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Stop Puppy Aggression

Some dog breeds have a greater propensity to dog aggression than other breeds and it is advisable to do proper research before getting a puppy. However, among all breeds some puppy aggression is quite common.

The best way to handle this instinctive inclination toward aggression is with proper dog training techniques. Initially puppy aggression is only the normal testing of a your pup's newly discovered physical abilities. Learning dog training techniques to stop puppy aggression, while your puppy is still in the puppy stage, is advisable to waiting until your dog has attained adulthood.

 
Initial Training by the Mother Dog

It is important that a puppy is not separated from his mother too early. The mother and siblings will teach and socialize one another. A puppy’s mother is concerned initially with just feeding her newborn puppies. As the puppies mature the mother will gently socialize them to co-exist with each other. The sibling puppies teach one another as they play together. This is the first and primary training the puppy receives to stop puppy aggression.

When a puppy nibbles at another puppy too aggressively the offended puppy will howl letting the aggressive puppy know he has exceeded his limits. Through this puppy rough housing, with immediate response to offensive behavior, a puppy learns to inhibit his inclination to bite. This period of socialization with the mother and siblings is natures form of puppy training and requires a minimum of eight weeks to adequately socialize the puppies. Less than eight weeks will create a poorly adjusted puppy who does not understand social etiquette among dogs. Without this understanding a puppy may exhibit inappropriate aggression towards dogs and humans.

Stop Puppy Aggression

Continuation of Puppy Training

A puppy that bites at a family member should be treated just as he was when he was with his mother and other siblings. The person should immediately pull away from the puppy while firmly saying, “That hurts” or "No." This can be done without yelling. Then simply ignore your puppy for a few minutes. This is how your puppy was taught his social skills while with his mother. Your puppy will understand the offending action and the response of being ignored. Using natural puppy training techniques produces the quickest results to stop puppy aggression.

A puppy biting by itself does not mean your puppy is aggressive. Biting, nipping and chewing are common with puppies and having chew toys available for them is helpful since they give them something appropriate to chew on. Aggressive behavior is also demonstrated with barking and jumping at people. These behaviors also need to be controlled at an early age.

Part of training your puppy is letting him know who is the leader. You must establish yourself as the alpha leader and not let your puppy feel he is dominant. This can be done with proper dog training techniques. 

 
Positive Reinforcement of Good While Ignoring Bad Behaviors

Puppy aggression is best handled through training with positive reinforcement. Praising the puppy for good behavior followed with an occasional food treat is an excellent way to reinforce behavior. Physical punishment is not productive as the puppy will not likely associate the offensive behavior with the punishment.

Training your puppy should be fun for the puppy and for yourself. If dog training has become a chore for the trainer the negative emotions will be transmitted to the dog creating a situation where the dog will not enjoy the training sessions.

Continuous Attentive Training

To stop puppy aggression you need to respond immediately to inappropriate negative behavior with pleasant retraining methods. Ignoring bad behavior can be difficult but physical punishment is never the answer. Changing the puppy’s focus of attention from the negative behavior to a positive good behavior followed by praise will reinforce the good causing the puppy for forget the bad behavior. This training technique requires the trainer to be alert the actions of the dog whenever the puppy is outside its crate.

Puppies are very open to training. As the puppy’s trainer you influence the puppy’s development for good or bad. Adherence to proper training techniques will allow you to stop puppy aggression creating a well-adjusted dog. Remember your puppy is very observant of your every move so your teaching must be consistent or the puppy will pick up bad behavior habits.

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