Hi we have a 10 week old cocker spaniel, we have had him since he was 7 weeks, this is our first experience with a dog/puppy, he is absolutely gorgeous and has given us so much joy already. He has been fine until this last week where he has become quite aggressive. When you go to stroke him or praise him he always turns his head to bite/chew your hand. We have tried to say ouch and ignore him, tell him no and even shouting but instead he gets very excited and starts lunging at you, snapping and he is beginning to bark almost every time ( he did this a bit when we first had him but we manged to curb it but now he is showing his teeth aggressively). He also barks at you if he wants your attention, we know that you should ignore him when he does this, but he still seems to do it. We have also tried to tell him to sit when he is misbehaving so that we can get his attention and calm him down but he doesn't listen and gets even more aggressive. Is this just play or something to worry about also should a 10 week old be barking so often?

We took him to the vet for his first injection a couple of days ago and the vet said that the way he was growling was very worrying and that we must not let him win and show who the leader is. I thought i was doing this but obviously not very successfully. Should i remove his toy when he growls whilst playing with it or is this a different type of growling.

Can anyone help us, also we live in a flat and we are not quite sure how long our neighbours will put up with his barking early in the morning when we get up and at night before bed.

If he is turning his head to bite/chew your hands, are you absolutely sure this is not just puppy mouthing/nipping/biting (it gets called different names, but it means the same thing).

If he does this (which is normal) and then gets a strong telling off, it is possible he will then resort to barking/showing teeth because the situation is getting confrontational. The lunging, snapping etc may also be play, it is hard to tell from info over the net :)

Obviously it isn't acceptalbe, and most owners train their pups not to do this over time. Do a search on here, and also do get "The Perfect Puppy" by Gwen Bailey which is an excellent book. "The Ultimate puppy" is also useful but is more expensive!

Getting him to sit instead of misbehaving is actually a good idea, but he is too young really to do this (but it may come in useful later when he is older and has more self control).

He may well bark and want attention, and you are right to ignore, he may get worse before he gets better. If he finds it self rewarding you may have to re-think, but barking for attention seeking does usually extinguish if you totally ignore (so no eye contact or even talking about him to another family member as he will know!).

The vet saying yo must not let him win probably hasn't had a pup recently :rolleyes: as only kind, firm and consistent reward based training will get him in to the kind of dog you want IMHO :) Did the vet see him growling? If he did and feels it is worrying then it may be worth considering help .

Growling at a toy is very normal and don't remove the toy unless you swap it for a treat and teach him to "give". I would highly recommend enrolling at a puppy socialisation class, a good trainer will help and reassure you. Enrol now as the best ones get booked up early.

Best wishes, just a few thoughts.

Lindsay

Thanks Lindsay, I think perhaps we were a bit paranoid from your advice he seems better already.

Claire.

Thanks Lindsay, I think perhaps we were a bit paranoid from your advice he seems better already.

Yes Brindley growled at the vet but when we took him the vet didn't fuss him at all and just stuck the thermometer up his backside straight away.

Claire.

I think I'd growl at somebody who stuck a thermometer up my backside without introducing themselves first!
:)

LOL @ Jeangenie, I would too :D

I am glad things seem better, Brindley, good luck with him

LIndsay

hey brindley - i am 1st time pup owner (12 wk cavalier king charles spaniel) and have had lots of really useful advice from here.

i have no new advice really - just support (i know it helps me to hear what other people's pups are up to too, can be v reassuring :) to know your little madam isn't the only one!)

ruby's litter were taken from their mum at 5 weeks - so she's always been v independent but she'd not learnt bite-inhibition before we got her. man, we had some chewed hands/trousers/slippers/arms/etc for a few days! anyway - especially when she was v playful/poss over-stimulated i got worried that it was agression a few times, but we solved it by (i) calming games down earlier on and making darn sure we were in control (teaching to 'drop' a tug toy etc is a lot easier than you'd think. i said 'drop' then let ruby scent the treat, saying 'drop' again when she dropped and did it a few times - its amazing the power of a wee bit of food! but you have to start before the game's too exciting and then gradually push it into more exciting times) and (ii) ignoring ruby when she mouthed us. but not just ignoring the biting - letting her know in no uncertain terms that 'bitey, aggressive pups have no friends'! so if she nipped me, i'd stand up stick my nose in the air, look in opposite direction & cross my arms etc & stay like that for a few seconds/minutes till she'd calmed down and was wondering what the hell was going on. then when i stopped i'd call her gently and ask her to sit - so i could praise her well and then would invite her to play with a toy. for a few days my leg muscles got well achey as i was bobbing up and down all the time but in 3 days she was a different pup! Now we occasionally get pup bored with her toys wanting to chew the furniture and the corresponding method that seems to be working darn well is to put her out of the room for 15 seconds! seems mean but worked.

also ruby definitely has a good old growl when she's tugging her ragger or wrestling her teddy, but apparently this is perfectly normal when playing. i think if she did it at other times this might be a different question, but i now realise that she just likes making a big noise when she's having a fun play. you should hear her when we get the football out!

anyway - i think lindsay's advice is excellent and also am using gwen bailey's perfect puppy as my bible and this seems a great resource.

keep having fun with the pup - hope you have some results and keep posting! :)

Brindley can you tell us what colour he is? and when he first started doing this?and is he getting worse?

Why is his colour relevant lovelylady? This behaviour sounds pretty normal for a young puppy whatever the breed & whatever the colour & I'm sure with the right training & guidance, it's a phase that will pass as it does for most puppies :-)

Hes a black cocker spaniel. He started doing this when he was about 9 weeks but more so after we visited the vet. He does however seem better now. I think he was just mouthing and not actually biting and because we were shouting he got worse, now we put him out of the room and this seems to be solving the problem.

its normal for a pup to show his teeth and growl?? thats not playing

brindley if it gets worse again come back and let us know:)ok

Lovelylady I'm sure you know that to many first time puppy owners, a puppy growling & biting can seem like true aggression when it is just part of normal puppy behaviour. If you have ever seen a litter of puppies playing together, you will know that they frequently show their teeth to each other when playing & they can make a horrendous noise that makes them sound ferocious :-) A puppy will carry on this behaviour when in a new home until its taught that its not acceptable - some are quicker to learn than others. However I have seen too many new Cocker owners panicked into thinking there is something wrong with their puppy, particularly if that pup happens to be a solid colour which is why I was concerned about you asking about colour. From reading the many posts on here, its clear that a puppy biting/growling is a common problem many new owners worry about, whatever the breed & whatever the colour.

In all the puppies I've had over the years there is only two I can remember who never growled at me at all when they were puppies, Bethany (Who was always too busy trying to find ways around all restrictions!) and Anna (Who only ever wanted to please.) No puppy was ever allowed to get away with it unchecked and none did it more than a couple of times. I never ever had to get strict, just sound strict!!

As with all things puppy, never allow anything you are going to have to try and stop tomorrow and always be the one doing the controlling.

Regards, John

yes but thats playing isent it. but showing of the teeth? ive never seen a puppy do that mabe ive just met freindly ones:D and about the colour i just wondered,i was going to see if the poster was going to keep us informed just wanted the whole picture.:d