Hello, I would be grateful for any help or advice that could be offered. We collected our puppy at 8 weeks he was one of 9. We love him to bits but he has proved difficult at times. In my mind I try to differentiate between 'normal puppy behaviour' and concerns. I will list the 3 main concerns in order of seriousness and if anyone can suggest advice then please do: 1) Aggression. 90% of the time it could be classed as maybe 'boisterous' But there have been worrying incidents. Our puppy does not like the word 'No' particularly when in the garden. For example a couple of times I have caught him eating plants. I have disciplined him by saying 'No' and pulled him away. That has made him aggressive and he has barked/growled at me, jumped up at me and bitten my upper arm. Sometimes I have suffered this at the end of the garden and you feel trapped. I have ran to safety, with my arm out to protect me, just trying to get to in the house. The same has happened to my wife. 2) Eating own poo. This began at about 14 weeks and can't seem to be stopped. Pets at home suggested some tablets that they sell designed to stop this, but they have not worked. In the garden he will 'poo' in stages so it breaks up and when doing this he spins around to stop you grabbing him. As you can imagine it goes flying everywhere and is easy for him to get. On a walk you can stop all of this even though he still has the instinct to do this. 3) Walking. He had a strong leather lead that is attached to his collar, but because he was pulling so much my wife could not handle him and even for me it is not a pleasure to walk him as he pulls you too much. I did some research and bought a K9 bridle which is excellent but he hates it and it is a real battle to put it on and it makes him aggressive. You get a lovely walk but it can take 5 minutes or so to put on and with the aggression it creates I think this may not be the best option. Thank you
Hi there. Sorry to hear you're having difficulties. It's difficult, without seeing you with your pup, to know whether the behavior you're finding aggressive is normal puppy biting or a sign of a bigger issue. So I suggest erring on the side of caution, and getting a vet check to make sure there's no underlying cause for him to be bad tempered (such as pain) and then getting some professional advice from a behaviourist who can visit you and your pup in person, and help you make a plan to improve things. Your vet may be able to recommend someone in your area. In the meantime I would pop a long line on him so you can gently guide him away from plants (and poo) that you don't want him to have. And we don't recommend using the head collar you've bought - as you've seen, aversives like this can lead to more problems - including more aggression. It's okay for him not to have a walk for a few days while you make a new plan
We recommend using a standard harness with no anti pull features - here's why we recommend a harness over a collar: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/why-your-labrador-puppy-needs-a-harness/ and here are some tips for getting it on without conflict: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-get-a-dog-into-a-harness/ (Pippa's pup in the video is wearing a Ruffwear harness but the same principles work with other brands. And then we recommend working on a loose leash walk from scratch - there are full instructions here https://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-leash-train-a-labrador/ - it's fine to skip your daily walks and focus on this training plus games in the garden or free play in a safe enclosed space, while you build this skill.
