Aggression in puppies - help please

TheBlackMoth

TheBlackMoth

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Hi

Our two JRT puppies fight quite aggressively and I have thought that this was normal as it is just what kittens do. I just stop them when they get too aggressive and separate them for a minute or two.

However, the bitch is very aggressive with people when you stop her fighting. She also has a tendancy to jump up at people with her mouth open and ends up biting your chin and nose.

We have just been saying no very loudly but it doesn't seem to be stopping her. Is it just her youthful exuberance - she is three months old now - or should I be worried and trying to do something about it?
 
It's not something she will grow out of and you'll most likely end up with a right little monster if you don't nip it in the bud now. When she gets too aggressive or she bites, get her by the scruff of the neck and shake her quite hard and quickly (theres no way of describing how hard but enough to stop them in their tracks/not enough to give them brain damage!) at the same time shout 'grrrrr' very loudly and remove her from the room closing the door behind her. Leave her alone for a few minutes then let her in with lots of praise for being calm and she'll soon learn. You have to be consistent and do it every time. Good luck!
 
Another method is to immediately put the dog in the submissive position. On its side with head down and back leg up so you are exposing the vunerable areas. Hold the dog in this position until it stops struggling. this is when it has submitted to you. I have a 14 week old boxer who went for me when i took stones/leaves etc off her after doing this a couple of times i can now take anything off her. Any more problems i would seek help from a dog trainer as it is better to nip (sorry) these problems in the bud.

Good luck.
 
Shaking by the scruff of the neck, and putting in the submissive position, as its mother would do, normally works really well, but if it doesnt, you could try squirting with a little water pistol, which should distract your dog, stopping its unwanted behaviour, then quickly give a command to do something positive, like a "sit" so you can then praise "good" behaviour.
I was taught this by a dog trainer, when our puppy started attacking my husbands feet everytime he came in the room ( brave puppy in my opinion! ) and the water pistol stopped that behaviour immediately.
Good luck.
 
I am a big fan of the squirty water bottle. In fact, I wouldn't put my fingers near your Jack Russell while she's behaving like that, as you're most likely to get bitten. Another alternative is to throw a blanket over them. Either way, you want your dog to snap out of the aggressive state of mind without risking hurting yourself in the process. Growling while doing so is good, though.

Did you get the puppies very young, by any chance? It almost sounds as though they were taken away from their mother too early and didn't receive crucial behavioural lessons.
 
I completely agree with Mad Cob; putting the dog into the submissive position is the way to deal with this.

Nuala, unfortunately you are finding out why most breeders don't like people having multiples in any litter. I understand why you did and I've known plenty of friends who have done this too; I have been tempted a couple of times to do it too, but then I remember the troubles my friends have had with litter-mates and it stops me.

I wonder if you could start to doing things separately with the puppies? So that they don't spend every waking hour together?
 
Thanks everyone - I will try all these suggestions. I just want to sort out any problems immediately. The little boy is so good and will give you anything and not growl at you.

Should I try and stop them fighting each other all together?

Tia - you live and learn - when I have kittens I always prefer people to take two of them so didn't realise there would be any problems.

It was the first litter for the woman I bought them off - she is being helped by an experienced breeder - but is obviously quite inexperienced herself. They are absolutely gorgeous and we want to keep them both so we will have to work hard and controlling them!
 
I believe what they are doing is absolutely natural for siblings - this is how they would behave in front of their mum - competing for a higher level in the pack and for mothers attention and of course, food!

Personally, and some may disagree, but I wouldn't stop ALL of the bickering; they do still have to be allowed to figure some things out for themselves, but if it became violent then yes I would stop it immediately.

If you start using pack-behaviour this should hopefully help somewhat. Always treat the good one first, always give the good one the pats first etc. I have successfully managed to change the pecking order in my groups of dogs before and it really does make for a more pleasant life for everyone.

The little girl should NOT be nipping you or showing aggression to you - YOU are her pack leader.....it seems that she thinks she is this though, so you need to nip it in the bud right away. Do you have a cage/crate or spare room? I have a dog who can sometimes be not nice to one of my others, and what I do with her if she is like this, is to quietly put her in our outside kennel and turn my back and ignore her - she hates this and once she is let out, she generally behaves well.
 
I agree with Tia regarding the puppies fighting each other. Hard as it is it is best to leave them to sort it out at this age, so that one becomes dominant. With regards to biting you, again I'm for grabbing them by the scruff and putting in submissive position. This is how their mother would discipline them and puppies usually understand this form of correction.
 
Thanks again. It's so great that I can come here and get advice.

She is generally very good - it is only when I stop her attacking her brother. We will give her a little shake and put her in the submissive position next time. We have a crate but also a little hall that we can put her in.

I will let them fight a bit and stop them when it becomes too aggressive. We have also bought a horn and that is working at stopping them in their tracks.

They are such fun - and it is such a pleasure to see them exploring the world outside. Also for the first time in years (after losing my confidence) I have started to walk again - so they may also help me a lot.

I am probably being a little over worried - it's just having made the mistake of buying two from one litter - I want to make sure that we do everything we can to bring them up well.
 
yes the water thing works well,also maybe a bottle full of stones and shake it really hard when she starts being naughty this scares them and stops them rite away.
she is trying to show her dominance,you are doing the rite thing by nipping it in the bud now as it will only get worse !!
 
At 3 months they are plenty young enough to sort them out, and I am sure you will have years of fun with them. The fact that they are brother and sister from the same litter rather than both the same sex, in my opinion, means it is not such a serious matter. It is very unusual for a dog and bitch to fight seriously, they are usually just spats for one to prove it is top dog. I hope they soon settle down and you are able to enjoy some lovely summer walks with them (if it ever stops raining!)
 
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(if it ever stops raining!)

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Is it raining in Shropshire then? Down here in Somerset it's hard to tell because we're all BLOODY 6ft UNDER WATER
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They are such lovely puppies and we are enjoying them so much. They have been allowed out for a week now and we have had some lovely walks with them.

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They are learning to come when called

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We are lucky to have this on our doorstep

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so we can really tire them out

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Oh yes its raining in Shropshire! Never seen so much water. We've had some belting thunderstorms too. Had my poor donkey clipped just before the weather broke and have had to buy him a rug! Nuala, your puppies are gorgeous, seeing them curled up together makes me even more sure they will soon sort out who is boss between them, and then you just have to make sure you are boss overall.
 
So sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!

Must just say that my 2 jacks did (and still do) play fight. It looks and sounds as if they are about to rip each other apart. They clash their teeth together and snarl and growl and grapple but in 4 years have never lost it with each other...
 
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So sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!

Must just say that my 2 jacks did (and still do) play fight. It looks and sounds as if they are about to rip each other apart. They clash their teeth together and snarl and growl and grapple but in 4 years have never lost it with each other...

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When Boston Terriers play, it is commonly known as "bitey face" as they tend to grab cheeks (as demonstrated by Stella
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), often alarming non-terrier owners.

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They really are cute puppies, Nuala. Seems as though their training is coming along great in the main.
 
most young pups go through this 'bitey' phase and those baby teeth can really hurt ! - don't be too worried as she will natturally grow out of this - although I susupect that she will end up being the dominant one of the two.

the thing to remember is that the worst punishment for any dog is to be separated from their pack - I would not scruff, roll over, smack, or do any of those dominance theory type corrections - simply get up and walk away when she gets over enthusiastic with you or put her in her crate until she has calmed down - do this at the first sign of any anti social behaviour and she will soon get the message .

you can reinforce this by using a clicker and treats to reward her when she is interacting nicely with humans - don't worry about her behaviour with her sibling they will sort it out between themselves !.
 
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most young pups go through this 'bitey' phase and those baby teeth can really hurt ! - don't be too worried as she will natturally grow out of this -

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She may grow out of the rough play/fightig thing with her brother but I think nuala was more concerned with her biting people when they tried to break up the fights, which she can't be allowed to continue. Walking away is good but I feel she needs to learn the lesson first, as otherwise she'll grow up thinking 'they piss me off, I bite and they walk away, result!' which is why most people have suggested scruffing/growling and putting her in the submissive position or shutting her away on her own for a few minutes. I really don't think she'll learn this lesson on her own
 
my experience is that youngsters learn much quicker with reward based methods. If you reward the behaviour you want and stop any interaction IMMEDIATELY when she is displaying behaviours you don't want then she will soon get the message.

Scruffing, pinning down, shaking, smacking, squirting with water etc etc are all now largely discredited training techniques as is the whole dominance 'wolf pack' theory - dog to dog interaction is infinitely more subtle than this and dog to human interaction is totally different again.

What happens if this pup continues to show percieved aggression ? do you increase the level of punishment ? smack harder ? beat ? and how successful would this method be if instead of a wee JR you had a fully grown Rotty or Ridgeback ? - far better to make the dog WANT to co-operate because it associates 'good' behaviour with something pleasant.....but hey what do I know
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Thanks everyone for your advice. We just want whats best for the dogs. I do know I need to catch any bad behaviour early. We are going to try lots of attention to Mumble everytime Bunny shows aggression.

I am also looking for puppy training classes because I think that will do the puppies and the girls a lot of good.
 
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my experience is that youngsters learn much quicker with reward based methods. If you reward the behaviour you want and stop any interaction IMMEDIATELY when she is displaying behaviours you don't want then she will soon get the message.

Scruffing, pinning down, shaking, smacking, squirting with water etc etc are all now largely discredited training techniques as is the whole dominance 'wolf pack' theory - dog to dog interaction is infinitely more subtle than this and dog to human interaction is totally different again.

What happens if this pup continues to show percieved aggression ? do you increase the level of punishment ? smack harder ? beat ? and how successful would this method be if instead of a wee JR you had a fully grown Rotty or Ridgeback ? - far better to make the dog WANT to co-operate because it associates 'good' behaviour with something pleasant.....but hey what do I know
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I don't think anyone would be getting a full grown Rotty or Ridgeback by the scruff and shaking it! Puppies are different, and in my initial post I did say that she should shake the pup (not smack, beat, scruff, pin down or show any other violence) just enough to stop it in its tracks but the shaking is not to mimic what a mother dog would do or mimic pack behaviour (as it clearly doesn't) it just stops the pup in a way that doesn't hurt and the growl is not to mimic either it's just a noise that is used to show great displeasure but it could be a can with stones in or a loud whistle too. By putting it the other side of a closed door for a few minutes, then letting it in and giving lots of praise for being calm, a bit like supernanny and the naughty step, you are rewarding good behaviour. What's the reward if you just go out and come back in again? If the pup bites the owner when they try and get it off the sibling pup, how is leaving the room going to let the pup know that the behaviour is wrong? She'll just think what she did worked won't she?
 
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