7 week old puppy with EXTREMELY bad temper... help please!!!
Hello all.
I have been fostering a puppy since 4 weeks of age, since he had to be bottle fed and all of that. We are fostering him, because his mother had a bad temper and tried to kill her puppies. She and her pups were dropped off at the local humane society and our vet asked us if we'd want to foster a puppy. I woke up with him every night, every 3-4 hours and bottle feed him.
Then of course we switched to his dry food, mixed in with his formula, put into a blender. Then we gradually switched him over to all dry food.
Now, he's Mr. Independent, exploring everything and not wanting any human assistance. Lately, his new thing is showing teeth, growling really loudly and BITING if you do something he does not like. Last night, I took away a piece of rawhide that was too small for him, so he wouldn't choke. At first he guarded the rawhide, then I told him to drop it, a term I use for all of my dogs, when I want what they've got. It works for the others, of course not the puppy yet. He wouldn't drop it, then I told him that that was NO in a very firm voice. That seemed to only anger him more. Instead of biting at my hands and wrists now, he bit my chest and put a hole in my shirt and made me bleed. I then told him that was no and put him in his crate.
This morning, he was on my bed and started to bite on my leg, I told him that was no, so he started growling at me when I removed him from my leg. He then bit me on my hand, drawing blood. He wouldn't stop growling, showing teeth and biting. This time I tried giving him a toy, which worked. But if I try to take the toy/rawhide away, all hell breaks loose.
I don't think the problem is that he doesn't have enough toys. He's got plenty, well over 40. He also has 4 other dogs to play with.
(I forgot to write it, but we decided to keep him. The day came when we had to give him back and we just couldn't do it. Also, he will be 8 weeks this Saturday.)
I don't know if this is a problem that will go away overtime or does he need thorough teaching? This could dangerous, later, when he becomes an adult and pulls this attitude on the Alpha dog here.
Also, just some random information... when we put him in his crate, he's got toys, rawhides, food and water, as well as fresh blankets and a "potty place." He's doing well with his potty training, as we take him outside everytime he wakes up. We have toys that make noises, rather than squeek, such as a squirrel making squirrel noises. He absolutely HATES these and will growl at them and attack them. I don't know if that will be a problem, turning into something bigger, later in life.
Anyway, I'll stop writing now. I'll thank everyone ahead of time for your responses.
Attached is a picture of him. He's my cute little boy. :) :)
Maybe I'm old fashioned but...
I'm going to disagree with just about all suggestions made thus far.
"Time outs" will do nothing. The less interaction puppy has with you, the more fustrated it will become. I currently have two dogs (1 yr, and 8 months). The older one never did take to crates, and went nuts in them. The younger one thought the crate was a neat place to be. Thus the older one would have been tramatized by a "time out" or at the very least too busy crying. The younger one probably would have enjoyed it.
Neither will an abundance of toys over load a puppy. A puppy's attention span is so short that an abundance of toys means most toys will be bypassed. In fact you will find they will pick out 1-2 favorite play toys, and leave the rest more or less alone. The alternative to toys is becoming bored with associated distructive (chewing) behaviors.
A key clue to all of this is that you say the puppy is never aggressive towards your mother. Obviously your mother is the Alpha dog, whereas you in the mind of the puppy are something else. Although another poster suggested tapping on the nose (while presumably using the other hand to grab under the throat), that tends to work best on dogs past 1 yr- and it is an extremely effective alternative to mouthing your dog- yuk. But a puppy tends to be too squirmy to even pay attention. Especially one trying to nip at you.
Since I stated up front I'm not into new age doggy parenting the methodology I will suggest is a little bit more physical.
Case 1: If puppy comes over and starts nipping at you, your response is to whack it on the nose preferably with a paper, with a loud NO! Thou shalt not bite human parts! You can not let it even play nip at you.
Case 2: Puppy growls at you when you go to take something away from it. Whack a folded ( 1 section only) paper on your hand to produce as loud of a crack sound as possible, and a loud NO! The sound is the most important part. It will surprise said puppy to the extent that you should be able to reach down and take away the rawhide bone or whatever it is you wish to remove. If puppy snaps at you, the paper ends up on it's nose, or side (but never hips).
Basically your puppy is trying to wiggle into the Beta position behind your mother as the 2nd puppy in the pack. Don't let it. That's why the modern day time out just won't cut it. It does nothing to establish pack authority.
Each puppy's personality is different and you have to adjust your response to their behavior. My older one (most likely abused in its first 3.5 months of her life) almost has a nervous breakdown when I yell at it. The younger one wags his tail at me when I yell at him (got him at 6 weeks). Obviously I tend to try to be more passive with my correction of the older one. If I remember your original post you have a golden which tends to be a layed back personality, and should be very responsive to correction- once you get past this dominance pack issue.
i am having the same problem
:) hello everyone i am thaving the smae problem with my puppy she just will not listen and she is always hyper i just dont knnow what to do i even get so mad i wanna get rid of her but i know i will not because i love her.