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  1. #1
    Puppy
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    Question How can I tell if my puppy is agressive?

    My fiancé and I recently adopted a now 9 week old puppy. She is a little spitfire and like all lab puppies requires a lot of attention. My fiancé says he has noticed behaviors he deems aggressive and is concerned to the point of questioning whether she will be okay around our cats, friends, and small family members' children. She apparently (I did not see this) snapped at a family member's dog and she does follow around and tries to rough house with my in-laws smaller dog (a taco terrier). She has not made any attempt to harm our cats and while she likes to chase our 3 year old nephew and does nip at him, with correction and redirection she stops quickly. She has attempted to nip my nose and ears when we are playing but does not do this without provocation ie. playtime. She is rambunctious but my experience with lab puppies is that they all are and it is a stage. Adult labs are not the little sharks that puppies can be. With proper training and plenty of attention these puppy behaviors go away.
    Thanks for the help in advance.

  2. #2
    Senior Dog charliebbarkin's Avatar
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    Normal. I recommend enrolling in a puppy socialization class. Enjoy your pup!
    Charlie and Burton


  3. #3
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    enroll in a puppy class ASAP. these are classes safe for puppies that haven't had all their shots. Make ask around for a particularly good school/recommendations.

    puppies are puppies. they are bitty and nippy, they explore the word with their mouth. As for "snapping" at the other dog, it may have been play or she may haev been afraid, hard to say without seeing but doubtful it is aggression.

    I also recommend taking a few minutes to browze thru the titles and posts in the puppy trainign section. You'll see peopel asking if their puppy is a aggressive all too often and lots of tips.

  4. #4
    Senior Dog windycanyon's Avatar
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    Hopefully when you bought your pup, you screened the breeder and were able to meet at least the mother. The mom is going to have the most influence on temperament since she raises the puppies.
    I second (or third) the puppy classes. I would not allow your puppy to be out w/ small children if at all possible until the training is done because most little kids have zero ability to control their screeching and running, and it just amps puppies up too much.
    Anne

  5. #5
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Double ditto all above and I think I will add; tell your fiance I say you are right in your observations on puppies in general and Labs in specific and he should listen to you. I really think he should be the one to take puppy to classes. Classes are mostly for the owner and seems to me he needs it more than you do. LOL Of course you can both go.

    What is puppy's name? Can we see her?

  6. #6
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Agree with all of the above. Get to socialization class (STAR Puppy is great!) ASAP, where you can get support for puppy raising, socialize the pup with the helpful eye of a couple trainers, and get a solid training foundation on her. 10 weeks is a great time to start. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL SHE IS FULLY VACCINATED. After puppy class, get into basic obedience, and plan to go a couple times.

  7. #7
    Senior Dog
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    9 week old puppies are sharks with fur.

    a class, as everyone has suggested.

  8. The Following User Says Thank You to bett For This Useful Post:

    Meeps83 (07-31-2014)

  9. #8
    House Broken Paws n Jaws's Avatar
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    If she shanks you in the bathroom for using her roll of toilet paper, she's an aggressive puppy. For all else, she's just a puppy.

  10. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Paws n Jaws For This Useful Post:

    emma_Dad (07-31-2014), jake&Tex (08-01-2014), Meeps83 (07-31-2014), Tanya (07-31-2014), Woodrow_Woodchuck (08-02-2014)

  11. #9
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Paws n Jaws View Post
    If she shanks you in the bathroom for using her roll of toilet paper, she's an aggressive puppy. For all else, she's just a puppy.
    Oh Ray, how we've missed you!
    Sue

    Chase 9/29/2006- 6/30/2017 Always in our hearts
    Lark 12/25/2012- 2/2/22
    Henry 7/14/18
    Joey 5/14/2022

    “Because of the dog's joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift. It is not the least reason why we should honor as well as love the dog of our own life, and the dog down the street, and all the dogs not yet born. What would the world be like without music or rivers or the green and tender grass? What would this world be like without dogs?”

    Mary Oliver, Hidden Content

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    kelsyg (07-31-2014)

  13. #10
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    The puppies name is Midnight Magic (we are calling her magic). I will be sure to post some pictures as soon as I get them off my camera. I may be partial but she is adorable!

    First and foremost- thank you so much for the input. I have been stressing over this because I had to go on an unavoidable trip soon after we got her. While I hadn't seen aggressive tendencies before I left, it is always upsetting to receive a phone call saying there is cause for concern.

    To all who recommended puppy classes, you have confirmed what I had considered so now classes are a definite go. Having trained puppies before I figured I could do most of it myself but I'm realizing it is as much about socializing her as it is about learning appropriate behaviors. Besides, as Snowshoe points out, it would be great for my fiancé to be a part of that training.

    We did meet the mother and the breeder has an amazing reputation. The mother was well behaved, great with her puppies as well as the three or four other dogs that they had on the property. All in all I think this is my fiancé being thorough in his observations of the puppy but placing too much focus on nipping (normal) and rough play (normal) as aggressive. I'm hoping to find some youtube videos of aggressive dog postures and such to show him the difference.

    Paws and Jaws: Hilarious and certainly puts things in perspective. I will be taking this quote to my fiancé. Hopefully he will use it to put things in perspective as well.

    Thank you again to all who gave advice. It has truly relieved much of my stress about this situation.
    Last edited by MidnightMagic; 07-31-2014 at 07:05 PM.

 



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