My 13 week old puppy is a dominant/aggressive dog. We are going to get him neutered next week, will that help? When can I start using the dominant dog collar on him?

Question

I just finished watching your Aggressive dog video with my family (significant other and 11 y/o boy girl twins. We bought a GSD at 6 weeks old. He is beautiful He was the Pack Leader and I liked the way he maneuvered the pack. But shortly after we brought him home he became a dominant aggressive and handler aggressive dog. He is very strong willed. When I discipline him and give him a correction he will pounce, snarl, spit and bark at me with fangs showing. He is very frightening at times. I just picked him up and put him in his crate. We have left his lease on for a day (except at night because I am afraid he will choke).

    Should we keep the leash on at night?

    Now, he is 13 weeks old and 40 pounds. I can no longer pick him up without injury. The vet and assistant shed some blood over toenail clipping and shots at 11 weeks old. The vet said I needed some serious help from a personal trainer (he will come to us in 2 days).

    I have scheduled Rambo for a neutering in 3 days. I fear that if my children are left alone he will bite their hands and they will have a serious injury. His jaw is very strong.

    Is it appropriate to neuter at this young age due to this dominance or will he 'grow out of it'?

    Lastly, all the videos and information that we receive speak of corrections to a dog that is 7 months old. I have just purchased the dominant dog collars from your site but I do not want to use them if he is too young to lift off the ground. I tried the steel choke collar and it caused him more rage and I only used it twice and as soon as I took it off, I got attacked.  I may have used it to wimpy because I didn't want to hurt him. But, it made me emotionally sick to do it.

    So, the 3rd and final question is asking what age can we appropriately use the correction collar?

    Thank you,
Micki

Accepted Answer

Since you are dealing with a 13 week old puppy, I would recommend getting your mindset away from giving him corrections and start thinking about showing him leadership through calm, consistent and firm handling and controlling his environment. Since you have kids, I’ll put it to you this way... did you give your kids physical corrections when they were toddlers for things that you hadn’t taught them yet? I hope not. Puppies need to be shown what’s expected, and with the type of puppy you have giving him punishment for his lack of understanding of human rules isn’t fair. Some puppies cower and become withdrawn with this type of treatment, but others retaliate.

He may need corrections later, but for now change your mindset and set yourself up for success.

I’d recommend Pack Structure for the Family Pet. Dogs don’t grow out of dominance, dominance is a by product of the dog’s temperament, personality and how he or she is raised.

It’s highly unlikely that your dog is showing dominance at this point, it’s more like puppy tantrum when you do something he doesn’t like. Read this article on biting puppies. As for your fear about your children, personally I wouldn’t leave ANY puppy alone with kids. They don’t’ know the correct way to react and behave around puppies. Heck, most adults don’t know how to handle a rowdy puppy.

I would NOT keep the leash on at night, I would keep him in a crate without the leash. Anytime he is out of the crate, he should have a leash on and he should be attached to you.

I don’t believe in neutering any dog so young, but that’s something you need to decide. I would wager that his behavior has NOTHING to do with the fact that he’s intact. He’s a puppy.

Instead of worrying about when you can use the correction collar, I might suggest trying to engage your puppy into using his energy for positive endeavors. I’ve raised some very difficult puppies over the years, and all of them simply needed to be shown how to get what they want using their good behavior. It sounds cheesy, but it works.

I would read our article on training dogs with Markers.

I would suggest The Power of Training Dogs with Markers and The Power of Training Dogs with Food.

Watch some of the free streaming video on the website of puppies doing this work, it tires them out mentally and physically and gives them a reason to work WITH you, not against you.

Cindy