schleide
Posted : 4/24/2006 11:11:41 AM
Hi Spartacus - Welcome!!
How old is your puppy? To me, who is by no means an expert, that sounds more like unsocialized puppy mouthing, which while certainly inappropriate, is probably not real aggression (although without more information, I don't know that, I am just guessing). If your puppy was taken away from her mother and the rest of her litter too early, and then, on top of it, she wasn't properly socialized, she may not have learned that this type of mouthing of humans is not ok. When we got Wesley, our rescue pup, he was 9 months old and mouthed terribly. The more excited he got, the worse it got (which soulds like what is going on when you take your pup out to play). For us, we tried to yelp"OUCH" very high pitched and startling when he would do it, but it seemed to just make him crazier, so, we started saying "no bite" one time and redirecting him to something more appropriate to chew on, one of his toys or bones. If he did it again, that's it, "game over" we would look away, get up and walk off, leaving him alone. He isn't perfect yet, but my arms are no longer scratched and bruised all the time. He is learning that if he is rude, no one will play with him... the minute he mouths, game is over.
I bet that if you are consistent with this, put your pup on a schedule full of exercise and obedience work and NILIF and work this routine with her mouthiness, you will start seeing imporvements shortly... Good luck - what you probably have is a good puppy in need of some benevolent but consistent leadership - I am sure you will be able to turn this around!!