Puppy behavior
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| OK, first of all, let's examine where you got your dog...a breeder, an animal shelter, a "backyard" breeder...etc.
Also, you should look at why she is growling and biting. Did your husband do anything that could be interpreted as threatening? Who is her human in your house? It could be territorial behavior; she felt like someone was threatening you and she attacked. But unfortunately, I have to say that although sheepdogs do have aggression issues, if properly bred, they should never be people aggressive. OES's were bred to protect the flocks against wolves and thieves. Sheepdogs are great as watchdogs, but not for protection. They merely warn. The fact that she drew blood really distresses me. I work at our local humane society, and any dog that draws blood must be euthanized. Especially with your daughter's pregnancy and a new baby coming, I really wouldn't advise keeping an aggressive dog around. And if you do decide to give away your OES, maybe you can seek out a farmer to adopt her as a watchdog or possibly, with good instincts, she could be a good drover. But anyway, my first question for you is where did you get her? |
| Woah, hold on! Let's not forget that this is a two month old puppy, first time away from mom in a new place with strangers for less than a week. Are you sure what's happening isn't play that she's trying to initiate? Growling, biting and lunging is normal puppy play but it's also at this age where it's very important to stop the unwanted behavior. OES are notorious nippers so they have to be taught at an early age good biting from bad biting. Another dog in the household can work wonders on that if they're allowed to play together. My older dog cleared Clyde of nearly all of his hurtful nipping.
Also, she may be trying to establish dominance in the household, which also needs to be stopped. Many people recommend the Dog Listener by Jan Fennell, who addresses many alpha dog issues. At 9 weeks old, this dog can be trained to stop this behavior but you have to be firm and be the alpha of the household. If the dog senses your weakness, she'll know that she can get away with this behavior. I really don't believe any dog is born a bad seed! People maybe, but not dogs! 
I hope this doesn't sound harsh, and I'm not trying to be combative, but I don't think it is fair at all to make a comparison to having to euthanize a dog at the humane society that drew blood. I'm not sure that there isn't a person on this message board with a puppy who hasn't sustained some sort of puppy related injury-- here's just one recent example of that: http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?t=3703 Puppies play rough and don't realize what they're doing sometimes. My puppy is 8 months old and we still have accidents (mostly just scratches now thank goodness!). They want to play all the time at any cost! They want attention and by biting, they got it! So they do it again. It's a vicious cycle. I'm not sure if others would agree, and I'm certainly not the authority on this, but is it even possible to know if a dog is actually aggressive at that age yet? I would think unless this dog came from a weird background that was already riddled with problems, all you have is some normal, possibly extreme, puppy behavior. That doesn't mean it isn't serious and that it doesn't require attention. I don't have any specific advice other than to read the threads on the forum because there are many that relate to these types of issues and, again, The Dog Listener has worked wonders for many of the forum users. There are many others who will be sure to offer good advice as well. |
| All good points and good questions, but I would also wonder about the age. Those puppy teeth are sharp for months. Sounds like she was an alpha in the litter and had little human handling.
I would try the "laying her on her back - submission" training. Make sure she has no ropes to play "tug of war" with, etc....... What was happening when she started acting that way? I raised pups and know that when they're together, they sometimes play rough. They have to be taught how to interact with humans. Some try to be more dominate than others and they have to be corrected while playing with the other pups as well. Those are also the ones I made sure I worked with the most, but continuously did submissive training with them all. There's nothing more fun than sitting on the floor with 10 - 15 well behaved puppies, all running around, climbing up for kisses, etc...... But, I've also been out in the yard and had a couple come running up behind me and grab the back of my legs and try to take a hunk. They were only playing, but............had to be taught, we don't play this way! The behavior you describe sounds to me like puppy play gone astray. But, like Shaggymaggie, I'd like to know what was happening at the time and, where did she come from. |
| Hello,
I just got a new OES who 12 weeks old and is very loving and has a very good personality, His name is Victor. He loves to go for walks and run between my legs and take control, however he also likes to bite my pants and won't let go. I don't believe in hitting animals for training tecniques so I put my hand around his mouth and firmly tell him "No" and he lets go. He is not a bitter any other time. Maybe your dog is just playing. Have you come up with a tecnique yet that works for him? I would keep the dog and give it a chance. |
| Sheepdogs don't have aggression issues. |
mouthypf wrote: Those puppy teeth are sharp for months.
Good point. My husband's arms were covered with scabs from nips received while playing. Not aggressive behavior, just sharp puppy teeth and youthful exuberance. Now that Bailey is getting his adult teeth, all the scabs are gone. |
I also have to agree, please work with the puppy and don't give up this soon!! I, too, had scratches and scabs on my arms and one pair of pants was ruined, but now that Max has lost all his puppy teeth things have really calmed down, my arms are looking normal again and I haven't had to throw any more clothes away. His chewing has gotten a lot better now too. (chews his toys and is easily redirected from destructive chewing)  |
| Everyone is right; I didn't mean for it to sound like I was encouraging you to get rid of the dog, and I didn't really think about the 2 month thing---sorry.
Definately work on what everyone has said --- putting the puppy on her back. I believe that OES's can have "aggression issues" in that as a herding breed they use barking and nipping to get another animal do something; it's not to harm that other animal, though. So a problem can arise if you have a person or child (child especially) that doesn't properly handle the dog. And I'm sure I came on strong in that first post, but baby plus nipping or biting equals bad news. I brought up the euthanasia subject just meaning that when someone gives us an aggressive dog and he/she bites one of us, then we absolutely cannot adopt that dog out. I'm not saying that that's what's happening here. So I'm really sorry for the misunderstanding 
One thing you could try with her when she starts mouthing or chewing on your hand is to have a toy in your other hand. When she puts her mouth on your arm, give a quick yelp without moving that side of your body, and keeping that arm still, wave the toy all around and when she starts chewing on that use your voice in a really high pitched tone to train her. A common misconception we have with a chewing puppy is that if we pull away our arm and scold her then she'll understand that chewing is wrong. But this is what the puppy is thinking, "What an interesting thing...I think I'll chew on it. Wow! When I put my mouth on it it gets even more interesting! I think I'll do it again!" So maybe that's worth a shot. Every time she chews on something she's supposed to chew on give lost of praise. |
| You really need to give more info about the situation...you just brought the puppy into your house and you have another dog. This puppy needs time to adjust, then enroll in a puppy class....focus on socialization.
Socialize: new people, all ages, all races, in pet stores, on the street... Introduce: new dogs, find an puppy social time (our pet store has this for 1 hour once a week), doggy daycare, new sounds, machinery, car washes Give it time alone, in a kennel, in the kitchen ... get him use to being alone with you in the house. Otherwise you will have separation anxiety. If this is an alpha dog, hand feed him, make him sit or whatever for his treats. Enter the house first, make him move if you need to cross his path. You can't be scared around an alpha dog, you must put yourself as alpha. Fortunately for you he is a puppy, he will test his boundaries everyday, and he will learn new things everyday...if you don't teach him he will do what he wants when he wants. Enroll in a puppy class, that is postitve training. |
| Thank you for all your replies. We purchased her from a breeder in Texas. She was the runt of the litter. She was kept from the litter often and hand fed or nursed with the mother alone. The breeder told me that she had the sweetest disposition of all the pups. The biting is not puppy biting or nipping. She growls and snarls, with a mean, vicious, gutteral sound - not the growl of a puppy when you are playing tug. We have tried to find the trigger to her bahaviour and it seems to come out of the blue, throwing the ball, putting on her leash, sitting in your lap petting her. My husband and I have grown up with animals all our lives. We have four grown children and have always had a dog, or two in the house. We have never had a puppy with this type anger problem. I have contacted several trainers and will enroll her in puppy school when she is ten weeks (tommorrow). The breeder has offered to take her back. I don't know what to do - she can be sweet. |
| Hi,
Here's some possible things you can do to teach her how to stop the niping. A lot of really young pups nip and owww it hurts with their little razor sharp teeth. If she had a chance to play with her littermates and she got a bit rough - they would have yelped and the mom would come over to investigate. If your pup does nip..yelp..make a high pitched noise as a pup or dog would and then immediately give her a replacement. This means lots of dog toys within arms reach. You'll be teaching her that toys are to be chewed...human hands are a no no. Sometimes people will just say no but not give the dog an alternative as to what's acceptable. When Merlin was a pup he nipped a lot and I used this method all the time. It took aprox 2 wks if I remember correctly and he's now 22 months old and never mouths hands. Establishing early that you are the Alpha (the top dog) in the household as is the rest of your family needs to be done too. Dogs are pack animals and are used to the heirachy in a pack and see the human members as belonging to their pack. Once your little girl sees she is at the bottom and needs to heed your rules you will see a change in her behavior. She's still just a young baby and I've often said to others at the dog park. If a 4 month old baby pulled your hair, you wouldn't hand him back to the parent with the statement , "You're baby is soooo aggressive!!!". However, if it were a 14 year old and they did that, that statement may be warrented. Do you see what I mean? Your little one is still infant like and may not understand doggie/people socializiation skills and it's up to you to teach it. I'd also suggest visiting places that have a lot of dogs once your pup has had all her shots. The other dogs will teach it proper social doggie behaviors. Don't get concerned if she yips and yelps and may even cry her little heart out...if she's doing something innapropriate the other dogs will dicipline her but not HURT her and there's a difference. She needs to learn just as tots learn at a children's playground...they learn the rules of fairplay eventually but make a few mistakes along the way. Good luck to you and keep in touch and let us know how it's going. Marianne |
| I agree with Marianne. Panda was very aggressive as a pup. I took her to "puppy kindergarten" which was basically socialization, that helped.
I also did as the others have said, go first thru the door, feed her from your hand,make her move when you want to pass. When Panda tried to bite me, I yelped and then put a toy into her mouth....Panda still tries to bite (playfully now) and all I have to say is "NO BITE", she barks and then starts licking ....Just remember...Youre the MOMMA |
KFordLyons wrote: Brought home a 9 week old OES on Friday. She seemed to be so sweet. Were we surprised. She has an evil streak. She growls, bites and lunges. I have a golden retriever who came to my aid - this 8 pound ball of licking fur scared me. My daughter is pregnant and I am concerned. Tonight she did the growling, biting, etc. and bite my husband and drew blood. I need some help.
My husband and I bought a 2 month old puppy from the Puppy and Kitten nursery in Laro,fl. It did not take long to figure out something was very wrong. This was a purebred Wheaten. She would be laying on the floor and just jump and go for you. She would also poop where she slept and jump on you and hang off my husband's shirt until it ripped. This was the first and only dog I have ever been scared of. I took her to my vet and he diagnosed her with rage syndrome. My research found that she was part of puppy mill and her breeder was on TV in a puppy mill bust. I could have returned her but they would have sold her again. On my vet's suggestion we put her down. It was difficult but that was no life for her or us. |
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