Hello all,

Let me preface by saying I have always had cats. I am a new dog owner.

10 days ago I brought home my 14 week (almost 4 months old) shih-poo. Her mom was a shitzu and dad a toy poodle. She had been in her cage at the pet store for over a month, peeing in her area before we brought her home. Since then she has had some accidents but has NOT eliminated in her crate. She also RARELY cries in her crate. I work from home and crate her 2 hours in, 1 hour out, sometimes more in the morning or evening. She sleeps in the kitchen. I walk her twice a day and take her out often.

Sounds good right? My problem is lately she has been having agression issues. She gets REALLY riled up out of her crate and will run around crazily stopping by wherever I am standing and bite at my toes, shoes, pants, hands, etc. She sometimes responds to no but in the past few days this has gotten worse. I hold her down, scruff her neck, hold her muzzle and say NO but the behavior keeps going on. She also growls while she is doing this and btes harder when I try to discipline. I read somewhere that I should discpline and then ignore her so I am going to try that. When I walk her she pulls agressively at the lead, I hold her back the entire time. I won't let her climb stairs first and let her watch me eat before feeding her. She is starting to jump on strangers but usually shows them her belly for a rub. She met the neighbor's dog today and bit at her ears. Again, she gets riled up out of the crate but goes right in and calms down and doesn't cry.

Questions: Is this normal? Do puppies grow out of this? At what age? Should I be concerned or is she just adjusting? At what point should I consider this a serious issue? Am I paranoid? I really wanted a "lapdog" since I am a cat person (my husband is not). I knew going in that she would be a lot of work the first year or so and I am ready, I just want to be able to teach her manners and cuddle with her. I will do it what it takes.

Thoughts?

I think it is normal behavior. When she comes out of the crate she has some energy to burn and I'm sure she is excited. Yes, you still have to train her as to what is acceptable behavior and sometimes that is tough. You sometimes have to go into dog mode yourself. Get them on their back and growl. As to the biting if she continues after you tell her no sometimes you can take her by the side of her mouth and gently press her lips over into her teeth till she gets to feel how upleasant it is. Always firmly tell her no while you are doing this.

It sounds pretty normal. She needs more exercise, more socialization with other dogs (they'll teach her how to be a dog, because she wasn't left with her mother and littermates long enough, and she didn't learn bite inhibition), and you should get her into a puppy kindergarten class ASAP.

Hi Suz4gt,

I think this is normal behaviour. I have 2 puppies (6 and 8 month old spoodles) who went through something similar in the first few days. I say a few days only as we got her out of the habit.

How?

My husband and I got a private dog trainer into our house and told us a few tricks about training them. So here is the secret that solved our similar issue:

When your puppy is in the crate and nice and relaxed and quiet say the word "settle" or "quiet" and reward her with treats (never discipline her during this period). Keep doing this a few times a day. Then let her out of the crate with a treat in your hand and say the word "settle". If she settles down giver her the reward. Only until she is settled giver her the reward. If she is being naughty and hyper (ignore her - don't give her any attention until she relaxes and then say "settle" and give her the reward.

It took my husand and I about 2 - 3 days before our dogs understood and we haven't had a problem since.

Hope this helps.

Good Luck,
Fforster01

Originally Posted by suzy4gt

Questions: Is this normal? Do puppies grow out of this? At what age? Should I be concerned or is she just adjusting? At what point should I consider this a serious issue? Am I paranoid? I really wanted a "lapdog" since I am a cat person (my husband is not). I knew going in that she would be a lot of work the first year or so and I am ready, I just want to be able to teach her manners and cuddle with her. I will do it what it takes.

Thoughts?

Normal... to an extent. Puppies bite but she most likely won't grow out of it without proper training and socialization. I know some people will make a really loud noise like shaking a can full of coins every time their puppy bites and they do have success with this method.

If the problem persists, you may want to seek professional help.

On a side note, this is sometimes the problem when you get a puppy from a pet store. Usually they come from puppy mills and did not have adequate training and socialization. On top of that you had no way of seeing the parents and maybe they had some aggression issues.