My
best friend got her first dog (Lucy) about 3 weeks ago. She's a
Pitbull/Dachshund mix. She's super cute, but here's the thing. She's currently
7 weeks old and was taken away from her mother at 3 weeks. YES 3 WEEKS! It's a
long story about how she got her, but basically the mom didn't want the puppies
anymore so they gave them away. She didn't get Lucy from the owners directly so
she really didn't get any information from them.

Lucy is adorable, but seems to be a aggressive. My best friend had been telling
me how she bites her hard and I was like "no way, she's tiny". I was
there on Saturday and OMG yes she bites hard! I'm guessing it's the pitbull in
her. She growls at you when you pick her up from the floor and throws fits.l

I know that she will have issues because she wasn't socialized with her
brothers and sisters. She's also to small to get trained. She's trying, but
it's not working.

What do you guys suggest that she does to nip this aggression in the butt NOW?
I told her that in a few weeks she should consider taking her to puppy class at
Petsmart (even though I never did with Kody), but I think it will be good for
Lucy.

Anyways, here are some pics from Saturday. Imagine how small she was at 3weeks!





See that hurts!

Pitbull/Dachshund mix Hope all her organs are the right size. I would try to teach gentle biting. Pretty much put your fingers in her mouth and treat when she quits applying pressure. Though make sure you are treating with the other hand, so your fingers don't taste like treats! And after a week or so, start only treating if she gives no pressure from the get go. I'd also think doing a lot of short training sessions would help to show who's in charge without being aggressive. Hopefully the aggression can be treated and it's not just a genetic problem. But as I learned in a seminar by a highly respected dog breeder, 35% of a dog's abilities are genetic and 65% are environmental.

If she's having a lot of problems, she could call PJ at Best Paw Forward. She does a lot of classes with aggressive dogs. She's one of the only trainers in FL who deals with aggressive dogs on a regular basis with her Doggy Delinquent classes. She may be able to give some better advice.

I know what you mean about the pitbull/dachshund mix. I was like HOW THE HECK DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN! That's what they told her she was, but I'm thinking there's another mix in there somewhere. Is it even physically possible for a hotdog and pitbull to do "stuff"?! I mean, I guess it can be, but I find it very weird. Regardless, she definitely has pit in her. She locks her jaw and has the pit walk.

I will let her know about the gentle biting training. That's a great idea. Thanks Sara!

Koda was brought home at 6 weeks and when he mouthed it was to where he would draw blood, rip skin, latch and have to be shaken off, etc etc.. And he was not aggressive at all and it got gentler and stopped with time. I worked with a pit rescue through my work and helped rehome several of their pits who they boarded with us, 7 being puppies.. I really don't think it's right to say she is aggressive due to being a pit at 3-7 weeks. She was taken away from her mom and siblings 3 weeks into her life, of course she is going to have issues with mouthing, she pretty much got zero time to work on manners at all with her siblings. Pits also usually more have issues with other dogs and that's possible to work around with socializing. All 73 dogs I took into boarding and went to visit at their houses and help with were great with humans, most even did amazing with kids. Sorry, defensive subject- I just think it's wrong to deem a puppy aggressive so early because people think pits = aggressive when most of the I'll tempered pits are due to environmental circumstances.. Not born mean.

Oh, and I've met a chi/lab mix and seen both patents so I'm sure it's possible.. Doesn't make sense but I guess it works out somehow. Sorry, on phone so editing is a PITA.

I've seen some snippy dachshunds too! lol. Wasn't trying to say it was, because of the pitt in it, just that it obviously came from a bad breeder who probably didn't care at all about temperments.

My ten page essay reply was in response to the sentence "I'm guessing it's the pitbull in
her" (the biting hard). I usually don't go around shouting things about pits, but just think it's really sad to associate (unjustified) breed-aggression with a little baby.

I think I might have phrased that incorrectly Heather. I meant that she locks her jaw really hard and you can't get her off. Puppies bite..totally normal, but when you can't get a tiny 6 week old puppy to let go of your finger no matter what you do...yeah I'd say that's the pit in her.

She's very very sweet and I doubt that she means any harm at all, but she needs to learn that she can't do that. Imagine her at 6months old doing that I've met several pits and they were all very sweet and gentle. I wouldn't say that they're all aggressive. Any breed can be aggressive...just depends on the dog and the way it was raised/it's surroundings.

Sara, yep, I've met fore snippy dachshunds than pits..lol!

Lucy is adorable...i love her!

I got Kale at 5 weeks and the idoits that had him before me had had him for a week proir, he had the exact same problem. I can tell you with confidence that it will take some time and a heaping dose of patience. You cant expect results overnight. The method I used when he was 5-6 weeks was to redirect to his favorite toys. from 7-9 weeks i practiced touching his face and mouth and when he applied pressure with his teeth I would gentle hold his mouth closed, stare him directly in the eye, give him the sit command, and firmly tell him "no bite" then redirect to a toy. I started out with REALLY hard bites, and gradually went on to the medium pressure and light pressure until there was none. Within a couple of days there was a vast improvement. From that point on I gradually kept putting my hand in his mouth, opening his mouth, brushing his teeth, and now he has a soft mouth.

No type of dog has been found to have a mechanism that enables them to "lock" their top and bottom jaws together. The lock jaw thing is pretty much a myth with no actual proof to back it up. Pitts just tend to bite and hold, rather than release, their jaw does not lock- just have a tendency to be stubborn and determined. What Lucy is doing is not a pit-related issue, it's a puppy taken away from it's mom and litter way too young issue. Like I said, Koda would latch on and I'd have to pry him off, usually with some of my skin, and he does not have any pit in him obviously. That was with being taken away at 6 weeks on the dot, I can only imagine how bad the bite inhibition would be when taken at 3 weeks. And we are classifying an understandable behavior as aggressive.

She is a little puppy, she will outgrow it- I use to think daily about getting rid of Koda because it was so bad, but by the time he was 4-4.5 months or so he didn't even do it softly anymore.

Heatherlee wrote:

She is a little puppy, she will outgrow it- I use to think daily about getting rid of Koda because it was so bad, but by the time he was 4-4.5 months or so he didn't even do it softly anymore.

I felt the same way lol

I know that they don't literally LOCK their jaws. That would be a first...lol. It's just a way of expressing that they bite and close their mouths REALLY hard while refusing to let go.

Her issues are definitely from being separated from her mother/siblings at such a young age and I'm sure that once she works with Lucy she will get over it. It will take time and lost of patience!

My best friend is already getting SUPER frustrated and she's only had her a few weeks. I'm glad to hear that working with Koda helped get him over the biting fairly quickly.

She called me crying the other day because Lucy wouldn't let go of her foot..LOL! It's not funny, but it is. Once she got a treat and put it in the corner of her mouth she let go.

Melissa- here is the info for the trainer that I used with Frankie. He is by all means not the cheapest, but he is awesome. He comes to your home and when it comes time for socializing he will bring his dogs with him since they are so well trained. He specializes with "aggressive" dogs (not saying it's aggression yet). He will do a free consultation to see what the needs are and if it can turn into a true aggression issue. She is so young, but now would be the time to start. I totally agree with heather on the pit thing, I'm a bully lover. But the fact that this dog has any pit in her is all the more reason for training ASAP since Miami is NOT a very pit friendly city and I believe most of miami has bans against them.

http://www.woofdogs.com/

Thanks Dee! I'm going to send the link to her right now. She probably won't go through with it since you say that he isn't that cheap and honestly, she's a cheap skate..LOL!! I love her to death, but she really is! Maybe she'll contact him and she'll see that he would work wonders for her and Lucy.

Speaking of pits...we saw one at Petsmart while shopping with Kody for his bday presents and he was so cute! Kody was playing with him for a few minutes while I spoke to the owner.

Maybe she could at least have the free consult to see what she is up against. He is VERY honest and won't try to take advantage. He will let her know if it's not that bad or if it is. He gave me 6 sessions with Frankie and those sessions were spread out over the course of a few months with multiple phone calls in between. He only recommended 4 sessions with my mom for Bruiser. There was another case I referred that was more severe and recommended 10. So he makes his recommendations based on the dog and the owner. It was well worth the $$ in my book considering I was looking at more spent in home repairs if I didn't do this, lol.

ETA: he is very husky savy too.....works with south florida husky rescue, that is who referred me to him.