My current Foster dog, a 5 1/2 month old lab girl, has lately become more and more intense. We've had her for about a month now, with a few weeks to go. For the first few weeks, she was sweet as can be. Now, not so much. She gets her breakfast when she wakes up, I take her out after she eats. She plays hard for about an hour, potties, and comes back in the house. She'll nap for about an hour, maybe two. Then she'll want to go back out. I take her out and I play with her, fetch or tug of war. Tonight, I took her out and we played fetch for about 15 minutes. Then she turned on me, jumped and grabbed my arm, and latched on. I was kneeling on the ground, and tried to get up to turn my back to her. She didn't like that, and tackled me, biting every limb she could. I have bruises from the bites all over my body. This went on for about 10 minutes, as I could not get to my feet. Tonight was the worst it's gotten, and I don't know what I did wrong. I had to pull her into my lap, constrict her with my arms so that she couldn't bite me, and quietly sang to her to calm her down. Only after that was she calm. The past week or so, she has been increasingly more violent with my parents also. She gets overexcited, and then what was playfulness turns into growling, barking, biting and the hair on the back of her neck stands tall. I don't know how to keep this from happening. We tell her NO and NO BITE. We'll gate her up in the hall, to which she contests by barking frequently. We've tried the "back turned & ignore" technique but that simply does not work. If I hadn't been wearing my thick hoodie tonight, I have no doubt her bites would've broken skin. I worry that her aggression will lead to no chance of being adopted, but instead put to sleep. Please help.
Hello there, and a warm welcome to the forum. What you report in a 5 and a half month old dog is not at all unusual. We get lots of people on the forum with similar reports and also similar worries about the dog being aggressive. But it's mostly over excitement and a puppy turning into a teenager that just can't control itself. It is probably meaningful that you say that this was after her playing - this is also quite typical. It might be that the games are 'winding her up' and getting her too over excited. If his might be the case, you could try playing calmer games, or the same games but in a calmer way. There is an article here that might help: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-cope-with-an-overexcited-labrador-puppy/
My pup did this and it was just pure excitment. I got better at calming him and keeping him below a certain level of silliness. Julie's so right its not aggression just a pup out of control. I know it;s hard to believe if you've not experienced it.
Hello and welcome to the forum. I second what has already been said; this is not aggression, just the sign of a puppy that is getting too wound up. You probably need to pre-empt it by stopping play a bit earlier, and doing a different, calming sort of play to end the session - maybe something where your pup has to concentrate, rather than doing a lot of rushing around. Maybe searching for tiny bits of treats, for instance, or a bit of training to 'settle'?
Welcome You mention taking your pup out for an hour after breakfast, not sure if you mean just as she has had breakfast? If so, it is not advisable to walk a dog for about an hour after eating food as there is a risk of bloat. I would also suggest not doing 15 minutes playing fetch, it is far too exciting and tiring, thus your pup gets overtired and then doesn't know what to do with herself, hence the over excitement behaviour. Try hiding the ball in long grass, or behind something and let the pup search for it. Take her for a walk, keep turning away from her, hide from her, change direction and she will be keen to keep an eye on you. Puppies can be beasts until they are at least six months old, then they begin to calm down a little. I can virtually assure you it is not aggression, pup is playing as she would with her littermates, she needs to know how to play with humans Good luck, all this will pass
I just wanted to say hi there and welcome to the Forum.I'm glad you've posted to ask advice.....this age concerns so many of our members as they deal with their lovely little puppy seemingly turn so brutal.Youve had some great advice and reassurance already ....if you get a chance have a read through some of the Threads in the Puppy Boards....you will see how common this is and you can also see where people kindly come back to report that they have come out the other side of this stage and things are much better. Best Wishes Angela x
Hello from my 2 year old yellow Lab Molly and me. I am someone else who had a really hard time with my adolescent dog ( I sure regular Forum members are bored with it, but here goes). I now refer to the time as her teenage tantrums. What you are describing is exactly what I experienced with Molly. She would jump up at me, pawing me, sometimes she would grab me round the arm. If she was on the lead she would grab it with her jaws and shake me around like a rag doll. I went through Molly's teenage in the summer months wearing shorts and a singlet, I had the bruises to prove it. It is frightening when you experience it, but I never thought it was agression, though it feels like it when you are on the receiving end. I think it was a burst of uncontrolled energy with nowhere to go. I was never able to find out what caused her "teenage tantrums", but I think they were slightly more frequent at the end of the day when she was tired. They are unrreachable when they are having a tantrum. All you can do is keep calm and quiet and try to protect yourself and them from harm. Anything else will just escalate matters. Believe me I know that comes under the heading of "Easier said than done" when you have a dog prancing around you. I wouldn't try to cuddle her. She will probably see it as constraining and all animal dislike being constrained. I think her onslaught on you was so sustained because you were on the ground. She probably thought you were playing, in her furry little mind the more you struggled and yelled the more you were entering into the game. To put it simply, it is a phase she is going through and will pass, though it will take a few weeks. You just have to hang on (literally) and weather the storm. The good news about Labrador adolescence is that it is a hell of a lot shorter than human adolescence. I've had three teenagers, though there were times I wasn't sure I would classify them as human Oh yes, and Labradors don't answer back.
Thank you all so much! You've all been very helpful. We will start her on a routine for playing and exercise today. Hopefully we'll see change for the better!
I would echo what everyone has said here, and just add that it is not unusual for a rescue or rehomed dog to be quiet and submissive for the first little while (weeks or months even) and then become more confident. For the first little while they are unsure and checking out their new environments, once they become more comfortable they feel safe enough to do things like play. Which is why this behaviour is different from your pooch's first couple weeks. She is now relaxing enough with you to want to play...which is a good thing, although a tad painful for you. Hang in there, it will get better, with some patience from you!
