Please help i have a very aggressive 9 week old puppy. This is my fifth puppy that i have had and i also have his mother but never have i had such agression as i am having with this pup.  I do go training for obedience and my other three are very well behaved. Is it a problem that i have his mother.   He is very food prossesive and will also bite the hand that feeds him i do grab his struff and pin him to the floor untill he submits to me then after a while i play and let him do somthing good to praise him.  This is not helping with this little routine but i will not have a aggressive dog to man or dog so PLEASE HELP ME. I feel that i am doing somthing wrong and not sure how to go about this.  This pup is a siberian husky and VERY strong minded already. I will try anything that would help break his agression I was going to work him and his mum on the scooter but he will also attack her this is why i am worried.  PLEASE HELP!!!

Talk to the breeder of the puppy. She or he is the best person to advise you. Also, why dont you Register with us and then you can post and tell us a bit more maybe?

:)

I assume as the guest also owns his mother ........ they're the breeder ;)

M.

"i do grab his struff and pin him to the floor untill he submits to me "

If you demonstrate unacceptable behaviour to the dog, he will return the same!

he needs to learn in a postive way.if you are showing him this kind of behaviour he will learn it and think thats normal.
it sounds to me as if you have a pack issue that needs to be address as he is looking for the leader.
some dog are more strong willed than others,do you know who was the dogs sire?
what temperments has his parents got? have you owned a full male before? dogs are different to bitches is my experience of owning both.
if you don't deal with it now and take training serious you will have more problems as he gets older.
its how to be firm,fair but gentle.
have you tried ignoring bad behaviour? his mum will tell him to stop and he should take notice of her.

grab his struff and pin him to the floor untill he submits to me then after a while i play and let him do somthing good to praise him.

maybe he is mixed up and thinks your praise is for the bad behaviour.

<<<He is very food prossesive and will also bite the hand that feeds him >>>

He's 9 weeks old !!!! :rolleyes:  Would you expect a baby to have perfect table manners ?

Gosh that's just what I was going to say - he's 9 weeks - he's not looking for his place in the pack or being a mature male dog - he's far too young for that. He's being a real baby -albeit a strong willed one. what does his mum do when he 'attacks ' her ?, most bitches put their pups firmly in their place at this age. Watch how she 'disciplines' him, how does he behave around your other dogs ? he should be really submissive at this age.

My own experience is that the pups that stay within the home pack grow up to be the most well adjusted around other dogs because thay've had their mum ( and the other family dogs) to teach them correct canine behaviour. It would of course be different if the dogs were kennelled and so have limited interaction with each other.

Good luck with your little one !

Yvonne

Start by putting his bowl down empty and then putting his food into the bowl a bit at a time....he will then associate you with an increase of food not as a threat to take it away.
Archer

Quit grabbing his scruff and pinning him to the ground......... that wont teach him to respect you at all, it WILL teach him taht you are to be feared at all times, and if he is as pushy as you say, when he gets bigger, you are in BIG trouble.

Pinning a dog to the ground sends the message 'i want to kill you, and may do so whenever i choose'........... its NOT a thing the mother would do to her pup at all.

Your pup, if you continue using this stupid method, will eventually learn (if he hasnt already) to pre-empt your 'attack' on him, and bite, and bite you hard. Eventually, he will learn to do this to anyone who comes near him, especially those he percieves as being weaker than him, ie children.

This is one of the best ways i know to create a fearful and aggressive dog.

Em

i allways pin my dogs down and i allways will, i have got rotties and it has allways worked for me, what do dogs do to show who is top dog they pin the outher down, my dog dont fear my they cant love me enought.

Well I hope your luck holds out. May be a breed thing but in my breed the top dogs are the quite ones who have no need to show violence toward the lower orders.

I have a 10 month old youngster and 4 more generations of her family.  Now the alpha bitch and retired Alpa bitch have no need to pin her down or do anything other than give her a meaningful look, or a curl of the lip if she is being out of hand.

She has never ever taken liberties with either of them (they are her Grandmother and Great, Great Grandmother).  Now her Mum is happy to rough house with her, and she will take liberties up to a point.  Poor Great Grandmother Growls and barks at ehr when she gets too much, but pup doesn't take her seriously at all, but will desist eventially, but she obviously doesn't respect her that much.  Of course she does respect me, so I won't allow her to bully.

I think there is nothing better than watching how the bitches discipline and enswure order among the young ones, you can learn a lot from them.

Jackie I really agree - the best 'top dog' we ever had was completely non aggressive - I never once saw him pick a fight or try to dominate the others by 'pinning them to the ground' He was just a calm dignified boy who the others all submitted to. We lost him two years ago and the house was in turmoil for a few months until our youngest bitch took over the role. One of the most fascinating things about living with a pack of dogs is to watch their  natural interaction with each other.

Yvonne

Yes - my alpha is the calm quiet one who just has to look at the others in a certain way to get them to move out of her way or back down. Oh and she hasn't read the books about going through the door first either - she goes through in her own time. But the others do not challenge her and will not push her out of the way. No pinning to the floor here either.
Janet

I've never seen a dog pin another down unless it was seriously trying to injure it. Even bitches don't discipline their puppies like that. I wouldn't want my dogs to believe people might want to harm them, and that they need to defend themselves ...

My friends Rottie (who is a 2 year old bitch) pins my male dobie to the floor if she gets fed up with him - she even tries to sit on him.

Many young dogs playing do pin down (for example, dogs that know each other), but it is obvious to owners that know that it is just playing.  They also can scream as if they are dying - but get up straight away and the other starts screaming.....

It's normal and nothing to worry about.

sorry, but we will have to agree to disagree on this, you are wrong..... TOP dogs do not do that to other dogs..... COWARDS do, my dog rocky trys that, he is a coward and a bully with other dogs, because he is nervous, because partly, he spent his first 4/5 months with someone who thought that pinning a dog down by its neck was the way to go.

I do hope your rotties dont figure out who is the smarter in your household bonzzo!

Em

i have had a few differant breeds and i have seen it a few times when 2 dogs are together playing it gets a bit tens and the top dog has enought he or she will pin the other,and the other will just get up and walk away. i have been bought up with dogs it dose not make me an expert but i have watched there behaveyer most of my life

Well as I said it may be a breed thing, all the breeds I have had an interest in, the top dog would not behave like that, any other dog overstepping the mark is ignored and the top dog walks away and ignores the transgressor. Underlings behave as you say but not those who have the control. But all that is beside the point I would never advice someone to behave with aggression toward a dog or if it comes to it, a child they are trying to cure of being aggressive.

Well i understand your problem and some people here do not, When you have a breed of dog which is known to be a bit to handle i.e pitbulls , rotties , i would say staffys but they are soft as anything all i can say is make them know who is boss, your puppy who is biting the hand that feeds him doesnt see you as the boss as he is with his mum. Grabbing by the scruff is not working at the moment give it a bit of voice aswell and make sure your puppy knows when he does wrong that he has done wrong shout out loud, a dog will fear you if he/she thinks you will be nasty to him/her 24/7 or they dont know when your nice or nasty. just make yourself heard when he bites you and scream if you have too. my staffy loves me too bits never shakes never bites but when he was young and naughty i made sure he knew about it by shouting and pinning him down. so to the people who said look out when the dog is bigger becuase he will go for you that is aload of bulls***. just dont beat your dog!!!!! voice is just as powerful and more than anything LOVE him/she when they are good.

Certainly none of the Rotties I've ever trained have ever needed scruffing, pinning down or shouting at! That is not part of dog training FOR ANY BREED! If you have to then you have failed. And at 9 weeks old this can permanently damage the dog, physically as well as mentally. DONT DO IT!

John

He will "also attack" his mother? He is 9 weeks old!!! Surely at that age his mother is still interacting with him, and is still in the process of teaching him? I would expect a puppy of that age to be play fighting but not capable of "attacking" a fully grown dog. How does he behave with your other dogs? Not many dogs will not put a puppy in its place if necessary, and they rarely need to resort to violence! If he is food aggressive (9 weeks is very early to tell) is it because he is being fed along with the others and they are taking his? Has he been wormed and is he being given enough to eat?

I must say i was wondering about him attacking the mother; assuming the original poster does have knowledge of dogs and how they play etc it seems strange. I think this is something that needs to be seen really.

Do think about what Fillis has said re the food, check you are doing everything right and fair by your pup including where, when and how he eats.

I agree that generally speaking as long as there is nothing wrong, adding food in little bits to  his bowl may improve his aggressiveness in that area, but if you have scruffed him etc thenyou have already built up a strong association of your presence + food = bad things and you will have to work hard to solve this. If you work on food aggression but ignore his growls (remember he is growling because he is afraid you will remove his food) it should be alright in the long run, because the associations will start to change, but if it gets worse do consider a reputable trainer or behaviourist.

If you really do think he is actually attacking his mother it may be worth having a medical check up; just to rule out any problem. It does seem strange to me, the way you have described it.

Lindsay
X

Is puppy attcking the mother being mistaken for puppy play fighting ?

As with all this type of case it is difficult to know if you can't see. But if the pup is 9 weeks old and still with it's dam then I would leave her too it, she will know if it is over enthusiastic play or aggression and deal with it accordingly. If he is being pushy toward people then treat it in the same way you would any young thing, as a superior being and resist sinking to the same level.

Frankly anyone who has to resort to violence with a 9 week old pup of any breed has no business having one IMHO! I have a large guarding breed that is by no means a push over to rear but I have never felt the need to pin a baby puppy to the ground!

Janet

We have been having trouble with our 6 month old dobie, he has been showing aggression towards my son.  We have tried a few different things with him.  I think our problem came from the beginning as my two sons would rough play with him, his problems are to do with play, usually if my sons do not want to play he tries to initiate it.  With him it is difficult to know whether its play or not!  We basically try the soft approach and try to distract him when he starts barking and mouthing my son, and he does seem to calm down.  I was told to pin him down and talk and stroke him, it seems to work - but not always.  I have a behaviourist coming in to see my family and our dobie.  We can deal with him, but I do want to make sure that we are doing this in the right way.  I would not want my dog to fear us, I hate it when you see a dog that is obviously frightened of its owner.

A word of warning.  One of the problems that you may encounter by using the 'pinning down'  is that you are showing your dog how to use force and how it works to get someone to comply with your wishes.  I have met several dogs who are very compliant when the stronger of their human family is present but who are very pushy and have a sort of 'go on then - make me' attitude towards the others when that person isn't there.  This is most common in Dobes, Boxers and Rotts in my experience.

Exactly Sally and John!

Pinning down is a very old fashioned, outdated and potentially extremely dangerous "method" and is NOT necessary in any breed; including Rotts, GSDs, BSDs, Dobes or any other; either as pets or high drive working specimens; Confrontation is the least successful method of dog management and just illustrates owner/handler inadequacy.

Hi Dgibbo, providing you have chosen your behaviourist/trainer with care they should assess the situation and talk it through with you. You may be surprised or not agree with what they have to say, because we are often unable to see what is causing the problem when we are top of it. Sure in the meantime you should relax a bit and not use confrontational methods of control, till you see the behaviourist I would just tell you children to leave the room if the pup gets out of hand or remove the pup. Try for everyone to stop reacting with the pup the moment it becomes over excited, and to remove themselves or the pup to another room.

What on earth are you going that you feel the need to pin a 9 wo puppy!  Regardless of the breed, this is unacceptable!  If you have being doing this for a while, perhaps that it why he is getting stroppy with his mother.  You have taught him violence, so as a pup, he's simply picking up on it. How sad for the pup and his mother.

The best way to let your pup know that you're the leader is teaching it obedience commands and make it FUN, FUN, FUN! Show him you're the leader because you have a great itenerary planned for him for the day and you're orchestrating it. First let's sit, stay, let's go for a little walk. Let's play fetch, shake hands. Treats! Love, petting. FUN! Let's go visit some strangers and get use to that and some new places every day. (socializing) It builds tolerance in the dog for all kinds of things.

Let your dog think he's choosing something sometimes when you're playing. With your training, let him think that he thought of it some of the time. LOL. Sometimes wait and see if he can do something you've taught him without a command. For instance, my Dobe has been taught to "sit, wait" while I put his food bowl down. He has to wait till I say, "OK." (which is only about a 5 second interval.) Yesterday, I just stood there with the bowl in my hand and didn't say anything. He stood there looking at me, like "duh... what gives?" I could see his little wheels turning. Then in a few seconds he sat very slowly and looked like, "Is this right?" Too cute. I set the bowl down and didn't say wait. He just waited. Then I said "Good!!!!" and "OK" (his release word) He had to think and figure it out on his own what I meant. He looked very pleased with himself. It just stretches their minds a little I think.

That was a good suggestion someone made....the adding food to an empty bowl to get him use to your hands around his bowl and that he knows you're not going to take his food. You can even put in a few pieces of something super duper special.

I doubt very, very much that your 9 week old pup is attacking his mother. You may be mistaking aggression for just plain old wild, puppy stuff. I just can't imagine such a thing.

So, obedience train in a positive way will build your relationship with your dog. He'll want to please you and work for you for reward/treats, praise etc.

Yes, I studied animal behavior in college and on wolves...they do not pin each other down. The submissive one may lie down on it's back, exposing it's most vulnerable body parts on it's own accord. There is rarely any viciousness. Sometimes it can sound like that, but it is not.

Anyhow, I think that although we have an order with the dogs....a heirarchy, they do not view us as one of them I don't think. We are some other entity. I have four dogs and they have their own little "pack." Then there is also a different "club" that they're in...the one where I'm the leader and in that "club," it doesn't really matter which one of them is "head honcho in their club." That is another "fraternity." I'm the leader over all, but I didn't get elected by mistreating my dogs. They just figured I had a cool plan for them and they didn't have to figure out everything as far as how they'd get to go on a hike. I'm the one with the car to take them to the place where we start for our hikes. I'm the one who can open a can of green beans to add to their food, or sprinkle a little parmessan on top, which they love. I'm the one who teaches them cool things, like high fives, shake, turn around, get that toy over there, heel, sit, stay etc. I'm the one who makes homemade liver treats for them and allows to be on the furniture. They know these things are not for free however...NO WAY. It's give and take. There is no aggressiveness allowed. I have never, ever had an aggression problem with any dog and I've had a lot of dogs! I will speak firmly to them at times, but firmly is the word. There is absolutely nothing physical going on. So, please don't frighten your dog or you may have a big problem later on. Hope things will be OK.

Carrie