HELP!! puppy starting to get agressive?

amira

need help with this lil one me thinks!!

got a lil mini schnauzer, she'll be 6 months next week. I have an adult dog, same breed, just over one year old, but he's just the most adorable lil one. the only flaw is the recall, otherwise he's just perferct, but let's get to the puppy.
She normaly is fine, she grew up with the other dog, and seems a bit weary of other dogs, she always barks at them, if she doesnt know them. but doesnt seem aggressive way, she just barks wagging the tail, as if to catch their attention, and if they come to her she puts her tail between the legs and looks for human shelter, under anybody who's close legs.. seems not to sociable with other dogs, but she loves people.
she loves being the centre of attention.
It's only recently, that she's snapping at me or my husband when she's lying in the couch, floor, bed and we want to grab her. To take her somewhere else or for whatever reason. She gets very roudy!! I say 'NO' in a firm voice, but doesnt seem to work.
Sometimes she 'plays' with the other dog in what seems not very friendly either so i get her and put her in the toilet downstairs for a few minutes till she relaxes (maybe i've seen too much supernanny and not enough the dog whisperer.. )
Anyways, my problem is the snapping. So far only does it at that time, when she's lying down somewhere and you want to hold her. but is worrying me that it'll get worse..
sorry for the long post.. any help/suggestions will be appreciated!

Sigma Force

She could think that she's the queen bee being allowed access to the couch etc. now I love dogs on the couch but some dogs can think it's their and theirs only and they think how dare you disturb them. It's best not to grab the dog it's better to start with calling the dog bribing with treats to get her off the couch. Using clicker training could help with this.

If possible maybe get her in to a few puppy/dog socialisation classes that use only humane methods of training.

Some dogs don't like being molly coddled and can become a bit narky but I would be worried if it's getting worse so perhaps bringing her to a dog trainer would help with her behaviour and help her with socialising with other dogs and other people as well.

kylith

Is she snapping because you're trying to move her off the couch, or is it whenever you try to pick her up?

If it's when you try to take her off the couch then you need to train her to get off at a verbal command. You can do this by, when she's on the couch, holding a treat down by the ground and, when she jumps down to get it say 'off' and give her the treat. Then you can sit down. Keep practicing and you'll get there. What I'd do is get her off the sofa, then show her a treat on the seat and, when she jumps up, say 'on'. That way you can make a bit of a game out of it.

Removing her when she's overexcited is probably a good thing. She'll learn that when she gets too rough then the fun stops, so she'll learn to be calmer. Stay away from Cesar Milan; poking and hissing at your dog will probably only make it more nervous of you in the long term. I think that Victoria Stilwell (It's Me or the Dog) is better.

If she snaps when you're disturbing her in bed it could just be that she doesn't want to get up and is letting you know. I don't know of any dog that likes being dragged out of bed. It's much better to call her and bribe her out with treats; then coming when you call her is a fun thing that she'll want to do.

If she snaps whenever you touch her then it could well be a medical issue and she's in pain, so get her to the vet for a checkup.

number10a

Our Jack Russell has a habit of sleeping on a cushion whenever he's on the couch or an armchair. Whenever it's time for bed and I need to move him to the kitchen he could snap if I try to pick him up. Usually he'll get off when you ask him and follow me, but sometimes if he's settled he won't. So I've taken to gently pulling the cushion out from under him and it disturbs him enough to get him moving. He might still growl, but it's more a short growl of disapproval rather than anything else.

amira

number10a - that's exactly what happens with her.. it's when i move her coz it's time for bed and she's on the couch.. or in the mornings, she sneaks in my bed while i'm getting ready for work and when i need to move her coz i have to leave then she gets snappy.

I'll try to teach her the commands as kylith suggest and i think a bit of training wont do any harm, to work on her socialization skills...

Thank you all!!

Aru

If shes getting snappy when you attempt to move her off things then either stop her getting onto these places...Or by asking to get down every time she gets up(consistency is important herelif shes allowed up sometimes then its not really fair to expect her to mindread and know when shes not allowed as well)
Or if you want to continue allowing her on the couch...teaching the down or off now command.

Bribery(positive reinforcement) to teach her the off command is the best way to go.A postive responce should be given every time she obeys-off the couch when told =either food or a toy(depending on what motivates her) IMMEDIATELY and lots of praise

Also to avoid a where she can bite or snap to get her own way attaching a lead to the collar is very helpful.
Dogs will snap at the lead rather than a hand so bite are avoided.This means she can safely be removed from an area and she will learn that snapping will not get you to leave her alone.

Shes not being a bad dog per say.
Her snap is just her way of saying ..hey you stop that and leave me alone.Its isnt of course acceptable but its up to ye to teach her that when you say down she must go down.And the without being taught in a consistent way she wont know that she must do what shes told or what you mean when you say get off now.Or that she cant give out (by snapping) about being asked to leave this nice place.
So ye nead to teach her the right thing (saying down means jumping off furniture and is rewarded by something nice) and to not let her get ye to leave her alone when she snaps by using the lead to force her
to get off when you ask.

amira

I've tried a few techniques suggested.

Basically, when i want her to get down the couch i tell her off and she comes down, then she follows me to her own bed at bed time or in the morning when i'm going to work.

Our bedtime routine was: we use to grab the dogs, put them to bed, and pet good nite.
Now we grab the other dog, we tell her 'off' the couch, she follows us to their bed. Once in there and we pet good nite.
Same kinda routine in the morning when i leave for work.

But last night, she snapped at my husband when he pet her 'good nite'. and this morning she snapped at me at the same time, when they were already in their beds and i said good bye.

Also, last night she was trying to look through the window, i tried to grab her just to bring her up to the window level so she could have a better look and she snapped at me again..

Starting to worry that i dont know how to deal with her. I just dont want her to snap at me or my husband at all. We have no kids now, but we're planning to have them soon, i don't think it'd be very safe leaving her around babies at this stage..

andreac

Why are you trying to grab the dogs at all?? If someone tried to grab me i wouldnt be too happy about it either...

Are you sure its snapping? Most puppies mouth, but its not aggressive or vicous.

amira

dunno, i've always done that and there was no problem until now..

why wouldnt i? I wouldnt be happy if anybody will try to grab me.. but i've no problems if it's my husband doing it.. if you know what i mean..

I'm not saying they should be ok with anybody doing it, but it should be fine if it's us..

andreac

amira wrote: »

dunno, i've always done that and there was no problem until now..

why wouldnt i? I wouldnt be happy if anybody will try to grab me.. but i've no problems if it's my husband doing it.. if you know what i mean..

I'm not saying they should be ok with anybody doing it, but it should be fine if it's us..

No, its not ok to grab your dogs, you come across very aggressive with the way you treat your dogs if you are grabbing them. I would urge you to bring the dogs to a trainer and get them to show you how to treat your dogs properly.
If you are grabbing them they are just lashing out because they dont like being treated like that and i dont blame them.

amira

Sorry, maybe i'm not expressing myself correctly..
I don't think my attitude towards my dogs is aggressive at all..
Don't call it grab then, call it hold, pick up, i dont do this in a harsh way at all..
Also is only the puppy doing this, the other dog has no problems with me handling him..
And i don't think to pet them 'good nite' or 'good bye' is an aggressive gesture either.. or is it?

padraig.od

andreac wrote: »

No, its not ok to grab your dogs, you come across very aggressive with the way you treat your dogs if you are grabbing them. I would urge you to bring the dogs to a trainer and get them to show you how to treat your dogs properly.
If you are grabbing them they are just lashing out because they dont like being treated like that and i dont blame them.

Depends on what she means by grab. I pick up and move my mini schnauzers all the time. They like being picked up and are well used to being handled. You've just accused that poor girl of abusing her dog, thats not fair at all. Did you handle her a lot when she was younger?

andreac

padraig.od wrote: »

Depends on what she means by grab. I pick up and move my mini schnauzers all the time. They like being picked up and are well used to being handled. You've just accused that poor girl of abusing her dog, thats not fair at all.

Where did i say anything about abusing??

padraig.od

andreac wrote: »

Where did i say anything about abusing??

"Handling aggressively" would constitute abuse.

andreac

padraig.od wrote: »

"Handling aggressively" would constitute abuse.

No it doesnt constitute abuse at all, stop twisting words.

There is a huge difference between being aggressive with a dog and abusing it, a huge difference. Some dogs prefer the gentler approach, instead of being manhandled and grabbed, doesnt mean they are being abused.

padraig.od

andreac wrote: »

No it doesnt constitute abuse at all, stop twisting words.

There is a huge difference between being aggressive with a dog and abusing it, a huge difference. Some dogs prefer the gentler approach, instead of being manhandled and grabbed, doesnt mean they are being abused.

Which dogs like being man handled and grabbed? Anyway, this is off topic so going to leave it now.

amira

Thanks padraig, that is what i meant.

I came here looking for help, i'm not misstreating my dogs at all.
I always thought that holding them to put them in bed it was a nice gesture when they are all snuggled up with us in the couch at night, and in fact my other mini doesn't have any issues with this.

as i said, yesterday she snapped while petting her..

I'm only looking for help coz i think she's getting a bit snappy and i dont think we're giving her reasons for it. Is not like we've changed, we always did this since day one, she's only now getting narky..

I love them two things more than anything, if i didnt care about them, why would i be posting here? i'd just deal with it in a different way..

andreac

Jesus, manhandled is just being a bit rough with them, grabbing them too hard etc.
Abusing is actually causing physical pain to them, very different.

amira

well, my point is that i'm not being rough with them at all..

Sorry if i expressed myself wrong and i caused this missunderstanding..

bonphoenix

Could there be a chance she is in heat or coming into heat? My female cocker began to get very narky and snappy at around 6 months when she came into her first heat.

amira

could be, how could i know? haven't seen any obvious signs..

andreac

She will swell up behind and she will start bleeding too.

Cherry Blossom

Sounds like she's in heat to me too. Dogs coming in to heat will be out of sorts, grumpy, might cry more than usual and will tend to drink more and need the toilet more. Signs may be very subtle or you may not even notice any symptoms at all. A vet can confirm this for you if you are unsure. Has your older dog been neutered? If not you are going to have to keep them separate for the next 3 weeks.

amira

ooops! havent noticed to be honest, but will check more closely.

The dog is not neutered, we were planning on getting her spayed tho, we were waiting for her to be 6 months (this friday) to make arrangements with the vet.

Might bring her over there a bit earlier, see what the vet says..

Thanks everybody for the advise! i'd actually be glad if this was the case and not a serious behaviour problem..