7 MONTH OLD PUPPY GETTING AGRESSIVE. WORRIED.

[mary1953]

My 7 month old yorkie poo bit me and drew blood when i accidently woke him from a sleep about 2 months ago. That was perhaps my fault as he might have been in a deep sleep and got very startled. There followed a period of no more snarling, no showing of teeth and no more growling. I got braver and started to not get scared when i occasionally had to pick him up.

However a similar thing hapened last night again. He was beside me awake on the sofa with his back to me and was spending a lot of time licking. I just moved him a little bit to see what he was licking for so long and he went stir crazy, barred his teeth, & kept the low growl going. I shouted " NO!". But I was scared all the same. It was so unexpected.
He stopped the growling but later on snarled and growled again when my hand touched his back as i leant over him to get a newspaper.

Today we went to the beach for a walk and a game of fetch. Everything was fine until i picked up the ball which was near to his mouth to throw it for him again. He growled and went for my finger which bled quite a bit so we had to go back home.

I wasnt sure if he was in pain anywhere so I fed him a few treats whilst i had a good feel all over his body. Everything seemed perfectly ok. I'm now wondering if this tiny adorable looking pup of mine has an in built aggression I'm not going to be able to control because he DOES seem to growl over the tiniest thing. Children are always coming up to him to stroke him because he's so cute but now he's behaving like this, if he ever turned and bit one of them, Id never forgive myself. He gets " startled" very easily and has always been a bit of a nervous dog. In fact he seems to actually scream sometimes when he gets really frightened (like being chased by a cat).. His mum is a miniature toy poodle & dad a yorkie cross chihauhau. Could inbreeding cause this type of aggression?

 

[Tinytom]

The fact that he is growling is letting you know he doesnt like whatever you are doing ...its not aggression its his way of telling you to stop ...when you havent he has felt the need to bite ...his 3 breeds are quite highly strung so instead of one highly strung breed he has 3 ....
Do not touch him whilst he is asleep. ..wake him up before you touch him ...my jack russell will nip me in excitement if i grab his toy whilst its near him ....
Do not let children touch him for a while ...also his age maybe a factor too ...
I would also get a vet check ....
My other jack russell Sid is very similar in character he didnt like to be touched when .he got to 6 mths old ...he is now 5 yrs old and alot better but we are still very careful around him and we praise him when he growls ...shouting No wont help ....
He is a nervous dog and will squeal whilst out and about if he is startled even when a leaf fell from the tree onto his back you would have thought something was trying to kill him .....
Careful management can really help ...also what are you feeding him .....

 

[JudyN]

These are all behaviours I've seen in my dog - sleep aggression, not liking being moved, guarding (his ball) - but it is pretty uncommon and as you say, you do need to be aware of the safety of other people. There's a lot you can do to help him feel more confident (it's good you're aware that this is down to being nervous/insecure), but with my dog, a lot of it is down to management - not moving him bodily but teaching him to move when asked, not sharing the sofa and, when he was younger, not reaching for a ball which was close to him. On walks, he always wears a muzzle just in case.

First, I would get him a thorough health check, though that may not be possible right now. It might well be that his testosterone is kicking in (I'm assuming he's not been neutered), but getting him neutered now would be a really bad idea, as he needs the testosterone to develop confidence - most aggression is fear based.

We can give you lots of advice, but it might also be worth you finding a behaviourist who can observe his behaviours. Choose carefully, though - you want someone who only uses positive methods. Anyone who talks about pack hierarchy and being more alpha should be politely sent packing.

 

[JudyN]

What I did for the individual behaviours...

Sleep aggression: Make sure he's awake before disturbing him. If this means you can't having him snuggling on your lap, or even on the sofa next to you, so be it. He may mellow in time (or may not).

Moving: Train 'off' the sofa, bed or whatever. 'Out of here' to leave a room, 'stand', 'come', 'on your bed', a touch to your palm... Even things like 'kitchen'. Though over the years my dog has also picked up 'Move your @rse'!

Ball games: Use two balls. When he is near one, throw the second one, and pick up the first when he runs after the second. If you lose one, or he doesn't move away from it, then just walk off... you might be able to retrieve it later.

Don't let children approach him. Be rude if necessary. Investigate the Yellow Dog scheme: https://www.yellowdoguk.co.uk/ Naturally wearing a yellow bandana won't stop children (or adults) approaching, but it gives you a chance to educate them, and shows you're doing something. Plus the more people use the scheme, the more successful it will be.

I would do some muzzle training - even if your dog doesn't need a muzzle for walks, it could be really useful for vet exams, or if you have to treat an injury, for instance. And if he did end up being not 100% reliable on walks, a muzzle can give him more freedom, and you can relax and be more confident - it won't help if he senses your tension every time a child appears.

Learn about dog body language, and watch out for the slightest sign of tension in other situations (e.g. if you're close while he's eating). Then think how you can help him be more relaxed in that situation and not feel threatened (my dog didn't like me being close whe he ate, so I'd mostly just keep my distance, but would also take a step or two towards him, throw him a treat, and then leave, so my approach was a positive thing).