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Old February 27th, 2011, 12:52 PM
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luckypenny luckypenny is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: St. Philippe-de-Laprairie, Qc
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MelissaG View Post
I don’t know what to do…. I have a labradoodle puppy that’s 15 weeks old and he is normally great. He sits and waits for his food, if I use the off command with toys, treats and my clothing he refrains from touching them until I say so, he sits at the door to go out, he gives a paw for all treats, and rings a bell to go outside. We go for walks outside, we use the treadmill, we play fetch. We also go to obedience school and he’s an angel. But at least once a day whether it’s outside playing or just hanging out he start to bark, then growl, then he jumps ups and bites me… If I ignore him he only runs around more quickly and then lunges to bite me….If I force him to sit or command him to sit, he does so but then a few minutes later he’s back to growling, lunging and bitting me….

How do I get him to stop this behaviour? Why is he all of sudden so aggressive? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

You're saying this is only an occurrence that happens infrequently, once per day or so?

How old was your puppy when removed from it's mother? From it's litter mates? Did you see him interact with his siblings? Did you notice anything unusual? When did this behavior start? Right from the beginning? If not, what else was happening during that time frame? Had your puppy been vaccinated? Does he behave this way just with you or with others as well? Are you the primary caretaker? Does he ever break skin? Does he bite down and not let go regardless of your reaction?

As the others have said, it's very difficult to see what exactly is going on without witnessing it for ourselves. Is it possible for someone to video such an episode? It would be important to start filming before he gets out of control . It may very well be normal obnoxious puppy behavior but, I would never rule out something medical either. Even more rare is a dog that's "wired wrong" but it does happen. Can you have your vet run a full blood profile including thyroid? It may be rare that such a young pup has thyroid issues but it's not unheard of. I would also recommend a urine analysis. If all is fine medically, I would be looking into consulting with a certified veterinary behaviorist experienced with aggression (not simply a trainer) to verify if what your puppy is doing is indeed aggressive in nature and not simply puppy play.
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