We bought our first puppy nearly 4 weeks ago, it a Dalmation called Lucie- this is our first dog and would appreciate any feedback back from experienced owners- we find that between 7 and 9 pm she becomes very aggressive , biting ( not nipping ) and growling. We have tried telling her "no " , pushing her away etc but she keeps coming back for more and more -tried putting her in to seperate room to quite down, but after period of time 5 mins or so , she returns doing the same

As you can see we are very anxious as we feel that this may go for ever!

Thanks

Hi, How old is your dal? I have 4 so know just how infuriating they can be!
What are you feeding her? I find mine love to have a 'playtime' in the evening (especially if there is a good programme on TV!) - they love attention! How does this aggression show itself? What does she do? What is her posture?

She is nearly 12 wks old, we are feeding her on Puppy Pedigee 150g pouches 4 times per day.I think she could just eat & eat- never seems full.

In evening, time,normally we talk her for a walk then feed her and normally she will have a short sleep, then the action starts-trying to eat her toys then go for our slippers and my trousers- no matter how you tell her off her jaws are fixed on you and hurt you- no waggling of tail , determine look, not wanting to give up

She has plenty types of chew sticks which she uses and although she bits during the day it only sometimes
What you you think?

Hi

What training are you doing with her? Dallies are very people dogs and I get the feeling she has decided this is the time that she needs playing with, training and stimulation from you. When she gets in this mood then exepcting her to play on her own or chew sticks won't help... you need to take the opportunity to do some training with her and get her using her mind.

You may also be feeding her too much protein, byt JG is the best person to advise you on that as its been a while since I had a dally pup.

She will be boisterous, she will be a handful, and she will need a lot of training and discipline to get her to be a well behaved dally...but persevere, because they are brilliant dogs. Get her using her mind, distract her from biting and seeking your attention...and also try her with a stuffed Kong for one of her meals to distract her.

Good Luck
C :)

We are doing no formal training I thought she is too young for training classes- what do you mean by mind games ?

What can you suggest about her biting & growling habit?

She's very young still, but not young enough not to need training. Get her a kong and put her dinner in there, that will make her use her mind (and that will tire her out). Also, play with her, get her a ball and roll it toward her, or a raggy tuggy and play with that... don't do anything too physical though.

Biting is normal - a sharp "no" and ignore for a few mins will work. But you must expect her to do this - all puppies do it and they all grow out of it. Growling, I would again say "No Growling", and ignore her for a few mins. If it gets really bad then I would put her out until she calms. My Dane puppy did this and he came across as being a total horror, but it only lasted briefly until he realised "you don't growl at the grown ups"!!

Dallies are real people dogs, they are complex. She will want to go everywhere with you. You can forget even going for a bath without her sitting on the bath mat. She will need at least 2 walks a day to keep her happy, and plenty of human contact. Dallies are not suited to people who are at work every day. Saying that, they are loyal, gorgeous, fun dogs who really love their owners.

My pups have never seemed full either - they can usually eat for England. I've never fed mine anything made by Pedigree, though - it seems much too rich for them, and either gives them diarrhoea or makes them hyper. I don't know if the pouches are 'complete' or just meat, in which case she'd need some biscuit as well, to get the protein levels down.

Her routine sounds very much like ours - food, nap, then play!! They are a very active breed, and toys on their own are of no interest to them - they need people to play with them as well. Does she enjoy 'tuggy-killy' games with a ragger? Mine have always found that to be an enjoyable substitute for trouser-legs, etc. They are such a people-orientated breed they will go to any lengths to get attention - even a telling-off is better than nothing.

Also, the blessing of a couple of hours playing games in the evening means that they generally sleep well all night!

Also don't forget that her walks (10 minutes maximum at her age, because she can't long have finished her injections and she is very young) won't be for 'exercise', they'll be for socialisation only. At this stage they get all the exercise they need from playing.
:)

She does enjoy Tuggy games but then in the evening decides that trousers and shoes are more of interest

I notice that she is more hyper after mealtimes- would this be normal ?

You are right telling off does no go, if anything it makes her worse

Have you got a copy of "The Perfect Puppy" by Gwen Bailey? It is an excellent book that gives you all sorts of tips about raising and training pups, and how you can start basic training (sit, come, down, stay etc) as soon as your puppy has settled into its new home. In fact for an intelligent breed like a dal it makes life a lot easier, as by the time they are old enough for training classes they are often off their heads with boredom, and learning is much harder. Best they learn the basics in the home first.

And yes, they are extra-energetic after a meal. Their blood-sugar levels have just had a huge boost because of the food, and all that energy has to go somewhere!
:)

thank You for all your adviseYou said that you wouldnt feed pedigree meat. Could you advise me on what sort of biscuits I should be giving her?

As a mixer with meat (either a commercial puppy meat, or fresh meat or fish) I like to feed a plain puppy meal, which should be available at good pet food suppliers, such as Crofts, Jollyes etc. A company called "Laughing Dog" used to do an excellent one, but I don't know if it's still available.

Whereabouts in the country are you?
:)

Thanks for info.We are in the North East of England