my puppy just bit me agressively...........

[puTITANIAchristmaswishlist]

Molly......we got her last weekend.........she has taken to me and has now developed being jealous about ds2 (10 months old) she started barking at ds2 when he was on the floor.........ds2 started crying so I picked him up.....puppy started jumping up at me and barking and snapping a bit.......I went up and put ds2 in bed for a minute while I picked Molly up and put her in the kitchen out the way.....she just went mad...barking at me and snapped at me......she broke the skin on my thumb and middle finger.......and bruised the side of my middle finger.........she messed all on the kitchen floor and went and hid in the corner under the table........every time I went to get her she snapped at me..........I got her lead round her and pulled her out...she was still snapping so I gave her a smack on the nose and put her outside.........(not sure if that was the right thing to do...I never smack my kids)

After a while I brought her back in and she seemed ok....I have given her a warm bath and she is asleep in her bed now.......

My hand hurts now.....

What am I supposed to do........I can't bear the thought of her snapping at the kids....

[Gumdrop]

I think you've done the right thing. She knows she did something wrong, hence the hiding, and you've only proved that you are the leader of the pack, and won't tolerate disobedience.

She will also have to learn that DS2 is also higher up the pack hierachy than she is - I think things like making sure that he is fed before she is is supposed to help with that. Also, if you ignore her, that's a really big punishment. If you think of what being cast out of the pack could mean to a small pup in the wild then you get an idea of what it means to her.

The only thing I would say is that if she was stuck in a corner with no where to run, that's what probably prompted the snapping when you were trying to get her. If she does somthing similar again, and hides under the table, I'd be tempted to ignore her completely rather than try and get her out - unless she was being a danger to the children.

Good luck

[jingleballs]

def did the right thing, in fact what we did with our dogs, was force our fingers into their mouths, then if they bit it they would have a tap on the nose (we didn't do it for longer than about 5 min, and the tap was just enough to nock their nose, but wasn't hard) anyhow, after about 3 weeks, they realised what they were doing and stopped, now it doesn't matter what we do to try and get them to bite they won't. (esp if there is hands and faces about) would recommend ur children play with the toys as well (something we didn't do, but need to start doing as our DSG doesn't like other ppl picking up his toys apart from me and DH so i'd get her used to that as well), or make a corner where she's safe and keep the little ones out so she can go in there and relax for a while. bed is also a good command to teach them.

[emMerryChristmastmg]

Our dog used to snap at me when she's done something bad and I've told her off, actually if I was any slower she would have bitten my hand properly a few times. Strangley she has NEVER should any aggression to the kids, only me, and she is DS3's(15months) favourite play thing at the moment. He doesn't show her any mercy and harrasses her constantly but she adores him. Just the other day she was trying to eat her dinner and he was holding her back leg up in the air and she just carried on eating, I moved DS3 away, he went back and almost had his nose in her bowl too, she still ignored him. I moved him away about 4 times in all bacuse he just wouldn't leave her in peace..


She hasn't done snapped at me in ages because when she did I would throw her in the garden, whether it was raining, snowing, pitch black or whatever (and certainly no warm bath afterwards, was your dog very dirty from the garden?). Now if she's up to no good I only have to say her name in a stern voice and she's runs straight to her bed.

This might be useful for you too Titania-off the subject slightly but it's made our dog much calmer.

Another good thing we do is if we gave guests we shut her in the kitchen until they all arrive as she is a VERY excitable dog. We tell everyone to ignore her completely. Don't look at her, stroke her, anything. Within a few minuted she lays down in the lounge with us all and is aclm and quiet. Before we did this she would be jumping and running about like a lunatic the whole time.


Apologies for going on, but i hope this helps

[jingleballs]

exactly i'm with em, the other one ours no well is the phrase 'was it u?' when that's said they both go off into their beds until we say 'you sorry' then they come out and give us licks etc.. and we allow them back into the main room with us, as their beds are under ther stairs (no door on it thou!)

[jingleballs]

exactly i'm with em, the other one ours no well is the phrase 'was it u?' when that's said they both go off into their beds until we say 'you sorry' then they come out and give us licks etc.. and we allow them back into the main room with us, as their beds are under ther stairs (no door on it thou!)

[puTITANIAchristmaswishlist]

thanks everyone......she's been growling at me every time I;ve walked in to the room.......just been ignoring her and about 10 minutes ago I managed to go up to her and give her a quick stroke without making too much fuss......she is staying in the kitchen for now though out of the way of the kids.....

[fostermum]

the best thing ive learned with dogs of any age is if the dog does wrong push it on its back and hold it down untill it relaxes,this is what happens with a mother dog to her pups and underlings in the "pack".dogs are pack animals and must be taught there place from the start when the dog relaxes it shows it is excepting you as boss

[ChristmasCracker]

Oh sorry to hear about this titania. I think you did do the right thing definatly.


My dads dog has attempted to bite a couple of times when my dada andbrothers have been play fighting. Each time she is tapped on the nose and told to go to bed and she does and you can't half tell she knows she is in trouble.

[ChristmasCracker]

Sorry for the typos, still have my false nails on

[miggy]

Titania-shes a gsd isnt she?
where was she from-family home/breeder/petshop
Sounds like nervous aggression-very common in gsds and just being dominant-like some of the replies have suggested-wont work and could actually make things worse.
You did the right thing in putting her out but you might need some help from a trainer etc for the future.
There is a very good book-specifically about bringing up gsd pups by some monks from new york (yes I know it sounds bizarre !) called "the art of raising a puppy" by the monks of new skete-available from Amazon

[myermay]

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[myermay]

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[buffettheturkeylayer2]

How old is the puppy - and where did you get her from? Not being nosey - it just makes a big difference to how you should go about reprimanding her.

[ChicPea]

I was told by a gsd breeder that ruffling their neck (?) - the loose bit on the neck - brain is a bit fuzzy - ahhhhhh, the scruff, as the mother gsd would do that to her puppy to tell her/him off.