Hi, everyone! Sorry, long post and lots of questions. I badly need help with my 15wk old pup, he’s a golden labrador/goldador. I am a first time fur parent too. I am experiencing a lot of issues with my pup and I’m starting to be worried. Let me just break it down: 1. I know it’s normal for them to be biting esp on hands and feet but few days ago I was carrying him then he tried to bite my cheek. I yelled “ouch”, put him down gently and walked away. After about 5seconds, I heard him running towards me, lunged at me and started biting me. He bit me on the legs, my tummy and feet to the point I was bleeding. Since then he just snaps for no reason. Even let’s say I’m just standing on the side watching him play, he suddenly attacks with no warning whatsoever. Should I be extremely concerned?? 2. I also don’t know the reason behind this and what to do but when it’s time to take him for a walk, if we drove somewhere far from home, he walks no problem, but when we try walking him around the neighborhood, he doesn’t want to move! Sometimes we even just end up walking past 2 houses and go back home because he sits and doesnt want to move!!! He is really smart that he knows how to go back home, but it’s a problem because even if we try to lure him he just faces where our house is and no one will be able to move him unless we go to that direction. 3. I think in relation to the first 2 points, I think he hates being picked up, 90% of the time he will try to bite your hand when you make the attempt, only 10% he’ll be cooperative. Also, he hates when we put his collar, again he will bite the collar and my hands. But I think he knows when we put the collar it means it’s time to walk which as I’ve mentioned he doesnt like if it’s around the neighborhood. What should I do? Do you guys think it’s because I’m with him right now almost 24/7 because of this corona quarantine? I do leave him in his play pen for an hour or 2 once every morning, afternoon and again in the evening but he falls asleep right away so I don’t think he even notices. Btw, we enrolled him in puppy class which will start tomorrow, do you think it will help? Even if, as I’ve mentioned he’s very smart so I was already able to teach him the basics: sit, come, down, up, paw, highfive, rollover, leave it and drop it(not so solid yet). The trainer recommended a private class, should I already get him a personal trainer? Will dog daycare help? My mom said I should just either rehome the puppy or put in the shelter while we’ve only been with him for 2months because she thinks it’s aggression and thinks I can’t handle it, since my mom can see bruises and the bite wounds all over my body now, but I really don’t want to since I love Max so much and I’m thinking we can get through this stage but it’s really hard and I seriously need help.
Hi H Reyes, welcome to the forum It's phenomenal just how much puppies can bite! They do it to explore the world, get your attention, and instigate games. Max could have been trying to do any of those things when he bit your cheek, and I'm afraid yelping (which I totally understand - I've been there and sometimes it just comes out when we're hurt) and then walking away could equally be interpreted by a puppy as "ok! let's play chase!" The increase in biting since then is also a normal stage of puppy development. Take a look at this long running thread - you'll see that many of us have been where you are now, and also wondered if we have to give up our puppies, but it is a phase which comes to an end. The thread has lots of advice from Pippa for coping and redirecting Max's biting in the meantime. It is extremely unlikely that Max is behaving aggressively at such a young age. Aggression is a frightened response, and when puppies are frightened of someone or something, they try to get away or hide from it, not fight it (after all, what baby animal thinks it can win in a fight?) Regarding walks - at Max's age he doesn't really need to go for walks as such. Walks on the lead are best limited to 5 minutes for each month old they are, to protect their growing joints. It's better to burn off a young puppy's by playing simple training games at home, which increase their focus on you. When you go on walks from your house, try to forget getting someplace for now, and just let Max explore at his own pace for 15 minutes until it's time to come home. I don't think I even got out of sight of my house until my own puppy was about 5 months old! In the meantime, to make his collar more appealing, try pairing it with lots of treats. Take it out and put it where he can see it - then give him some yummy treats and put it away again. Repeat a few times, then keep it in your other hand as you feed him some yummy treats, and put it away again. Next gently touch it to his neck whilst feeding him a yummy treat, then put it away again. It sounds laborious, but it works very rapidly (within a few days usually) Finally can I ask how old Max was when you brought him home? From your post it could have been 7 weeks, or it could have been 6. Six weeks old is really too young for a puppy to leave their mom, and can lead to behavioral problems due the missing out on everything they would have learned from her had they stayed with her another week or two. In which case, 1:1 training with an experienced professional might help. I hope that helps! Good luck, and do let us know how you get on
Sounds like you have a very normal pup. They are total crocodiles at that age. Have a look at the thread Sarah mentioned, and also read the old threads in the puppies section and you will realise that you are not alone. We have all been where you are now.
We had the same problem and despaired that we had an aggressive monster. But at 14 weeks he is now so much calmer and the biting is down to hardly ever and is getting predictable. He can focus on training exercises and games around us now so it is easy to redirect his attention. Hang in there! I asked the same on the forum and people told me he would calm down and they were exactly right. I also did a lot of work with him on clicking for him to stay slightly away from me and not bite as I got in and out his pen and waves arms, legs and hands in front of him. That really helped.
Re: collars, we normally leave collars on most of the time, especially when they are pups. The get used to wearing them and don't notice much.
Max was just 2days short of being 8th weeks when we got him. I did take note the past few days that a lot of times he actually starts biting after a training session, when I have no more treats to give and I am ending the session, then he bites. It doesn’t help either whether I yelp and walk away, or even redirect him to a toy. He still goes after me. Is there anything else I can try?
Have you got a pen? You could put him back in the pen before you finish training and do a few more things with him with him in the pen and you out the pen. That way when he had no more focus to stop him biting, you are safely away from him
I know this is an old thread, but I was wondering if you had any joy training your Goldador pup out of these 'aggressive' behaviours? We got our pup March 2020 and he started his aggressive behaviour in exactly the same way... After many behaviourists and vets visits it has transpired he has hip dysplasia-however I'm not convinced this is the cause of his unusual erratic behaviour. Struggling beyond words to deal with his behaviour! If you do have an angel dog now.. How did you do it? Haha!
Hi, it might be worth starting a new thread with the specific issues you are having. The original post related to pup biting at 15 weeks, which is pretty normal. Your dog will be nearly one, so different stratgies will probably be needed ?
