[Dayton538]

My GR puppy is 4-months old. We got her at 8 weeks. She gets LOTS of good attention, exercise, and is never left alone for more than 2 hours at a time.

She actively seeks out human interaction and is very submissive when making contact, i.e. - immediately rolling onto her back and inviting the petting of her stomach area.

The problem is her baring of teeth, aggressive lunging and biting at home. This is a daily occurrence and we have no idea what's going on. We have a 4-year old daughter who occasionally goes overboard and the dog bites, which we can at least understand. Other times, my wife or I could be petting her gently and she'll start play biting, which we of course respond to with "No." When we do this, she'll start baring her teeth, barking, and biting aggressively. She has repeatedly broken the skin on my mom & dad as well as my wife and I. When I take her for walks, she gives me aggressive, deep growls when I guide her away from the path that she wishes to take.

She's not perfect in other regards, but we can deal with behavior that is universally associated with "puppyhood."

We're very concerned with the aggressiveness she shows. Looking for any similar plights and hopefully success stories.

 

[Cpc1972]

Without seeing a video this sounds like normal puppy playbiting. You wont believe how many times my mom ended up bleeding. At five months she still play bites. You tell her no or no bite sometimes she barks and will keep biting. Its not anything to be worried about. She likes to play rough. She is almost always on a leash when my six yearold nephew and three yearold niece are over during the week. They will mature and out grow it. Try doing some short training sessions or short time outs when it starts.

 

[Cpc1972]

Also dont let your four yearold really maul the puppy for awhile. At least until the puppy matures.

 

[AoifeRollo]

I agree…it sounds like normal puppy behavior. If the puppy is growling and biting after you've corrected it for biting, stop playing with it. Move to where it cannot make contact with you. Continue supervising it, but try not to make eye contact. Once it's calmed down, resume play. Puppies learn quickly that biting means that funtime ends.

 

[lloyddobler]

Dayton, it's difficult to fully understand the behavior without seeing it, but if you are concerned and feel it may be more than normal puppy antics, it may be worth seeking out a behaviorist to put your mind at ease (if for no other reason). Or it may be helpful to try to get a video of your pup in action and others who are more qualified than me can try to help you determine if it is normal puppy behavior. I certainly don't wan't scare you, but want to convey that I understand where you are coming from as I over-analyzed and worried about everything with my guy. He's now 9 months old and was always very mouthy and the normal suggestions for stopping biting didn't work for him. I wish I would have sought out professional help sooner as it would have made the last 4 -5 months a lot more manageable.

 

[Dayton538]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I took a dog behavior class (without dog) last weekend and we are signed up for private training sessions next week. I've thought about trying to get the behavior on video, but when it's happening I'm usually trying to avoid getting my clothes ripped!

 

[lloyddobler]

I understand the difficulty in getting video while your dog is being a jerk. Maybe your wife could take some footage for you to post to get some additional input from the helpful folks on here. I know when I've met with trainers with my dog, he never acts out... the one time I wish he would so they could better assist. Please let us know what your behaviorist tells you next week. Fingers crossed that this gets better quickly for you.

 

[Ljilly28]

Give the pup a whole lot of structure- like set up an xpen in the middle of the living room just for a few months, so she can be with the family but not interact at will and be safe from the 4 year old.

Keep the idea of "threshhold" in mind. Like overtired or overstimulated little kids, puppies get whicky whacky when they are pushed beyone a certain zone of fun/calm needs met/stresses that varies pup to pup. Try and keep your puppy from going over threshold.

Have her sit/ down for her meals, and give her something like a long felt toy that Yogi's mom makes to bite on instead of you.

If she gets too bitey, calmly put her in her xpen and go on with your day for a while.

 

[fostermom]

Hi Dayton (that is my father's name and my son's name!). Puppies can get over stimulated and when they do, they are like a toddler who gets overstimulated or overly tired, the throw temper tantrums. When she gets like this, I would calmly place her in her crate and allow her to settle back down. Don't make a big deal out of it and don't scold her, just place her in the crate and ignore her until she is settled down. She'll probably take a nap and you can let her back out once she wakes up.