Young puppy who can suddenly turn very aggressive, what is the best way to deal with it?

[Freddieready]

We have a 12 week old male Wire Fox Terrier who is doing quite well. He is starting to socialise well with other dogs, a generally lovely demeanour with people and his toilet training is progressing well. We have however noticed a disturbing sign that we would like some advice on. This has now happened about 4 times this week. Sometimes if we are holding him and he wants to go on the floor he can suddenly become wildly aggressive if he does not get his own way. This is far more than play. We are currently putting him down as quick as possible, saying "NO" quite loudly during the tantrum and leaving him alone for a few moments. He is then perfectly play full as if nothing has happened and is then happy to be held. We do need to be able to carry him as we are having building work done and to get to the garden he has to be carried over the building area so as to avoid glass etc which is on the floor. During his life there will also be numerous occasions when we need to carry him which I think is normal.
I believe one option is a sharp tap on the snout with our hand, this is possible but of course he has sharp teeth and he could easily bite. We are concerned not to damage his spirit but know that this behaviour is not acceptable and would like some advice from experienced pet owners about the best way to tackle it.

[Kettlebettle]

I expect a good breeder to grill you on your dog experience, your experience with the specific breed and assess if you're the right person for one of their dogs.

The breeder we got our arsey challenging dog from is good but we only learned later that their dogs are known as being on the bolshy side among other breeders. They did let several of their dogs check us out so could see that we weren't phased by (multiple) mad, bouncy, into everything terriers.

[Shriek]

most of my dpups /ddogs love chasing brushes, biting bristles, so i have the opposite and have to stop them chasing and biting and making a huge game out of brushes or i'll end up on the floor and never get them groomed either!

breeders should start handling dpups at birth so its nothing but familiar to them, its one of the basics of rearing dpups to handle them!!

i am wondering, not particularly this thread, but what people in general actually expect from the breeder that they buy such a precious dpup from, or how they know what they are buying. It seems few and far between the comments like the one above about breeder not selling to first time prospective owners.

[Shriek]

huge x-post there!

[Shriek]

oh gawd i should hope not!!! i could never squeeze a little dpups body, a firm hold is a completely different thing, calling it puppy squeezing can easily lead people to the conclusion thats what it means. I would always firmly hold a dpup because they can do such sudden wriggles, or feel insecure, and i could never risk dropping one as a result! their legs dangle and flop, or they even sleep, but they are not going to be getting out of my safe hands.

beware all the working breeds, they are all very mouthy/snappy vicious little bastards as dpups

[Kettlebettle]

Being brushed or stealing brushes?

They're all wilful but my oldest one is an extreme. I'm speaking as someone whose childhood Airedale, who had a life long heart murmur, managed to avoid going to the groomers by faking a heart attack just after he was dropped off and then prancing out of the room in full show trot minutes later when my Mother had been called back by the traumatised owner.

[taptonaria27]

I think we should have a fox terrier support thread!
Thankfully ours responds well to treats, his recall is brilliant (so far), he walks beautifully on the lead, chews very little and learns really quickly.
There's a lot that's good but he can be a grumpy little bugger too, he's had a bellyache tonight which makes him really growly I hope he never needs taking to the vet when he's feeling poorly!

[Cheerfulmarybrown]

I have one on my books at the moment. He is called Clive - he may be one of the longer staying customers He hates treats and most toys however he luuuuuuuurves brushes which has now become his best motivator ever.

[Kettlebettle]

Have you met an Airedale?

[Cheerfulmarybrown]

No dog is stubborn, harder to train and motivate maybe.

[Groovester]

4 month old wire fox terrier here. No aggression but definitely a feisty wee chap. He is our second terrier but first puppy. Rewards definitely work better than shouting/domineering/Aggressive reactions from us.

[Kettlebettle]

But what if they like their own reward (stealing the bucket) better? I have two terriers. They've been treated the same, gone to the same training classes and have totally different attitudes to life. One would love the bucket game. The other is, according to the person who bred him, a stubborn bastard.

[Cheerfulmarybrown]

You train your puppy properly so they understand the game, no reward for the wrong decision. Easy

[Kettlebettle]

He's a sweetheart.

[Freddieready]

As a proud Mum I had to just post a pic of our little devil! We have started the training as suggested and as yet there has not been a tantrum.....yet!!

[Kettlebettle]

What do you do when they bark at the bucket, steal the bucket and take it into the garden to eat it.

[Cheerfulmarybrown]

The bucket game is a much more effective way of getting cooperation from dogs than force.

Works for medical procedures, training anything in fact when you are the dog need to work together.

[Kettlebettle]

That sounds great unless the reason you're holding them is that they have a tick you need to remove from them or you're brushing them (essential to get rid of dead hair and keep the skin healthy) or you're cleaning a hot spot (which happen more often if you can't brush them enough) or there's glass all over the floor from the bowl they 'investigated.'

[Cheerfulmarybrown]

I would never ever use a "puppy squeeze" no wonder terriers are feisty.

Fancy being held tightly by someone much bigger and stronger and not being able to escape - I too would wriggle and use my teeth to be released

[Kettlebettle]

Feisty is in the DNA of terriers but some individual dogs and all Jack Russells seem to have an extra dollop of it.

[banff82]

taptonaria just what you say about getting a spaniel instead - spaniels, particularly Cockers, can be very prone to resource guarding and Cocker puppies can be positively evil, they aren't known as Cockerdiles for nothing!

[taptonaria27]

You don't squeeze them hard!!! It's simply a hold that they can't escape, you hold firmly when they're wriggling and less so when they're not.

[Shriek]

what a shame, but its good to have that out here spreading the word, sad yes, that yours didn't say that to put them off.

I definitely couldn't do 'puppy squeezing' it sounds awful!! Such little dpups getting squeezed!

[taptonaria27]

The puppy squeeze is a way of holding the dog where they can't get away and can't bite you, it calms them very quickly whilst also making sure that you stay in control.
I'd try a google as I can't describe how best to do it but once you are holding him you tighten (squeeze) your grip when he struggles and relax when he does. It good to prevent aggression but too late if he's already got his hackles raised.
I didn't realise that he would be feisty so it's been a steep learning curve, if I'd known then what I know now about breeds and temperaments I'd probably get a spaniel, as frankly feisty is a euphemism for snappy. However, we are definitely getting there and the incidents of him snapping/ growling at us are down from daily to around one a week.
Our main issue has been resource guarding - the sofa, bean bag, pigs ears, bones, food all of which have been taken off him, we now feed him a little at a time so he eats it all - all other other things he no longer has.
And no the Breeder didn't warn us, though we later saw a Fox terrier breeder on to saying she wouldn't let her pups go to first time dog owners which we are - it was too late by then though!!

[taptonaria27]

The puppy squeeze is a way of holding the dog where they can't get away and can't bite you, it calms them very quickly whilst also making sure that you stay in control.
I'd try a google as I can't describe how best to do it but once you are holding him you tighten (squeeze) your grip when he struggles and relax when he does. It good to prevent aggression but too late if he's already got his hackles raised.
I didn't realise that he would be feisty so it's been a steep learning curve, if I'd known then what I know now about breeds and temperaments I'd probably get a spaniel. However, we are definitely getting there

[Shriek]

'bred'!!!! not 'bed'!