My 8 week old pup is dog aggressive, what should I do?

Question

Hello, I saw your web site. and had a question. I just recently purchased a GSD pup 4 days ago. He is 8 weeks old. He is a male. He came from german champion lines, so both parents are Schutzhund trained. The question I have is this, at only 8 weeks of age he is dog aggressive with my pom. This bothered me because I would have not expected this behavior in such a young dog. Additionally, the pup growled and barked at my husband and son as they were practicing karate. Is this a concern based on his age? The breeder is well respected in San Diego and has been breeding GSD since 1976. If this is a concern should I try and return the pup, (which will be a financial loss for me) or should I use your DVD's? A part of me is so disillusioned because I had plans for this pup, agility, SAR or agility. Now I don't know if he has the temperament for this. A part of me wants to get rid of the pup since I don't want a high drive dog. I currently own an old 12 year old GSD (female) and never had these issues. The pup is currently enrolled in puppy classes and using clicker techniques. The pup lives indoors in a crate and is not allowed on the couch or beds. I've reprimanded the pup by pushing his cheeks but don't know if this is wise.

    I would truly appreciate your input.

    Jennifer

Accepted Answer

It’s really impossible for an 8 week old puppy to be aggressive. They can show behaviors like barking and biting, but at 8 weeks it really isn’t aggression. It’s normal puppy behavior and I would guess your puppy probably has a lot of prey drive and is easily stimulated.

I would recommend you purchase the DVD titled Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months. Ed has owned and trained German Shepherds for 45 years. In the past 30 years we have bred over 350 litters of working bloodline German Shepherds. We give this video to all of our puppy customers and we never get questions on how to raise a pup.

Read the description of this puppy DVD on the web site. Dog training is not rocket science its simple common sense ideas on how to handle and train a dog.

You should also consider the 4 hour DVD on Basic Dog Obedience. I recommend the handlers start studying this DVD right away even though you won’t use some of this training material for several months (usually not until the pup is 4 to 6 months old).

I also recommend that you go to the web site and read the article on “Ed’s Philosophy of Dog Training." I believe you will not only learn something about dog training, I hope you will also adopt the same philosophy on dog training.

We have a great article for you called Groundwork to Becoming Your Puppy’s Pack Leader. I think you will find a lot of useful ideas here.

Pack structure and how to live with a dog in your home are the very first issues to deal with whenever you add a new dog to your family or have problems with an existing dog. We have a new DVD that extensively covers the way Ed and I live with dogs in our home, Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Pet.

I hope this helps.

Cindy