Howdy,

So I'll dive right in.

Hux has been getting really aggressive with my 7 year old daughter. She came to visit this weekend and he jumps up on her (which I expected) and is very mouthy already. The real issue here is it escalates into him full on biting her face and trying to pin her, jumping all over her, and chasing her around. Last night he walked up behind her, bit her leg, and tried to pull her down - he was just shy of breaking skin. She does the normal response of turtle, which I have tried to get her to stop, but honestly standing tall and turning from him only works for so long before she cowers away from him when he is mauling her.

I don't know what to do. The vet gave me instructions to hold his mouth closed and give a firm "No" whenever he gets too mouthy, which is all the time. I am constantly giving him frozen raw elk bones to chew, he is well exercised and entertained. It's pretty much the time that he wakes up from his various naps until I get him out the door that he behaves this way.

I thought it was getting better today but he just went berserker on her in the back seat of the car. She is unhappy, I'm unhappy, the whole holding his mouth shut thing seems to be working but its definetly not working fast enough for this visit anyways. He almost seems enraged that she is getting attention from me and sharing our space.

To make matters worse he tends to be the same way with ALL my friends as well. Generally they are adults so they can push his mouth away or deal with it, but I am getting apprehensive about bringing him around people already. I realize the solution is probably just relax and be patient, keep consistent. I think maybe I just needed to type it out and acknowledge that although Hux is a wrecking ball of teeth and claws he will grow out of it.

Blah.

Any advice? Tips? Tricks?

I'm all ears.


Regards,

Ryan

Ryan, it's the very rare puppy that's really aggressive at his age.  What I hear you describing is a puppy who wants to meet and play with everyone - and that's a puppy, nothing but curiosity and play.

I had to check the age on your boy, at 8 weeks he's learned bite control ( he didn't bite your daughter, he grabbed her, yes? )  One of my suggestions and one that's common here is to put a "house leash" on the pup and leave it on when he's out - something that you can grab when you need to but not so long that it gets tangled up in everything. ( 1/2 - 3/4 of a meter? )  This allows you to exercise control all the time (well, it's supposed to, lol)  When he jumps up, bring him back to your side and then "set"; when he's getting too rambunctious with your daughter or friends - well, ditto.  The idea is to help him learn what's acceptable and what isn't - and jumping on people, except by invitation, isn't.

Some pups get the idea quickly, some take longer but you should start to see improvement within a week.  He'll still want to play, explore and greet people - you just have to teach him that it has to be done on your terms.  Basically, by bringing him to heel you're giving him a short time-out and puppies don't like time-outs, it interferes with play time; if you don't see improvement quickly (teaching a puppy anything should get a quick response, they *are* smart!) then you might want to consider a "real" time out; outside on a lead, in another room behind a gate, in the bathroom (or similar) but never his crate and never longer than a couple of minutes, his crate has to be his safe place, his home, his den.

Edit to add: He's not jealous, you're playing with your daughter and he wants to play too. He's a puppy and in his book, she's a puppy too, so it's fair game ... you just have to teach him it's not.

All of that makes sense. I think I sometimes forget that he is very little still because he is already getting so big!

I went forward trying the leash inside and it did work for the most part. They were both much more comfortable with each other by the end of the visit.

What is acceptable as far as 'rough housing' with a puppy? He really wants to jump all over me and I don't want to encourage it, although I would love to indulge sometimes.

What kind of things can I play with him that will help him understand that he shouldn't maul people, I feel like tug-o-war will encourage the wrong type of play as well.

In terms of knowing when to allow play...right now, if he initiates, ignore him. Only play with him when you initiate play. That way he understands he does not dictate the rough housing. And if it gets too rough, immediately stop play time.

For rough play, I would choose a place that is NOT the house, where it is for rough play, with you only, no little ones. Where specific protective gear that he learns to recognize and associate with play(leather work gloves, long sleeves with padding, long pants). Make it a ritual - I played tug with Ami a whole lot the first year - he no longer is really interested in people play because he plays with Archer so much - now walks, car rides and treats, that is a different story - he loves those with people.

I love puppy play, they are so cute and full of energy and audaciously impudent Enjoy it while you have it.

Ryan, one of the most difficult things to teach a dog is that it's okay to do something - sometimes - and not okay to do the same thing at other times.

I think the way it works for me is that *I* initiate the rough play and when I say "enough" that's the end of it - *now*.  I allow Avalanche, who is my "playful pup" at 5 years old, to initiate play now because I'm confident that "enough" will stop him in his tracks.  He and Sasha like to play of an evening and until it gets to be too rough I let it go - they both know that "enough" means enough!

First, you have to be careful, somewhat, about rough play - tug of war is good as long as it's in line with the dogs body (or he's the one jerking it right and left) jerking it up/down  right/left can cause neck damage in a puppy so a modicum of restraint is called for.

Secondly, using my dog as an example, if someone wants to rough house with him I'm okay with that - but when I say enough, for whatever reason - it must stop.  Teach Hux to stop on command and you've got 90% of this battle won.  You definitely want to be the one to teach him that "enough" means stop; letting him rough house with anyone else while he's learning to stop on command is a lot harder to control.

I like to upend or roll my dogs in play but again that's better saved until they're older and not as fragile ("fragile", a puppy??) It'll get Avalanche really wound up but it's all good fun and he's invariably ready for more. If you hurt him, he'll let you know ... so just be more careful next time.

The idea of a house leash seems to be counter intuitive until you make it work, then it's a real (pun intended) handle on the situation.