Help!! Need to know if my pup is playing or showing early aggression signs

Hi I have a 8 week old staff called diva she's nipping and biting a lot she growling and barking aswell. Lunging at my hands and face somtimes and she is lying on her belly while she lunges and also somtimes her back end is high and front end is low.. I am seeking some help incase its early signs of aggression if not is there anyway to get her to stop biting everything we have got her lots of toys and everything

Hi Reece, welcome to the forum!

Congrats on your new addition, certainly sounds like a Diva

Although you are able to take a puppy at 8 weeks, vital lessons and behaviours are learnt at this time from its Mum so most breeders don't release until 12 weeks. You are now the replacement and need to train even harder to show Diva the way of life.

ALL the behaviours listed in your post are absolutely normal and are ALL signs of playful behaviour. It may sound like growling and yapping but she's probably not long found her voice so she's talking and communicating with you.

Hands are the most playful thing a puppy can interact with! Those wiggling fingers are soooo enticing for them to nip and play with. You can get her out this habit with simply removing your hands from the situation and replacing with a toy. Dont scould Diva for this behaviour. Puppies are super excitable, everything is new to them so bare with her whilst she figures what she can and cant lunge, nip or bite at (including your face!) If you do a little digging on dog body language, you will see that front down and bottoms up is thee classic behaviour for play time.

None of these signs are aggression, its classic puppy behaviour. No one said it was easy Diva shouldn't be told off for any of this behaviour. Enjoy her, let her enjoy herself, settle in and figure out her surroundings and her new family. Like a child she needs to be nurtured and loved. She will soon swap your fingers for squeaky toys and realise your face is for licking not biting.

Patience and persistence is key for a puppy. Some take longer than others to learn, just like a child. Dogs aren't fully developed until their a year old(ish) so her behaviour will constantly change, but only your positive reinforcement will lead her in the right direction.

A dog is never born aggressive. It takes something to make them tick.

Rest assured, your puppy is not aggressive. You have nothing to worry about!

Please keep us posted with lost of pictures and daily pupdates using the diary feed.

Nikita x

Great advice from Kita, Puppies don't know what aggression is, she's just playing the only way she knows how. Your rules are different to hers. We called Katy the Tasmanian devil as a pup, bloody gnashing nightmare She learnt that if she did that we would ignore her & not play! Keep replacing your body parts with toys, if that doesn't work teach her enough! You get rough we don't play & you just stop & walk away ignoring her

Yeah when we first got Luna I couldn’t even put my face down close to her as she’d latch onto my nose now she’s 8 months old and she still tried rly to playfully nip but you don’t even feel it as she knows to be really gentle with us. Took a loooooot of time though so follow the above advise and don’t get discouraged

Definitely the most important thing you need, now and tomorrow, is consistency. Make sure that all family/household members stick strictly to the same rules ALWAYS and you’ll be surprised how quickly you move onwards and upwards

Thank you so much for your help!!! She also has a problem with biting her crate and weeing in her bed!! We are also struggling to get her off her milk il upload a photo of her

She should have been weened off milk already by her breeder. Is there a reason she's still on milk?

I'm unsure but the breeder still had her on it we got her at 7weeks 3 days and were struggling to get her to drink water?

She is 8 weeks and a day today

Have you tried diluting the milk with water ?
Progressively add more water and less milk to help her transition
(She should not have left breeder until minimum 8 weeks ... )

The breeder knew that but had to let them go early incase of a total lock down... And yes we have tried diluting however if its too diluted she won't drink it

Ah, ok for early weaning ...
I would still try to leave her with “too diluted”, she normally shouldn’t let herself starve/go thirsty so she could just be putting in a “tantrum”

And have you tried room-temperature water ?
My Nifty was weaned with room-temperature bottled mineral water ... (she does drink tap water now)

Absolutely brilliant thank you so much for all your help! From what you have all said she is perfectly healthy and normal! We're just under experienced unfortunately haha but she's a amazing dog! It's just new to us

I was just thinking - are you still adding water to moisten the kibble plus adding tinned food at meals ? If so, your pup might be getting most of her water intake this way so her milk is like a beer or a glass of wine after a long day. A glass of water just isn’t the same in this situation

Try to stop wetting her food so much and offer the milk very diluted or just water - you might find that she drinks more.

Hi just one more question. Our little divas poo is very soft but not runny and smells horrible. Now iv googled it and it's said it should be firm and only a little bit of a smell? Is this normal or do we need to visit a vet just thought I'd update aswell we have got her on dry kibble wihh a bit of wet tinned food and she's making progress with water she's still not doing great though

Soft and smelly stools can be down to type/quality of kibble you give.
Are you still feeding harringtons or are you transitioning to something else ?

We are still using harringtons but transitioning to another high quality which the pet store has recommended

And what are you transitioning to ?
Her stools could be because of the transition between kibbles

Burgess

Oh ... is that the supadog finest puppy ? The main ingredient is wheat so I think this is what’s probably causing the loose stools and the smell. Wheat is also high up on the list of potential food allergy ingredients.
I don’t know who told you this is a high quality feed (or did they mean as high quality as your previous kibble ?) but I would suggest maybe shopping around to another pet shop or try to do a bit of your own research.

You mustn’t forget that a dog is a carnivore so any kibble which has a main ingredient that isn’t meat (eg. cereals or rice) cannot be a quality feed. These carbohydrates are cheap and used as kibble fillers but their nutritional value is more than limited. Then you need to see what form of meat is used - there’s a world of difference between meat, meal and meat protein.
They say that you are what you eat, this is true to dogs too.

Try the kibble test - take a bit of kibble and put it in a bowl with some water. If it still looks like the dry kibble (especially colour and firmer consistency) then you’re doing ok. If it looks like soggy corn flakes or if it bears no resemblance to the dry, then it’s a fully processed formula you’re feeding.

Have a look at this link
https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/compare-dog-foods/0348-0594-0755-0516-0157/pro-plan-vs-burgess-vs-nutrivet-vs-harringtons-vs-acana

I’ve compared your 2 kibbles with acana, which is a cheaper version of orijen (I have used both of these feeds so can recommend from experience). My Nifty was weaned on proplan and I couldn’t get her off it quick enough after the kibble test, so it gives another reference point. I get the impression that budget might be an issue so I’ve added the nutrivet which is the highest scoring kibble I can find in your price range.

Then I wonder why you are giving wet food and again, which one you are giving ?
If it is to improve the nutritional quality of the kibble you’re giving or because puppy won’t eat kibble alone, then maybe it’s time to reconsider the base kibble given. If it’s to add a little extra, be careful of not doing the equivalent in human food of serving hamburger fries with macaroni cheese - not sure they’re the most compatible nor the most complementary foods when served together.