# 9 Week Old Showing Aggression...



## EvilNessCroft (Feb 17, 2009)

For the food, It's a good thing to make him sit and stay and then you decide when he can go eat. It might help if you give him something he really likes (chicken, carrots, strawberries.. Anything he likes) And put it in his bowl WHILE he's eating. After a couple of days, he'll associate you coming to his food means something good!  that's what we've been doing with Molly since she was 2 months old. And she doesn't mind us touching her or her food while she eats!

As for the possessive behavior with toys, I can't really help you!  I kinda have this problem myself; My Molly doesn't like my other dog near her food!


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## clipper21 (Jul 3, 2009)

I just went through a similar thing with my golden puppy, who is 15 weeks. He was guarding particular items, not everything, but somethings that he felt were high value to him. What my family and I have been doing is hand feeding him a couple of his meals a day, as well as playing the "trade game" with him. We practice swapping out items (such as his toys and bones) and reward him for trading with us. We spoke to a trainer, who explained that this game helps them understand that it is good to give their high value items to their owners. Our puppy showed the growl/snarl reaction with bully sticks the most, and we decided to simply hold off on the bully sticks, b/c they are so high value to him, until he understands the "trade game" better.
I hope this helps you a little bit, our puppy already seems to be catching on and doing a little better.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Please do a forum search for "puppy aggression" and you will find lots and lots of previous threads discussing exactly what you are asking about. There is a wealth of information and good advice in those threads. 

But, I just want to say please don't label your BABY PUPPY aggression at such a young age, puppies really aren't aggressive. He is just responding the way he would with his littermates, and if you do things like put really yummy treats in his bowl while he eats, and play the trade game with him, he will quickly learn that its a good thing for you to approach him while he eats and willingly giving up high value chews/toys gain a good reward.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

mylissyk said:


> Please do a forum search for "puppy aggression" and you will find lots and lots of previous threads discussing exactly what you are asking about. There is a wealth of information and good advice in those threads.
> 
> But, I just want to say please don't label your BABY PUPPY aggression at such a young age, puppies really aren't aggressive. He is just responding the way he would with his littermates, and if you do things like put really yummy treats in his bowl while he eats, and play the trade game with him, he will quickly learn that its a good thing for you to approach him while he eats and willingly giving up high value chews/toys gain a good reward.


I strongly second this post. It is tragic if a self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when really the pup is just a baby using what worked on his litter mates.This puppy is an infant, still. Make his life experiences happy and secure. Maybe hand feed him his meal here and there, and do read the other threads on puppy"aggression". Good luck with your baby!


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Another tactic I use with my foster puppies is that I do touch them when they are eating, but I always speak to them in an upbeat voice as I am approaching so I don't startle them. Then while I am stroking them, I tell them what good puppies they are, again in a very upbeat voice. 99.9% of the time, they start wagging their tails like crazy. The .1% that don't, I sit on the floor next to them and tell them a story in an upbeat voice and then work up to touching them. You can tell when they are anxious because they will freeze. That means you are moving too quickly.


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## jnmarr (Mar 7, 2008)

Sounds like he was afraid you might take the food away.. then you took the food away??? Maybe you could hand feed him his meals for a while. Be sure to keep the training upbeat and positive. When you are able to touch him while he eats, and he accepts your fingers into his bowl, come by randomly and drop something tasty into the mix.. maybe a few pieces of meat or cheese.. so he looks forward to you doing it, instead of dreading it.


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## goldengirl09 (Jul 23, 2009)

*suggestions*

I have a 4 month old puppy and we went through the same thing. I thought I was doing a good thing so I tried putting my hand in the bowl and petting him and if he growled I took it away.

I was worried about aggression so I contacted a trainer and she told me I was doing it all wrong. You don't want to take it away because then you're telling them it's right to be nervous when you come to their food b/c you will take it away. Also, it's normal for puppies to go through it so even though it's important to work on it, don't worry and think your puppy is aggressive!

Try hand feeding the food or adding something really yummy and special to his food and then when he's comfortable you can pet him while he's eating. My puppy has no problem with it now. On occasion, I'll tell him to sit while he's eating, I'll pick up his food, give him a special treat and then put the food right back down for him.

I also highly recommend a puppy preschool/training class that uses positive training. It's been SO helpful to me. Good luck!


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

You've gotten wonderful advice so far. Teach your dog that your presence around food means even better food. Show him that giving up a toy means a delicious treat and a return of the toy. You definitely don't have true aggression here, just nervousness over a precious resource. He doesn't want to lose it, so he's trying to defend it in the language he understands.

Don't show him he's right. Show him that good stuff comes from you. When you come to the food bowl, you add a yummy liver treat right on top. You put the food bowl down with just a little food, and when he finishes it, you add a little more. Feed meals that way.

Also, hand feed meals a small handful at a time.

All these things show your pup that you are trustworthy and a reliable dispenser of good things. They help build trust and comfort, which is what your puppy doesn't have right now. His whole world is brand new and he doesn't know what behaviors will get him what he wants. 

Of course, we have to be able to take things out of our pup's mouths without asking or trading sometimes, but you want to establish a relationship of trust where 99% of the time, he gets something good for trusting you, so the other 1% of a time (i.e., when he grabs a dead bird), you can just grab it out of his mouth and he figures it's no biggie.


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## Tanyac (Jun 18, 2008)

While all the suggestions so far are good, I have to add that I've always left my dogs to eat their food in peace. When they both went to puppy training classes and had the food 'test' which involved me putting my hand in the bowl while they ate, I had no idea how they would react, but no food possessiveness at all.

I think the idea about only approaching them whilst eating to put something even tastier into their bowl (good association) is excellent. Also the trade game, but I don't agree we should test them constantly or not let them eat in peace.

We just had a litter of 9 pups eating together every day and no hints at aggression over mealtimes. I think if they have to compete too much with their littermates however, this can make them extra keen when they go to their new homes. 

Good luck with your pup, its hard work but really rewarding!!


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