Aggression In Young Puppies

[Nekhbet]

Things like resource guarding, possession etc can be exacerbated if the breeder just lets pushy pups bully others without recourse. It's why so many puppies just left to feed from communal bowls constantly go to new homes bolting food like demons. Remember a baby puppy is learning to deal with the world. If it learned that growling and carrying on made the other puppies rack off, why not try it on a human? They figure you out from the moment you buy them, but we tend to forget that.

What do you call otherwise normal? Majority do act like normal pups you just see them be more confident and pushy as well. If they want something they will just go right ahead and take it, they're usually bold as brass, no fear, no problem doing what they want. They got the A1 class A-hole gene.

[Staffyluv]

SG, the pup in my post was never what I would call a 'normal' pup, based on what I saw and was told by those that lived with him..

Right from the start, he would circle the other dogs and curl his lip - his play always escalated very quickly to where the other dogs would pull out and not want to play with him..

He was always on guard, tense and looking around - it was almost like he couldn't relax..

As he got older the behaviour was the same but it escalated to the point where from about 9 months old he would walk past family members, tail stiff, eyeball them and curl his lip.. He was a scary dog..

[Simply Grand]

Thanks Nek, what you've said makes sense.

Der, I see how "normal" wasn't a very helpful description! I meant could they have non-aggressive interactions, sounds like you have come across some that aren't constantly trying to eat people, but that do show indications that they'd be more likely to show aggression if they thought it would work for them than other puppies.

Stafftluv, the pup you talk about sounds like a whole 'nother level, no wonder you say he was a scary dog

Edited March 3, 2014 by Simply Grand

[alpha bet]

You can work with dogs for decades... think you've seen it all.... yet still a situation comes along that is something different. Part of the problem with much of the 'science' of dog training is that there are always situations outside of the 'norm' and as trainers we have to be prepared to deal with these dogs.

There are so many factors to take into account with regard to your situation and it is literally impossible to have all the facts online to make an assessment.

[Simply Grand]

Just to be clear, this isn't my situation or that of anyone I know personally, it's just a situation I'm aware of and found interesting.

[sandgrubber]

Diagnosis might be a bit different depending on whether the people growled at were familiars, with whom an ordinary pup would have bonded, or strangers, and on how the pup reacted to adult dogs or other pups.

Assuming pain or correctable physical problem can be ruled out. Could be an early and extreme guarding behavior, in which case the pup should only be placed with an owner who wants and is capable of managing such temperament. If the aggression continued through to, say 4 months, and was shown toward all animals and people, I, personally, would pts without feeling a need for behavioralist evaluation.

Admittedly, the behavioralists whose work I have seen may not be the best, but my sense is most behavioralists have a bias toward thinking problems can be fixed/managed. I've seen people go through months and months of training and end up with little improvement. Given a choice between the heartbreak of having to pts a pup and the heartbreak of doing extra training and fencing, and still having to constantly guard against aggression; and possibly, eventually, mop up after the dog harmed or killed another animal or mauled a person, I'd choose to pts.