How do I handle new aggresive behaviour/

[*MaryG*]

Yes..it's pepper again! He is really throwing his weight around at the moment  ( one year old on Monday).  A few times,like being told to get out of the boot of the car, being told to get off a chair or to let me put his harness on, he has growled and gone to mouth / bite? me or OH. I have stuck to my guns each time and he has done what he has been told, but I am worried about the level of aggression in his response and if this is leading up to a bite. What should I do? Up to now I have pulled him by the collar from where he is and told him off. I try to praise good behaviour but am quite shocked at his moodiness.Is there a better way of handling this?

[MacTavish Boys]

Rather than pull him down by his collar, could you could not entice with a treat
Stephanie, George and Hamish xxx

[mlynnf50]

Selby can be a bit like that, only sometimes, I tend to say in a excited voice come and see what iv got so I am not confrontational and it seems to work, but I do not know if I am doing the right thing.  But in my opinion it's better than perhaps getting bitten, I now seem to know what he does not like and in those situations, I try to avoid.  Hope someone comes along and gives you some advice.

[Bluebell]

Rather than pull him down by his collar, could you could not entice with a treat
Stephanie, George and Hamish xxx

That is exactly what I would do Rather than confirming his fears/desires, show him that what you want him to do is the best thing in the world!
Use treats to lure him, add an appropriate command in a jolly voice, and reward the desired behaviour 

[HeatherandBenjy]

I'm no behaviourist, these are only my ideas drawn from personal experience.....

The neck is a really sensitive / vulnerable area for dogs and so pulling him down by the collar is being (in Pepper's eyes) fairly confrontational. One of my rescue dogs is especially reactive around the neck area and I can guarantee that if I tried to get him out of the boot of a car or off a chair by his collar I would get bitten.

I think you're right in saying that at almost a year old, Pepper has well and truly hit the teenage tantrum phase! Him growling is letting you know that he's not happy about something, if you ignore it and force him to do that thing against his will, what you teach is that its not worth growling, so he is then likely to up his game and move on to mouthing / snapping / and possibly ultimately biting.

That said, you obviously need Pepper to get out of the car boot, get off the chair or whatever when you ask him to. I would, as the other posters have said, try to turn the situation around so that it becomes the best thing ever for Pepper to do what you want him to do.

It may help to have a house lead on him as well so that if you need to, you can lead him off the chair etc without having to physically get close to him. If you do that, I would always reward him doing the behaviour (getting off the chair) even though you're the one that made it happen. That way you're reinforcing that getting off the chair when asked to is a good thing.

Hope this helps

[*MaryG*]

Thank you all for replying. I did wonder about using his collar and will try to use a lead and be careful in future...I didn't realise it was confrontational.. I do use rewarding a lot with pepper. I do use a reward usually to get him to get out of the boot but I didn't have any on me yesterday so I was a bit stuck!

[HeatherandBenjy]

Hang on in there! It sounds like you're doing all the right things by rewarding Pepper's good behaviour.... they can be frustratingly difficult and stubborn at times!

[Ben's mum]

We have to be careful with Harry, if handled badly he will react with a growl or a bite, we think he must have been pulled about in his last home.

What works wonders is bribery, or if I don't have a treat on me, a quick intake of breath, gets Harrys attention straight away, or a very excited 'look at this' pretending to pick something up off the floor   he forgets being argumentative and is so blooming nosy he comes running, which then gets him lots of love and praise and he has forgotten about any argy-bargy  

[Sarah.H]

You should ask him not tell him  Charlie can be a bit of a grumpy chops and an upbeat excited voice and reward (food or cuddle) usually works better than a demand for him.

But maybe you should get him checked over. Jumping down and putting a harness on are fairly physical, could be he's in pain somewhere.