puppy showing her teeth

This is a place to gain some understanding of dog behavior and to assist people in training their dogs and dealing with common behavior problems, regardless of the method(s) used. This can cover the spectrum from non-aversive to traditional methods of dog training. There are many ways to train a dog. Please avoid aggressive responses, and counter ideas and opinions with which you don't agree with friendly and helpful advice. Please refrain from submitting posts that promote off-topic discussions. Keep in mind that you may be receiving advice from other dog owners and lovers... not professionals. If you have a major problem, always seek the advice of a trainer or behaviorist!

Lexus

shy girl

Barked: Sun Dec 30, '12 10:33am PST


	Lexus is a 5 month old Husky, she is a very sweet and loving girl, and learning very quick. Twice though she has got angry and shown her teeth to us and attempted to bite didn't connect though This has been when she is in a very exited mood and if someone tries to pick her up or tell her something or take something from her she is not allowed to have and switch to her toy. it is not play teeth showing either. And I do realize she is in an exited mood and that is the cause but I do have kids and would like some advice on how to curb this so it doesn't turn into an aggression thing when she gets older. I usually take her and play outside with her when she gets over exited but does anyone know of any ways to try and make sure this behavior doesn't go to far? ~Thanks

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Kali

She's game for- anything that's- fun.

Barked: Sun Dec 30, '12 6:36pm PST


	She's probably testing you to see where her boundaries are. How much exercise does she get? If she doesn't get enough exercise, she will entertain herself by being naughty. Some frequent, short walks might do her some good. I would trade her toy with something better, like a treat. That way she lets go of the one you want, to get the other toy or treat. Maybe someone else will pop in and give you more advice. Good Luck!

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Lexus

shy girl

Barked: Sun Dec 30, '12 7:56pm PST


	She gets lots of exercise thats for sure!! And she is usually really good, just 2 times she decided not to listen and tried to be all mean about it, and even though it is cute at this point I just dont want her to think it is o.k because when she is older and snarls and whatnot it could turn bad. Definitely think you are right about her trying to test me and see what her boundaries are though, no doubt about it, just looking for the right way to deal with it. Because she is exited if we try to calm her down by petting her or just handleing her calmly any touch to her just makes her think it has turned to play. But she cannot get away with what she is doing at the time and she has gotten carried away. So when she is at that point what would be the best thing to do? I have had and trained puppies before I just have never had one get mad and snarl with her teeth and try to bite like that therefore never had to deal with that and anything I could find online tells me to pin her down and hold her by the throat and all that CRAP which I will not do. I dont agree with that method at all, so I need some gentler ways to curb this. Thank you very much Kali, as usual you have wonderful answers!!

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Smokey

Let's play tug!!

Barked: Sun Dec 30, '12 11:25pm PST


	If you have a compelling reason for needing to pick her up, for example to lift her into the car, I would slowly get her used to being handled and lifted over the course of a couple of weeks, and using a lot of treats. I recommend avoiding picking her up roughly, suddenly, or just for fun, since it sometimes makes her uncomfortable. I would also teach her a leave it or drop it (this video is great) and do your best to tell her what she should be doing instead of yelling at her. For example, "sit" when she's jumping on guests or "off" when you don't want her climbing on the couch. My last-ditch approach to puppies biting (outside of play nipping, which is different) is to yelp but keep doing whatever I'm doing. There are a whole lot of ways to go wrong with that- if the dog is over threshold, and genuinely too upset, confused or afraid to behave well, ignoring her only makes her more afraid and probably likely to bite harder next time. If the dog has a history of aggression, it's a terrible idea for obvious reasons. You definitely also want to make sure you're doing your level best to avoid and manage situations that cause biting so it doesn't happen in the first place. But my experience has been that puppies will often try it once or twice to see if it works. "I don't really feel like having a bath, I wonder if this will stop it?" and that if your response is a very unsatisfying "that hurts, but no, it won't" they quickly abandon it. Let your intuition be your guide on that one.