Puppy Aggression

HELP! MY PUPPY IS DRIVING ME TO INSANITY!

Did you get a puppy, expecting soft licky cuddles, tumbling down a grassy hill with your tiny ball of fluff?

Are you now wondering if you’ve made a huge mistake while your feral racoon-dog gnaws on your body, chases your children, and makes you cry silently behind your bedroom door?

You might think you’re alone in this because c’mon, everyone loves puppies! Right? Sure, everyone who doesn’t have a puppy loves puppies. For those of us with a puppy however, you’d be weird if you haven’t at least once regretted your decision to bring one of these fur-monsters into your home. 

So, it’s ok. You’re not alone. 

But it’s not going to be forever. There is an end in sight if you put some important pieces into play. 

1. Leadership

Imagine a human child being raised by wolves. Yikes, right? No matter how loving the wolves, that kid is going to be missing some parents. Agreed? Well what about a wolf raised by humans? Because that’s what you’ve got going on in your home right now. You’ve stolen a baby from another species and you hope she’s just going to find her place in your family. A big contributing factor in puppy aggression is that this puppy is running the whole dam show and everyone is just holding their breath waiting for her to figure it out on her own. You can’t expect the pup to understand human psychology and be a nice little furry child. Your job is to step into the role of parent figure using dog psychology so that your pup has someone to look up to and follow. Stay calm. Have boundaries. Stay calm. Put rules in place. Stay calm. Protect your pup. Stay calm. And one more: stay calm.

2. Safety

You want to make sure your puppy is happy, right? You want to make sure your puppy feels loved, right? So you find yourself showering love, toys, and affection on your growing puppy-demon, hoping that when he realizes how much you love his underserving tail, he might fall blissfully into place in your family. Well, to a dog those things aren’t a priority. Your dog prioritizes safety. When your pup feels safe, then she can feel happy. When you make her feel safe, that’s how she knows you love her. How do you make your pup feel safe? Aside from point 1 described above, a routine can help. Consistency and predictability in the day and in your calm mood can help her feel safe. In addition to that, proper socialization is not as simple as expose your dog to everything!! You have to gauge your pup’s feelings as you expose him gradually to foreign things. Getting him to a place where he can just watch (you, other dogs, new people, kids, bikes, buses, etc) without them engaging with him is a fantastic place to start. Most folks think that they need to make every interaction POSITIVE!!, but I think it’s more powerful to make every interaction neutral. Having your pup hang out a safe distance (as determined by his feelings, not yours) away from the potential triggers builds a dog’s neutral confidence.

3. Exercise

It’s time to burst whatever puppy-bubble you’ve still been clinging onto. The walk is not going to look like the walk you see in stock photos and on tv of the smiling family walking their calm puppy on a loose leash in the sunshine. Yes, that can happen. One day. But you’re not going to start there. In fact, your pup couldn’t give a poop about walking on leash. It’s unnatural to him and he has other things that he’d much rather be doing. And at this stage, that’s not just ok, it’s good. A big contributing factor in puppy aggression is that his well-meaning human kidnappers are putting a cute little harness and cute little leash on him and making him go for a cute little walk, expecting him to enjoy this and feel deeply fulfilled by it. After all, the humans find this a blissfully fulfilling experience. Unfortunately for us, the pup doesn’t need a walk. He needs puppy-time. He needs time and space to run and sniff and explore a new spot. He craves this puppy time for his physical, mental, emotional, and - dare I say - his spiritual needs. Take him to a big new spot in nature and just walk around. As a young puppy a couple months old, he’ll follow and stick pretty close. If you’re worried, put and long line on him and let him drag it around. Don’t make him go this way or that way. Just walk around and let him go where he’ll go. Practice a few little recalls with a tasty treat. When he wanders over and walks nicely by you, give him a tasty treat for that, then let him go again. Of course you can teach him to walk calmly on a leash, but that isn’t the same as and could never replace this cherished puppy time.

Having a puppy is naturally a bit of a gong show. But if you are noticing that your puppy is a maniac - mouthing, chewing, destroying like he’s on a warpath - then it’s very very likely that you’ve got imbalances in the points above. 

It is unreasonable to expect yourself to naturally know how to raise a puppy. After all, you and your pup are two different species. 

I can help you navigate what leadership or “parenting” looks like in the dog’s eyes (it’s a bit different than parenting a human baby, because, well…she’s not human). I can show you how to create a routine for your puppy and socialize him so that he feels safe and increasingly confident in you. I can guide you on fulfilling your puppy’s need for exercise and puppy time and what that looks like for your situation. And I can even show you how to get that cute little leash on your cute little dog to go for cute little walks so that everyone wins! 

If you’re struggling to raise your wild baby animal into a calm confident family dog, I can help. Contact me here. 

Here's what Savannah said after working with me:

"I was at the height of the puppy blues when I found myself getting in touch with Elaine at Calm Canine - my 4 month old puppy was much more reactive and aggressive than I had anticipated and I was completely lost. After just one session it seemed like my Frankie girl had a switch flipped in her little brain and I was able to understand her better and she was able to understand me better! Elaine provided us with the framework on how to raise a calm and well adjusted dog with a secure attachment with me and I couldn't have asked for a better person to show us the ropes! Don't walk but RUN to Calm Canine - you won't be disappointed!"

Here’s to You and Your Dog!

Elaine

P.S. If it is toilet training (or lack thereof) that is making you want to scream, then here's a free resource for that.