Ok so my puppy is now fourteen weeks old and has been showing aggression the last few weeks but today was the last straw. I test her sometimes I'll fluff her fur up or I'll pet her when she walks by and she'll growl at me and look at me through the side of her eyes. I thought at first it was just her being vocal but I realized more and more that she was showing aggression. I noticed more today when I was playing with her and fluffing up her fur that this time she bared her teeth and took a bite at my finger. I then reacted with a no bite very sternly and put her on her side and stood over her until she looked calm and then I proceeded to walk away. She acts like she thinks that I am the leader the rest of the time. She follows me around the house. Every time she gets she'll lay between my feet to sleep when Im sitting.. I make her wait during feeding time until she looks at me and is calm before I feed her after feeding my other dogs separately since she has food guarding issues which I'm working on. I make her wait to go through the front door until I go through after a walk. I don't know what else to do. I praise her everytime she does something acceptable. She knows basic tricks. Sit, wait, down, stay, play dead. She's a great puppy other wise. I'm working on biting inhibition as well. She's a good dog. Just that aggression at times bothers me and I don't want her to get big and show the same aggression. Help!

You posted this about a month and a half ago, have there been any improvements?

If not, let me know, i'll try to help you out.

I have the same problem!! My puppy is 15 weeks old, and he started to show aggression a few weeks ago. He has guarding issue over almost everything besides food. He guards his treats, toys, and stuff he's not supposed to chew on (my shoes, remote control, paper...). Whenever I try to take things away he growls at me, but he never really bit me. But just a few days ago, he bit my friend's hand when he tried to take paper towel away from him. It wasn't play-biting, his hand was bleeding a little bit and skin was broken. I have to say I was really upset cuz overall he was a good boy and I tried my best to spend more time with him and train him. Today my vet said I should seriously consider getting a trainer or behaviorist, it's not a good sign that he shows his aggression at such a young age. Yeah, I thought I could train him all by myself, but I guess I failed.

Oh no, no, no, no. Don't say you have failed, because you have not!! I will PM you and you can give me specific details. I really think/hope I can help you!!

I am having the same problem! Sitka is 3 months old, but has been aggressive since I got him at 7 weeks. We are in our 3rd week of training and the instructor is very concerned with it. He is only like that with his food and his treats, but he will try to rip your hand off it you touch it. I have tried to do the training instructor mentioned, but it doesn't seem to be working.

I am afraid to leave him around little kids, I don't want him to snap at them.

Elizabeth, if you PM me and let me know what the trainer told you to do then once I have access to my internet on my computer (I'm currently on my phone and it sucks) I will see if I can help you out!

GenaG wrote:

Elizabeth, if you PM me and let me know what the trainer told you to do then once I have access to my internet on my computer (I'm currently on my phone and it sucks) I will see if I can help you out!

Hey let me know too Simon is mostly good but he throws tantrums.

For sure Elise, just let me know what causes them and what/if you're trying to do anything to stop the behaviour. I will try my best to help you.

What methods have you all tried in regards to resource guarding?

Simon is mostly kind of being a pig. Trying to shoulder his way in and push Sadie out. Such as with the water bowl and once with her food we normally separate them to feed them but I miscommunicated with the boyfriend. He is lucky his big sister likes puppies and didn't do something reactive. He will also get a few chew toys together and try to lay on them so he can have more of them. We have a lot around with a teething puppy there is always a different one for Sadie but I wouldn't what this behavior to get out of hand.

Also last week we started puppy class and he was very possessive around the other puppies seamed to be guarding the treats I had or just stress.

He will also sometimes get frustrated and bite such as if we take something away from him (like trash we found on a walk) or pick him up when he wants to get at something. (like the little yappy dog that he wanted to go "play" with.)

However he is over all pretty good. With the bites they are a lot less than what he can do. I have had him go for a toy and miss and get me. So its more like he is just venting frustration than what I would consider aggression. Also when he is hording stuff he only wants to protect it from Sadie. He will let us take it from him but he will try to get us to play "catch me if you can" if he doesn't want to give it up.

He is a pretty normal puppy from what I can tell. But I figure any tips or tricks to handle it before anything gets worse is always a good idea.

Food aggression is something that I always found very easy to get control over. It takes consistency and you must be the alpha, if your dog is the one that "runs the house" than you need to go back to basics and build on your relationship.

For working on the food aggression you will need to start with every time you feed your dog throw a few treats in her bowl while he is eating. You will want to keep your distance at first if he already has food aggression. With time, move closer and closer to his face, while still popping a few treats in his food bowl during meal times. Work up to the point where you can put your hand in the bowl to place the treats in them. Once you can do that successfully, remove the treats and while he is eating just move the food around with your hand. Once you can do that successfully, start slowly picking up his food bowl and placing treats in it and putting it back down. Eventually you should be able to pick it up, move his food around, and have your hand right in his face while he is eating and he shouldn't care!

You might also want to work on the "leave-it" or the "wait" cue while you fill his bowl up with food. Work on those cues during your regular training time. When you go to feed him, fill up his bowl, tell him to wait or leave it. Place his bowl down and do not let him have it until you give him the okay. If he jumps the gun and goes before you give him the go-ahead, lift the bowl up so he can not reach the food. Then try again. This will let him know that you are the one that is in control.

For the game of "catch me if you can", don't fall for it. If he decides to run away from you, then do not chase him. This will only make this game a lot more fun for him. Instead, ignore him. Leave the room if you have to. He will then loose interest in the item. And if he doesn't loose interest in it and it is something he is not allowed to have, first ignore him, let him know that you're not playing this game, the move his attention onto another item. It could be another toy, or a walk outside. He will most likely drop what ever he had in his mouth and go for the next toy, that is when you can go pick up whatever it was he previously had. Make sure to put things away that he is not allowed to have. For example, if he likes to chew shoes, make sure the shoes are put up higher so he can not reach them, or they are in some place he will not be able to get access to them (closet, mud room, etc.)

I hope this helps.

samoa is much better now after hand feeding and giving random treats while she eats and testing her.. she no longer growls or snaps.. but she does tend to eat faster if my hand gets too close to her food. so i'm trying to work on that. she still gets upset when other dogs get near her when she eats so i just feed her and my other dog separately good luck

Lexi acted a lot like Sadie to my puppy. I would say just watch at about 6-8 months or so. That is the age Lexi became less tolerant of Loki. Once she started glaring at him or showing her teeth Loki started to learn more appropriate dog behavior.

Whenever you want something always offer him something better. He will learn that when you take stuff it is not bad. It took a few months for Lexi to understand this when she was little puppy. I also had to hand feed her for weeks as she had food aggression to.