8 week old pit bull puppy growling and biting hard?
You need to assert your dominance, this aggression is purely alpha behavior. A few exercises I recommend. Roll him on his back, and get on top of him, dont say anything, just hold him until he relaxes, when he does, let him up, and praise him. He needs to know that biting is NOT acceptable! Being young, grabbing his muzzle tightly may be enough, but if that does not stop soon, you may need to get a little more physical. You see, dogs still contain that pack mentality, just as wolves do, and if you dont assert it, they will. Yes, our now domesticated dogs are much calmer, and possibly more affectionate to us, but they view us as part of the pack, and they need to learn that you lead the pack. You provide food, water, love and shelter.they provide affection and respect, but respect is earned, not given. This does not mean your dog becomes and item, it simply means that the dog will learn to respect you, and it is an amazing thing. Aggressive behavior is NEVER acceptable. Dogs learn by the feedback you give them. If I take a dog who is growling at strangers, and I pet him, trying to "calm him" all this is doing is showing him, that when he growls, he gets love. Now, if I give him a pop of the collar, and a firm "no" he begins to see that when he growls, bad things happen. If he continues to growl, the punishments will get more firm, until he learns. This was just a case scenario. With your dog, the aggression is on you, the next time he nips you, pin him, hold his muzzle, and firmly, and Loudly say NO! Again, do not let him up until he calms down. But dont give him praise after he is calm, let him cool down (he will forget in 5-10 minutes) and then play with him, love on him, tell him "good boy!" he can still be loved, and played with, you just have to set boundaries. This may sounds cruel to the "animal rights activists" but you have to understand the psychology, and mentality mentality of the dog, they are nothing like humans. They can feel, they can somewhat understand. But only through repetition. When I say feel, I mean that they can love, they can show aggression, fear, affection. But not in the same way humans do. Just learn how to understand your dog, read his behavior, and correct it when it is bad, and praise it when it is good! This turns him into a dream dog! I promise! No means to offend, only help! Good luck with the pup!
Why does my dog growl at me, while she is laying down, and I approach her?
My dog has done this for years, but it has gotten worse. She is a 4 yr old lab mix. When she is laying down, and I come near her, or walk past her and look at her, she growls. Her whole body trembles. We could be sitting on the couch together, and she starts shaking. If I go to pet her, she looks at me, with big pupils, and starts to show her teeth. The other nite I took her outside for a nice walk, and as soon as we came inside, she ran to the couch (the only couch I have, so it is not just hers, it is mine and hers :) and she began shaking and growling at me. I went up to her and said "Beenie, off the couch now" I don't want her thinking she can just claim furniture. After she ignored me, I went to grab her collar and she turned around and bit both my hands. Im not sure what to do at this point. I have talked in a deep voice, I have tried luring her with treats, she growls at me even if I have a treat and try to lure her from wherever she is sitting. Ive also walked away from this behavior, and nothing seems to make it any better. I would appreciate anyone that has experience with this behavior, to let me know what they have done or reccomend. Please do not tell me to let a sleeping dog lie, I am the owner, and she should listen to my commands. And she is usually not sleeping when this occurs, just laying around. I have moved houses for this dog, b/c of her barking, and have changed work schedules due to the same issue. So clearly I am willing to do just about anything to avoid putting this dog down. Thank you for your concerns.
My dog growls when I go near his food?
It seems like your dog is exhibiting food aggression. The solution is actually very simple, and I can give you two different ways to approach the situation. First of all don't leave food out at all, make sure you feed the dog at specific times of the day. The point of this is to teach the dog that the food belongs to you and you are the one that decides when he eats. Now you can approach the situation with positive training by dropping treats in his bowl while he's eating. This will teach him to associate hands near his food as a good positive thing, and soon he should stop fussing and learn to be comfortable. You can also try putting his dog food in cup (you can do this with soft food since that's your big problem) and you only give him small amounts of food at a time. Make sure your standing next to him because when he finishes the small amount of food he will look up at you and he's probably thinking "Where's the rest?". That's exactly what you want him to do, you want him to realize that you are in control of the food. After he does something you like give him more food but remember to do so in small increments. This is very similar to how things work in a pack, the lower ranking dogs don't eat until the pack leader is finished and he turns his food over to them (and no im not a Cesar Milan fan). Now I have to mention that something you wrote in your question suggested that you are committing a big pack behavior "no-no". "(take the bowl away for a few min, then try the process till he stops growling, which he usually never does)". You don't want to take away the dogs food after you've put it down. This doesn't happen in a pack because as soon as the leader hands off his food he's done with it. When you take the food away from your dog after you've given it to him he will see you as a bully not a leader. Doing this will only make his food aggression worse. Hope I helped!
My dog growls low and softly when I hug him.. why?
I had a beagle that did the same thing...she was showing pleasure...like when you hug someone and groan or go hmmmmmm dogs do that tooo- I have a silky terrier that "smiles" at me and my beagle just gives a low pitched growl when she hugs me...if you make a noise when you hug him he may be mimicking you and doing what you do becuase your dog likes you---take it as a compliment- however, if you feel like your dog may be in pain,, by all means take him/her to get checked out. I think its just your dogs way of saying "thanks for the hug dude---you rock"-- you are blessed Aero
How to stop my 2 month old puppy from bittiing and growling at me?
You have to release that aggressive energy by exercise. Walk is very important to a dog / puppy. You have to drain that energy, otherwise he will be frustrated and take it out on you. Make sure when you walk the dog, you are in front. Never allow him to walk in front of you and let him smell his surroundings only when you want to. That way, he knows you're the boss. Then discipline him when he is acting aggressive or frustrated or whiney by giving out the energy that youre in control. A simple touch or sound to break his fixation would do the trick. If your puppy has been walked, he will easily obey you because he nearly used up that aggressive energy. More importantly, give affection only when he is calm to encourage that behavior. Be the pack leader and your dog will become well balanced. He will love you for it.
How do i discipline my dog when he growls? He usually growls because he is scared or upset at a situation.?
Trust me, I more than anybody understand a "good swat" However I'd rather it be from the hand instead of an object. a "good swat" does not make your dog aggressive unless you are beating him. I suggest you watch the Dog Whisperer. He taught me how to calm down my aggressive dog. Out of all the dogs I have raised and trained, I've only had one that turned out to be aggressive and I watched the dog whisperer and I learned how to treat the dogs better and I learned how to approach the situation. If I knew what kind of dog I'd give you my own advise, however I do not know the size or the typical attitude of the dog so i wouldn't know how to approach your situation.