I have a question for all you experts out there <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
I bought a 3 month old Malinois puppy a little over a week ago. Well, everything was fine (other than shyness of strangers which is MUCH better now) until yesterday. I had her at work with me and stole something off one of the shelves (she is little devil about that). She laid down in the middle of the room to chew on it. I approached her and got down on my hands and knees so she wouldn't run off when I tried to take it (she has no recall yet, working on that). Well, when I reached for the item she gave me this horrid look, pinned her ears, snarled, and actually lunged at me when I ignored her warnings. She then grabbed HER object and ran under a chair. As soon as she saw me coming she began guarding her prize and snarling and barking (not a very nice or playful bark either). And when I got closer she came after me again, not enough to come out from under the chair so I could grab her though.
Since she is only 13 weeks old, I am unsure how to correct her. I have never corrected a dog (other than verbally or scruff shakes) until it was at least 4 months, usually 6 months, old. I know that if I let this go that long I will have a serious problem on my hands.
Oh, and yes she does display dominant behaviors (tail held high, ears up, jumping up on people, biting). But she also acts submissive when I, or especially a stranger, pets her.
I don't want to mess up my pup by being either too harsh or too soft. Any help would be appreciated.
Sorry this is so long <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Please help, I don't know what to do with this pup <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I have read your post and have been waiting for some of the more knowledgable people on this board to reply.

However, I wonder if you have read through Ed's Q & A section on Puppies. There is a lot of info there you may find fits your situation.

Gwen

http://www.leerburg.com/index.htm?http://www.leerburg.com/table.htm~mainFrame

There is a paragraph in the Q&A about an 8 month old pup, but is the same correction and possible alpha roll appropriate for a 3 month old puppy? If she's already challenging me at 3 months, will my assertion of dominance last, or will she be challenging me constantly throughout her life?

Woah There! Don't panic!
The answer is NO you cannot use the same corrections as in an 8month old.
I will give you step by step advice on what to do for her. Anyone else reading this with a similar problem, please e-mail me with details as this advice is NOT for you. It is just for this specific puppy and might not work for you at all.

Here we go:
Your 'confrontations' must be very short and to the point with (and this is important) IMMEDIATE forgiveness.
1. You must try hard to avoid the puppy running away from you (as being faster than you is very rewarding to the puppy and stays well in its memory, solidifying the unwanted behavior). To do this you must calmly kneel down and then do your best to move your hands FAST to catch hold of ANY part of the puppy. Do not hurt the puppy at all, just grab it and GET BITTEN if need be (3months of Malinois teeth can't do you much harm).
Don't yell or even scowl at the puppy just calmly concentrate on catching it real fast while ignoring its reaction completely.

2. Take 'HER' stolen object by opening her mouth and NOT by just pulling on it: Put her in your lap, grab her muzzle with your left hand, thumb and middle finger pushing on her last teeth on either side to get her to open up. Then remove object with right hand. You are still IGNORING her reactions.

3. Get up and get her a toy you DO want her to play with.

Do this for the next month whenever she is in such a situation and if you are FAST and she NEVER again gets away, she should stop her growling and stealing too! And her running from you!

This is a shy puppy that is panicing into aggression. She needs a mommy not a trainer at this point and you would do well to act like her mother for another month before you start to take her seriously at all. Act like you are so much 'bigger' than her that you don't have time to get upset with her growling. Act like all her "fussing and fighting" just went out the window. Dogs get embarassed by that and it is a correction in itself -especially when the pup is young and sensitive.

Chances are you were actually intimidated by her growl in the past enough to leave her be -or gave her that impression as she hid out of your reach.
This was what she wanted and taught her something:
"Ahhh! A growl will keep the lady from scaring me!"
For the next month ignore the growls and work on socialising you're puppy.
The fact that she is afraid of people is MUCH more serious than her growling at you. You have very little time left to make a major difference in her general temperament (about 1 month) so get a move on <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Take her out alot and have many very calm and sweet people come over often -who should never pressure her but should always have a treat for her if she decides to come closer to them.

You have had the puppy for a VERY short time as she also may still need time to adjust!
That means lots of love and almost no corrections for a while. And don't get into the 'dominant' trip. Its far too soon for you to be thinking like that. To my experience even dogs that are allowed to get away with EVERYTHING for the first
6-8 months become better adjusted adults when trained later then ones that were pictures of 'perfection' at 5 months old. I'm not saying people should let their pups wreak havoc but just that its easier to shape those up later then the ones that were 'broken' too young. The middle way is best as in most things in life. Try to find that 'middle road' AFTER you give her some time to adjust and fall in love with you.
You thought YOUR mail was long!
Did you see mine?
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I appreciate the reply and the advice, thankyou very much. We are working hard on very intensive and closely monitered socialization (no scary people <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ) and she is getting much better about people. I will follow your advice about her stealing and growling (not too worried about getting bit, yet). She does seem to be a very sensitive puppy (a sharp phooey stops most undesireable behaviors).
Would you then recommend keeping her on a leash to make her easy to catch, she is very agile and quick and seems to know exactly what I'm up to :rolleyes: .
Thank you again for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it.

You might try one of those really light nylon "poodle" leashes and just leave it hanging of her collar although she will be tempted to eat it! Also, Mal puppies are very smart and she will soon behave only when on the leash.
If I was you, I wouldn't use the leash and work on 'out-smarting' her by sneaking up on her when I needed to take something away... in the way I described. Walk condfidently over with a calm expression and then QUICKLY grab any part of her body gently but firmly before you try to take anything away...

I have been working this problem as you have suggested, but the more I work with her, the harder time I have believing that she is afraid of me. This behavior happens mainly when I am down on her level and she's seems perfectly confident in her aggression. Her hackles are not raised and she is not cornered, nor attempting to retreat. Put my mind at ease that I'm doing the right thing and answer one more question, please <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Why, and how, are you so sure that she is afraid of me? Her behavior doesn't indicate this to me. I've worked a lot of dogs and some where afraid of people, and me (got one in particular right now, ASD) and she acts differently. I'm just really unsure of the situation, other than that I don't want it to escalate, and want to be 100% sure that I am taking care of the problem correctly. I have not problem mothering the puppy if that's what she needs, I enjoy mothering puppies. But if we are incorrectly saying that she is afraid and mothering while she is actually trying to assert dominance and become the alpha member (which won't happen, not in my house) won't mothering cause more of a problem?
Thanks again for you help, don't mean to be a pest <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> just worried about my pup