April 21, 2011
My 7 week old female Boxer puppy has aggressive tendencies. She will growl and bite to the point of drawing blood. What can we do?
Full Question:
My wife and I have two kids. We have a son (7) and a daughter (4). They desperately wanted a puppy and we came a cross a seven week old female boxer puppy. She is adorable, but has aggressive tendencies. She's very playful, but she will start growling and bite to the point of drawing blood from the arm. I'm a little concerned that she may hurt one on the kids. First thing in the morning she's fine, she wags here tail and is excited to see you. However, as the day progresses, it's like she turns in to devil dog. When you pick her up by putting your one hand underneath and between the front legs, she will growl and try to reach around to bite you. I'm fearing that we got the dominant female of litter. What do you recommend? Do we need to find a new home for her. I even thought about buying a muzzle and putting it on her when she bites. Is this a good alternative, or will it just make her more mean? I'm 39 years and grew with Boxers and found them to be lovable companions, but I've never seen this. I've attached a picture and you will see why I hate to let her go.Your advise would be greatly appreciated....
Cindy's Answer:
Your pup is not aggressive – what you are seeing is prey drive – this is not aggression. Although it is still annoying and can still draw blood – in effect the dog is playing just as it plays with its mouth with littermates. It's your job to raise the dog in a manner that teaches it to live with humans.
You can go to my web site and read the Q&A’s on puppies.
I would recommend you purchase the video I produced titled Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months. I have owned and trained German Shepherds for 40 years. In the past 25 years I have bred over 350 litters of working bloodline German Shepherds. I give this video to all of my puppy customers and never get questions on how to raise a pup. Read the description of the tape on my 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 my 4 hour DVD on Basic Dog Obedience -The fact is you have way more to learn than your dog. I always recommend the handlers start studying this DVD right away even though you wont train a lot of the work until the pup is 4 to 6 months old.
You can go to my web site and read the Q&A’s on puppies.
I would recommend you purchase the video I produced titled Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months. I have owned and trained German Shepherds for 40 years. In the past 25 years I have bred over 350 litters of working bloodline German Shepherds. I give this video to all of my puppy customers and never get questions on how to raise a pup. Read the description of the tape on my 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 my 4 hour DVD on Basic Dog Obedience -The fact is you have way more to learn than your dog. I always recommend the handlers start studying this DVD right away even though you wont train a lot of the work until the pup is 4 to 6 months old.
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