2008)

I have to echo the other "puppy parents" here. Maui is 1/2 Golden 1/2 border collie and she is VERy mouthy...when she gets anxious or excited she bares her teeth and does that "land shark' snapping thing... as I type this w/ 1 hand she is mouthing my other hand ( Ive been working looooong hours this week and she misses me!) Had I not checked in with the more experienced parents here, I would have been concerned with her behavior, but the combined wisdom here is an excellent resource and reassured me that she was just acting normally. 
Maui is 10 months and she did the same thing... she feels much more secure in our "pack" now and rarely guards her food or does that teeth-baring thing... tho' she is still "mouthing" my left hand, now. as I type.


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## PJD001 (Jul 28, 2006)

avincent52 said:


> One of the strategies is to "yelp" like a hurt puppy when he bites.
> That said, it never worked for Tessie--she just thought it was a sign to play harder.
> 
> FWIW, I think you're doing fine, and he'll absolutely grow out of this phase. He's just treating you like a littermate, nipping when he's not quite getting his way. The other thing you can do is just expose him to lots and lots of people and situations. Puppies that are well-adjusted and confident turn into calm, happy adult dogs who never even think to use those teeth on anything but a Kong.
> ...


 The loud yelping definitely worked for us when jack was a pup and play biting became an issue. he soon grew out of it, and the yelp definitely made him stop and take note!


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