Aggressive puppy

[Joolly2]

I need help. My lovely beagle puppy is becoming very aggressive. I understand about the puppy ‘biting’ but this seems to be different. My puppy seems to launch himself at me growling and determined to bite. It is getting quite frightening. I have tried walking away and ignoring him but he comes after me. The vet suggested shouting ‘ouch’ as loudly as possible but that does not seem to do anything. What can I do? I spent a long time choosing the breed as I wanted a dog that would be gentle around children. That said, I would never leave children with any dog. At the moment I can’t possibly have children around until I have sorted this problem. Is there any Mumsnet wisdom that could help.

[NCIS]

How old is he? And does he get enough naps, I know I always seem to go on about this but I discovered with my Border Collie pup that, unless I enforced regular naps in his crate, he was a nightmare for biting uncontrollably. It was something I had never had with previous puppies but he was easily over stimulated and it always resulted in him seeming to deliberately seek out an opportunity to bite. Once we realised what was going on and enforced naps he was like a different dog.

[Joolly2]

NCIS thank you for answering so quickly. My puppy is 11 weeks old. He seems to sleep a lot through the day and sleeps all night without waking. I am not sure how much sleep he should be getting for his age. When he wants to rest he takes himself off to his comfy day bed in the main room. At night he sleeps in his crate. He is not aggressive all day, just at times, perhaps it is when he is tired. Perhaps I should look at his sleep as this would be an easy thing to correct. Thanks for the suggestion.

[NCIS]

At that age mine used to be fed in his crate then shut in for at least 20 minutes after, if he fell asleep then I left him until he woke up. If he showed over excitement signs I used to take him out for a wee then put him in his crate for a sleep, sometimes it took ten minutes or so for him to settle down but he nearly always slept for a bit and then was much more pleasant to be around.

If I didn't put him in his crate he would sleep on his bed in the sitting room but as soon as anyone stirred he was awake, he needed peace and quiet to totally switch off.

They can be a bit like toddlers at that age, they almost need to be forced to sleep. I don't think you can necessarily rely on them to know when they need sleep.

[Booboostoo]

It is very unlikely that the puppy is being aggressive - not impossible, but highly unlikely. It is more likely that he is quite hyper and doesn't know how to play appropriately with you.

What are you doing in terms of training? Training classes are indispensable. As well as assessing the puppy and helping you understand his behaviour, you will learn how to teach him manners.

A couple of things you can try assuming the puppy is excitable and bolshy rather than aggressive:

• when he bites your hand do to pull it away but instead squeal in a very high pitched voice
  
• distract him with something he is allowed to bite
  
• walk away and if he follows you go to another room and close the door. Return after a couple of minutes, leave again if his behaviour is inappropriate
  
• ask him to go to his bed or crate and stay there
  
• occupy his brain with a bit of training

[Joolly2]

Booboostoo I have been looking for puppy classes, the ones that I have found are in blocks and all have just started/are full. I really don't want to wait another 6 weeks until the next block starts but at the moment that seems to be the only option. I am going to keep looking in case there is one that I have missed. Re the other suggestions - I have tried offering chewable toys, and have also tried a bit of training.
NCIS I think I will try to use his crate more in the day time. In the main room he does wake easily at the slightest sound so maybe the crate would be a better option for him. Thank you both for your help.

[Dancingyogi]

Some dogs get more excited if you scream after they bit which just encourages them to it more - Dpup was like that. I clicker trained him not to bite using Kikopup YouTube videos.

[Dancingyogi]

And when your dog is in an excitable biting mood, I'd remove them from company, if you can, it will pass...Dpup did this around 12 weeks and it has fizzled out....very little sign of it 4 weeks later.

[Joolly2]

Dancingyogi thanks for the reassurance. Perhaps I just need to sit it out for a little longer. I will look at the YouTube videos - I hadn't thought of looking there. I am also going to spend some time today searching for puppy classes, I think I will have to widen my search area. I have never had a dog before and I think classes would give me some confidence.