# New puppy, new to this forum, need advice



## tarheelloyal (Aug 3, 2008)

Hello all,

My family spent a good deal of time researching dogs before we chose to get our new Golden puppy a couple of weeks ago. Her name is Sophie. We got her at 6wks old. She is 8 1/2 weeks old now. She is very sweet and smart. At 7wks, she learned to sit after a 3 minute lesson.

Main problem ... there is no correcting this dog. I have tried numerous things. A firm noooooooo, ignore, timeout, etc. But this just makes her more aggressive at whatever it was she was doing. I think she was the alpha dog of her litter and she does not want to give that up in our home.

Example ... outside, sometimes she goes wild in the flower bed. When I go over to give a firm nooooo, and then pick her up to remove her from the situation, she shows her teeth and snarls at me. She even tries to bite my hand. On 2 occassions, when i brought her in the house immediately after this type of situation, she ran upstairs and relieved herself on my bathroom floor.

When we sit and play, she gets very mouthy. When I firmly say no and look her in the eyes, she jumps at my face and tries to bite.

She is getting a lot of play time and exercise. We are getting a trainer soon. Is this normal? 90% of the day is fine, but this 10% is unacceptable.

Thanks.


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## cinnamonteal (May 16, 2008)

Hi and welcome to the forum!

When my puppy was very young, he didn't understand corrections at all. They just didn't work and he would get very stubborn and give me this look like "are you kidding me". We put him in a puppy kindergarten class and learned to use positive methods instead of corrections based methods. It worked like a charm! At Sophie's young age, I would suggest redirecting her instead of correcting her. Try to keep all things fun and manage her environment to keep her out of trouble (ie. don't let her near the flower bed).

The aggression issue sounds troubling. I have no experience with that, but there are some wonderful, knowledgeable people here who can give you advice.


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## colton (Jun 5, 2008)

Welcome to this awesome forum where you will get such useful advice. As for your puppy unfortunately I believe the fact that you got her at such a young age is the reason she is showing this aggression. Pups need to learn non aggressive behaviour from their mom and bite inhibition from the litter mates as well. 

You should use positive reinforcement for every good behaviour. When she bites or mouths, yelp and stop playing, it is what would happen in the litter. Ignore her when she gets aggressive, and walk away, it is what happens amongst litter mates. 

If she doesn't listen when in the garden or wherever, make a loud noise, drop a pot lid or something to get her attention and then say "leave". Distract her immediately afterwards with a chew toy or ball.

Good Luck


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

Welcome and Hello Sofie! I think the fact that she was so young could be your problem. The longer they are with Mom, the better they are socialized into the pack. She may have been the alpha in the litter, or just in need of an alpha to train her, that's You. Read, read, read, and take a course in obedience when she's old enough... (vaccinations and so forth.) What you learn in class you can bring home to work with on your own time. You'll be glad you did and she'll be better for it.


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

Glad to have you join us here on the forum. Your pup sounds very normal for a golden puppy. Try hand feeding every meal for a few weeks so your pups learns who is really the boss.


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## Tanyac (Jun 18, 2008)

Hi there and welcome. This place is so full of experienced hands when it comes to dog behavioural stuff.

I agree with what's been said previously, that your puppy would normally have just come to you at 8 weeks. That said, my main advice to you would be to limit the areas in the house/garden that she can get to. She sounds like she already has the run of the place, and if you limit her to just a couple of downstairs rooms. She should not be running up and down stairs in any case as her joints are easily harmed at her age. The advice from my breeder was to not allow the pup upstairs until about a year old. By then trust me, they don't bother. Try a stairgate or something similar to limit access to all areas.

The aggression thing is her flexing her muscles so to speak. How you react is vital. Yelp and turn away ignoring her if her teeth so much as touch you. The ignoring part is what will get her attention. whatever, just remember this little fluff bundle is pre-programmed to enter your home and take over! I've experienced this with my own puppy, but it's not a problem as long as you are consistent and are the boss!

Good luck, you'll have the perfect pooch in no time.


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## gold'nchocolate (May 31, 2005)

Your puppy sounds absolutely normal to me. Here are some really helpful sites to teach you about bite inhibition:

http://www.westieclubamerica.com/behavior/nipsandbites.html

http://www.samsmiles.org/biting.html

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

My dogs were pirhannas at that age also . If your pup was still with her mother and littermates that is exactly how she would play with them. Remember, she is a baby _"dog"_ not a baby _"human"_ so she is acting like a dog not a human. She will need lots of patient training to learn how to live in a 'people world' because she is wired to live in a canine world. 

Good luck with your new pup and don't worry, this puppy stage passes very quickly and believe it or not you will miss this age. How about some pictures of Sophie?


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

They are just babies at this age...not to say you can't train them, coach and teach them but they don't "get it" right off. 

Takes consistency and gentle but firm correction. There is so much they do at this age that heck...they don't even know they are doing it...

It gets better and they get more controlled at about 14 weeks.

Making sure Lucky had a toy in his mouth instead of our fingers or arms really helpped...and when he got older he'd start to bite...and then run for a toy instead.

Good luck to you...your pup sounds normal...or at least sounds like Lucky except I would say that it was 90% of the time that Lucky was really tough on us...until around 14 weeks.


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## TheHooch (May 9, 2007)

Welcome to the forum!!!!!!!


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

Hello and welcome,
I think everyone has given you great advice and I agree totally. One thing I would suggest when you take her outside put a leash on her so you can control where she goes and to keep her out of the flower bed. Good luck on the training. She will grow out of it. If you can survive puppyhood you can survive anything.


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## Goldilocks (Jun 3, 2007)

I think the cause of the problems you are having is because your puppy left its mother and litter mates at 6 weeks old. Even though pups are usually weaned from their mom at that age, they are still learning about dog life and they learn by playing with litter mates and being corrected by the mother dog. The pups learn valuable life lessons in these weeks and proper behaviour. All Golden breeders I have ever known don't allow pups to go to homes until 8 weeks of age. If I were you I would find a dog trainer or puppy obedience class and explain the issues you are having an get the advice of a professional.


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## tarheelloyal (Aug 3, 2008)

Thanks!!! I stumbled on this forum about a week ago and was amazed by the great advice and extreme willingness to provide advice and support.

Trust me ... I knew that 8wks would have been better, but that is a long story. Basically, we went to pick her out at 6 weeks and the lady decided to send all of the litter to their new homes at 6 weeks. So we didn't have a choice. I called a vet and they said 8wks is better but 6 weeks was fine. Oh well, that's water under the bridge.

I think she has a bit of the alpha dog in her. Among her littermates, when the water dish came out, she was the only one to put both front paws in the dish. She did this the first week in our home, but no longer does it. She shows no food aggression whatsoever. She is very loving and loves to cuddle ... but don't let your ear be exposed!!! Oh yeah, belly rubs are a must.


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## videochicke (Dec 29, 2007)

I'd find a puppy to play with. She will learn not to bite hard by being bit, and by the reaction of the other pup when she bites it. My pup is 5 months old now and regular play with another dog did wonders quickly.


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