Puppy angry at me when disciplined!

So you may have seen my previous post about the usual puppy biting...my main problem now is that when my boyfriend is playing with her and she bites, he growls at her and she goes all submissive and starts licking him.

When I'm playing with her and I say "NO", she growls or yelps back at me, tries to snap at my face and runs away. It's got to the point where I've smacked her for biting my face as a knee-jerk reaction. She then ends up sulking and refusing to look me in the eye for several hours after.

I don't know what this is all about. She clearly doesn't respect my corrections, yet lies on the floor with her belly up when he corrects her. Yet I'm with her all day and she's usually really good. It only seems to be first thing in the morning and last thing at night that she gets like this.

I've had enough. I hate myself for smacking her, but it's her or my face and I've already had 3 nosebleeds from her retaliatory snaps.

She doesn't growl and show teeth or anything, it's more like a growl that sounds like she's arguing back at me. I'm getting really stressed out as, to be honest, I'm far more consistent throughout the day, yet she seems to have no respect for me and loves him to bits!

She even just did it as I was typing this - bit my hand, I shouted NO so she bit my leg instead!!!

where did the idea of growling at hert come in the first place is theis a Cesar Milan tactic ??? never heard of it myself and wouldn't recommend it

No, he just did it because nothing else was working! It works pretty damn well considering he's not the one getting snapped at in the face for correcting her!!

Ah I see . First I think you have to reduce the play and teach calm , getting her to sit and wait until you say go, and then work on being able to stop play and initiate sit , just so she knows who's in charge. Regarding the nipping the best action is a firm no and turn your back, but you must be persistent

You & your bf are going to have to agree on how you deal with this.

Personally I wouldn't growl at her because all that does is frighten her. Not good. That's why she rolls over - not because she had learnt anything but because your bf has scared her.

You both need to be consistent with her, though, or she will just be confused. When she gets out of hand, say "No" in a firm but reasonably calm voice & stand up imediately, turning your back on her. Don't speak to her, don't even look at her. If she carries on, put her out of the room for a few seconds.

It will work, but you both need to be firm & do the same thing every time.

It would also be a good idea to stop all very rough play until she understands that she mustn't nip. Tug games are fine, but no rough & tumble on the floor!

Is it you that feeds her or your boyfriend? This can sometimes make a difference to a dog.

This might seem like a daft question - but have you tried interacting with the dog without eye contact - pushing it down, saying "no", then ignoring it for five minutes - all without looking at it while doing so?

Ok, stop all rough housing / play fighting. Need to re-establish boundaries.

When she nips, u need to yelp and ignore. If she growls, a firm loud bellowing 'no!'
When she lays on the floor and shows her tummy she's not being igronant, she's showing submission... Albeit it a round about way !

Begin with simple activities u control, such as feeding, make her sit and wait, give paw before allowing her to eat.

Spend 5-10mins a day doing basic training. Sit/stay/down/paw/leave with lots of petting when she achieves it.

Both u and ur partner and u entire household need to he using the sane method to avoid confusion !

Basically step up ur authority and reward with affection/treats to reinforce your position.

X

Caryll wrote:You & your bf are going to have to agree on how you deal with this.

Personally I wouldn't growl at her because all that does is frighten her. Not good. That's why she rolls over - not because she had learnt anything but because your bf has scared her.

You both need to be consistent with her, though, or she will just be confused. When she gets out of hand, say "No" in a firm but reasonably calm voice & stand up imediately, turning your back on her. Don't speak to her, don't even look at her. If she carries on, put her out of the room for a few seconds.

It will work, but you both need to be firm & do the same thing every time.

It would also be a good idea to stop all very rough play until she understands that she mustn't nip. Tug games are fine, but no rough & tumble on the floor!

I agree with this. Since your BF is playing with her she thinks that it is okay to do so with you as well. Pups will nip to say they want to play and she is getting confused with what is okay and what isn't. Sit down with him and explain the problem and how you want to work together to correct it.

This method has worked for me with a number of pups over the years , get her to sit at the side of you now make a clenched fist and put it at the side of her mouth slowly of course, gently push with your clenched fist not knuckle first use the little finger side of your hands , her ears should go back and her eyes will show she looking at your fist if she doesn't snap you are one up , repeat this over and over through the day , it will show her you are in charge and she should submit to you , good luck .

Cut down on the play I think. At least, cut down on tug-of-war kinds of games that get them hyped up. Also, I reckon the growling is her just being defiant. I mean, I remember Loki used to dive onto the couch and I'd tell him "off," and he'd just start growling or whining because he didn't want to stop. So as stressful as it is, don't hit her or anything like that, simply because it'll either scare her or she'll think you're playing. I also think she sees your no as a bark. I had the same problem with the biting and my dad told me that when he'd hear me say "no," it'd sound more like a bark than anything else, which would make him thing it's a game. So maybe that's something to change.

Anyway, the growling may work for your boyfriend, but if it isn't working for you, do something else, because you both need to be seen as equals who she should respect. I know it's frustrating and seems impossible, but you will get through it. I swear, I never EVER thought Loki would improve on the biting. I literally couldn't let him sit near me to stroke him or he'd start biting. Whereas now he does still bite, but only when he's very excited and wants to play. So pick a method (I reckon a firm "no" and then ignoring for a few minutes is useful) and stick to it. It'll work, just takes time.

Another thing is teaching her to be calm. I did this with Loki a while back. Get her hyped up and wild, and then tell her to sit and reward her when she does. Eventually she should be willing to sit as soon as you say it. So it should help because when she gets too excited, you can get her to sit and calm down.

Working dog wrote:This might seem like a daft question - but have you tried interacting with the dog without eye contact - pushing it down, saying "no", then ignoring it for five minutes - all without looking at it while doing so?

My 10 week old regressed back to biting me recently and I have been doing this, I just Yelp, push her away and ignore her, if she persists I put her in her crate and leave the room for a few minutes.. Seems to be working at the moment..

Urgh thanks guys. Sometimes I just get so stressed out and angry at her that I have to go and walk away. My hands are a mess! The worst part is that during the day when she's out in the van with me, she's an angel!! Sits on the passenger seat, follows me around when I'm grooming, comes for walks. Seriously butter wouldn't melt.

It's only during morning and evening hyper times.

I'm sticking with my 'NO' and will just have a toy with me to shove in her mouth when she gets nippy.

Tara, thanks for that, it's good to hear someone else had growly issues and it didn't mean he turned into a devil dog

laikadog wrote:Urgh thanks guys. Sometimes I just get so stressed out and angry at her that I have to go and walk away. My hands are a mess! The worst part is that during the day when she's out in the van with me, she's an angel!! Sits on the passenger seat, follows me around when I'm grooming, comes for walks. Seriously butter wouldn't melt.

It's only during morning and evening hyper times.

I'm sticking with my 'NO' and will just have a toy with me to shove in her mouth when she gets nippy.

Tara, thanks for that, it's good to hear someone else had growly issues and it didn't mean he turned into a devil dog

Well, I have a scar on my arm from where Loki sank his teeth into it and decided to treat it like a tug-of-war toy, so I feel your pain lol. Anyway, when you get stressed or angry, walk away. Literally just leave if you have to. They pick up on that anger and end up feeling confused. So if it does get to that point, leave or take her out of the room (to somewhere safe for her to be alone in of course) for a few moments while you calm down. Remember she's just a puppy and she thinks you're still playing. At this age, the growling isn't her being mean or anything, it's just that she thinks you're playing, or she's like "hell no, I'm not going to stop, it's playtime!". Either way, it'll pass