# puppy growls and bites me, licks everyone else



## Dougal (Oct 3, 2009)

The last 3 days my 11 week old has taken to growling and barking at me before launching helmself jaws open at my feet or any other part he can grab. Once he tried to bite my face when I was picking something off the floor.

It's usually straight after chewing his toys, so maybe he considers me another toy to chew. The only way to stop him is to pick him up (avoiding his attempts to bite my hands) and shut him in the kitchen ,where he yaps but eventually calms down, until the next time.

When he's staying at my mothers or meets other people he's very sweet and gentle - yet as soon as we're on our own - he starts again. 

Any suggestions on how to stop this?


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## sillygilly (Oct 6, 2009)

Sounds like hes trying to be dominant and the pack leader. I dont know if you already do to puppy lessons but I would strongly advise you to before things get out of hand. Dogs Trust are good and quite reasonable if theres one near you. They must see you as leader, my dogs used to try and dominate my oh but he changed his approach and they are all fine now, good luck


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## Dougal (Oct 3, 2009)

sillygilly said:


> Sounds like hes trying to be dominant and the pack leader. I dont know if you already do to puppy lessons but I would strongly advise you to before things get out of hand. Dogs Trust are good and quite reasonable if theres one near you. They must see you as leader, my dogs used to try and dominate my oh but he changed his approach and they are all fine now, good luck


thanks - yes we are planning some puppy classes in a few weeks time. Is there anything I can do in the meantime?


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## sillygilly (Oct 6, 2009)

Dont reward bad behavior, putting him out of the room is a good thing. If he is able to go out now give him plenty of little walks and play with him on your terms, I know its hard when they are so cute but try to give fuss and rewards only when he is calm or listens to you. At least you are aware of the problem and are addressing it. If you give my terrier an inch the little blighter is so intelligent he takes advantage straight away so we have to be quite strict with him. Its like kids they respect boundaries and feel more secure with them in place, all the best to you im sure everything will be fine:


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## hutch6 (May 9, 2008)

He is playign with you as he would a littermate. He's a puppy and has no idea or desire as yet to be dominant.

His growling will most likely be a play growl unless he's baring his teeth in which case you have a very grown up puppy for his age. The biting is normal puppy behaviour they display and carryout with littermates. He's bonded to you is all but in a way that you find unexceptable so you need to nip it in the bud.

See the sticky at the top of here about stopping a pup from biting.

If you don't find your answer int here then come back but don't think for a second he's trying to be dominant.


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## Guest (Oct 9, 2009)

This just shows that your puppy is comfortable with you and not with anyone else


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## HighPr00 (Aug 9, 2009)

It sound like normal puppy play biting to me. Nothing to do with dominance or wanting to be the pack leader.



> *The Bite Stops Here
> 
> Puppies should be encouraged to play-bite - so you can teach them when to stop.
> 
> ...


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## Colliepoodle (Oct 20, 2008)

sillygilly said:


> Sounds like hes trying to be dominant and the pack leader. I dont know if you already do to puppy lessons but I would strongly advise you to before things get out of hand. Dogs Trust are good and quite reasonable if theres one near you. They must see you as leader, my dogs used to try and dominate my oh but he changed his approach and they are all fine now, good luck


Oh for heavens sake.

I completely agree that dogs should see you as leader - but are you seriously suggesting that an 11 week old puppy is trying to take over the household?!

This is PERFECTLY NORMAL PUPPY BEHAVIOUR and does not mean that the puppy is likely to "get out of hand" 

Puppy classes are always a good idea (as long as they are structured and not simply a free-for-all) but there is no need to panic and start imagining that this LITTLE PUPPY is about to turn into a baby-eater when all it is doing is what dogs do.

It's like assuming that every human baby who puts things in its mouth is going to turn into a second Hitler


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## Sylvestris Kennels (May 12, 2009)

I agree with the later posters - at 11 weeks he is not trying to dominate, however if the bites are painful and on occasion breaking the skin - this could be overly strong play, or maybe the dog is nervous around you and is scared and trying to react to warn you off.

These two different reaction are easy to recognise for an experienced owner, but may be more difficult for a new or young owner. Are you young? do you feel the dog is playing? or is it more aggressive?

Some more clues could help us give you some tips i.e is it a "yip" bark or a "groooowwwl" bark. Does he show teeth? Does he shake? Does he bite very hard? (bare in mind puppy teeth are sharp and so a small pressure feels hard, but hard presure will scratch or puncture).


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## moboyd (Sep 29, 2009)

Phew if I thought my pups were trying to dominate me then I would have really been in trouble having 6 of them all doing this at some point while they were with me, this is NORMAL puppy behaviour, and although not nice for us that end up getting scratched on those needle sharp teeth, its just game on for the pups, whenever any of mine caught me I would yelp as if I had been really hurt, and the pup ALWAYS just stopped and looked at me with a look on its face oh sorry, couple of mins later it would do it again and I would repeat, eventually the pup realised it was playing too hard, this is why pup yelps when a litter is playingtogether and one is gripping on a little hard, it teaches the other pup how much pressure is too much.

mo


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## hutch6 (May 9, 2008)

moboyd said:


> it teaches the other pup how much pressure is too much.
> mo


Exactamundo!!!  :thumbup:


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