Aggression?

[Zia]

So, my friend, me and the pup were in the garden yesterday evening. We were all sitting on the floor and playing a little.  He suddenly ran behind her and bit her on the arm drawing blood  . He has met her a few times before. I tried to calm him down but he also got really aggressive with me.  My question is what do I do in this situation to tell him that this is not acceptable?  I feel quite upset about it, and nervous as I have another friend coming round today. He has met a lot of people out and about, but only about half a dozen in the house. 

Advice really needed

[Juno]

I'm certainly no expert but it sounds like normal puppy playbiting rather than aggression to me.  How old is your pup?  Juno is very bitey in the morning so I'm always armed with a stuffed toy to distract her and lots of praise when she does chew her own toys.  Saying that, I have the marks to prove that I'm not always quick enough!

There's a great sticky about playbiting http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=64170.0 - have you read it?

I've been trying to do this with Juno, don't seem to be making massive progress but will persevere!

[Marina and Saartje]

Is it really aggression or does the pup wants to play and don't know how far he/she can go? How old is your pup?
These puppy teeth are so sharp, you're hurt in no time just with a little bit of rough playing.

You can learn your pup  that he needs to play softly, but you need to be very consistent: stop playing every time he plays to rough. or give him a toy where he cab bite on.

[Zia]

Thanks for the tips, it's such a learning process, I just don't want to do the 'wrong' thing

[mlynnf50]

How old is the pup?  Mine was a biter and when young had me in tears many times not just from the pain but from frustration that he just would not learn, but they are like babies and need to learn what is acceptable and this takes times and allot of Patience, but be firm with him and  try to distract him where possible Selby even now does not like any form of confrontation so I found the hard way the best forward was to distract him, and i think he is getting there now, but he is 18 months now.

When he is around stranger's try to keep him calm and ask the people that come not to fuss him until he is calm.

Good luck

[Zia]

Thanks for telling me about Selby, it does make me feel better to know he isn't doing anything unusual. I think the advice about visitors being calm with him makes perfect sense, it's all so new for him as he really is only a little baby still

[choccietoby]

We have 'play biting' issues too with our 14 wk pup Toby, its not aggression its just a puppy thing, some are worse than others.  He is more bitey when excited and playing, it just takes time and patience til they understand the limits they can go to and how hard is too hard.  Time out is about the only thing that is working for us, no, ouch  etc just seems to spur him on, so we put him out the way until he calms down.  He is particularly bad with my 6yr old son as he loves to chase him around and nip at his legs/ankles, its (so Ive been told) a normal thing for him to do as he sees my son as his litter mate and when young pups play together they bite each other, when they hurt they yelp and run off, thus then the game stops, but because he doesnt have other pups around to learn this he uses us and my son to learn.  He is better now at 14wks than he was at 10 wks and so far no blood has been drawn, but it seriously hurts if he catches us the wrong way or we of course quickly remove our hands/legs from his mouth 

I wouldnt worry about having friends around, the more people he meets the better, just if he starts to get a bit over excited, then remove him from the situation so he learns what is acceptable and what isnt. 

[JulieM]

I wouldn't worry too much.

Florence was just like this when she was younger- but has now at 5 months stopped this pretty much altogether. We used to tell visitors that she was a bit snappy to warn them, and try not to 'play' too excitedly when they were here so that our pup didn't get too over excited as this is when it seemed to be worse. As per the other advice, we also used to give all visitors a chew toy to hold- then there's always something between pup and visitor so much less chance of little nips.

I'm sure the sloppy kiss to little bite ratio which switch over soon 

[Dimples]

We had this all the time and at 4.5 months we still have it - just not as much and at certain times. We use the time out approach and it seems to be working.

Yesterday he bit my dads nose and came in from the garden charging up to me and bit my arms. I know this is playing though - certainly not aggressive - although you do think it is when you are new to pups. Same as I was. I was terrified that he was going to be aggressive but it just turns out that he is teething and being a puppy.

I try offering him an alternative to my ankles and shoes but sometimes he just doesnt want to know - so i pick him up and put him in the utility room or sometimes i shut him out the garden if its from there where run in from.  No eye contact. No acknowledgement. They soon realise you are ignoring them and their playmate has gone.  Generally he will come in and be fine.

[Monstersspaniel]

I am having the same issues with my pup no matter what I do she will hang on till I walk out the room.

I can't even distract her with toys and she really growls at me when she wants to bite all ready torn a pair of my leggings the only thing that works for me is a time out but this hard to achieve when she is trying to hang onto my shorts/trousers legs.

Gets worse before meal times she gets these mad moments

even the ouch doesn't work though other times she is as good as gold especially when we have new guests

its wiered she isn't agressive about her toys or food and will even sit before meals.

Never hit her and don't plan to I know this can be the worsed thing one can do.

[kathleenalder]

I am having the same issues with my pup no matter what I do she will hang on till I walk out the room.

I can't even distract her with toys and she really growls at me when she wants to bite all ready torn a pair of my leggings the only thing that works for me is a time out but this hard to achieve when she is trying to hang onto my shorts/trousers legs.

Gets worse before meal times she gets these mad moments

even the ouch doesn't work though other times she is as good as gold especially when we have new guests

its wiered she isn't agressive about her toys or food and will even sit before meals.

Never hit her and don't plan to I know this can be the worsed thing one can do.

We have the same with our Missy, she is 5.5 months old but it did get better until now, where she is going through another phase due to teething...

[mlynnf50]

They are all the same, dont give up, believe me things do get better.

[Manchester_Spaniel]

It does sound like play biting and as suggested the best methods are to either give them something appropriate to chew on or take them to an area for a bit of time out. I used to have a lead with me incase I needed to lead fred off into the kitchen, i wouldnt shout or be angry but I would be calm and speak very quietly and gently that it is time for some time out. With 'ouch' some dogs respond to it but not all, I found it excited fred more as it was high pitched hence the leading off for time out worked better in my situation.

Its also maybe worth pointing out signs for a dog that is being aggresive to help tell the difference. If a dog is being aggresive you will notice them change into a defensive stance. His hackles will raise and he will give a low growl and then a deeper bark (more like a 'ruff ruff' noise) - well these are typical signs for our fred, but the change is very definite. Over excited puppy play is that they are being their exuberant self and dont get that there may be a consequence to this such as a little bite.

As suggested calm play can help as well as it shows them what play is acceptable - lots of praise when they are playing how you would like them to is another good way to encourage acceptable behaviour. Oh on a last note I would always warn my friends when they came over - tell them fred was being bitey, and well train them how to behave around him as well!

Good luck

[Mel]

Yes sounds like play biting to me too. Tali is 16 months old and still chomps on me if he can. I still attempt to deter him however I know he's playing, just a little too hard. Certainly if I squeal he gives immediate release. But Tali is a nervous fella and will need constant reinforcing of the rules on biting for some time to come.

If it's a problem for your guests, as very few put up with puppy biting, then maybe crate puppy while they are there?