Aggression or Playing?

So you are saying you think she is not an aggressive dog? If you are i am relieved. I've heard your one of the most experienced dog people on this site glenda. I was hoping you'd reply here. Thanks.

I don't know what Glenda will say, but I don't think your dog is aggressive because you can see your Dad has a totally different effect on her.
 
This dog needs leadership, as much as training.
 
You can still turn this around, it is easier to teach puppies compared to older dogs.
But, you have to get it in check, otherwise it could become a bigger problem.
It is not ok for your pup to growl and bite at you or family members, but you have to do your job.[]

I don't think she's aggressive leader and i am sure this will go away when she is absolutely certin that we are the boss of her not the other way. She not aggressive and i know that because she NEVER miss behaves with anyone else. Thank you all very much but i have to go to bed now. I just realised it it 1 am in the morning. I live in australia. Thank again. I will keep you updated =D

This dog is still a PUPPY.  Puppies explore with their mouths, and if they think you are either a peer (playing) or an aggressor (holding the mouth shut) they will learn to respond in kind.  This has gone on way too long because no one properly taught you how to keep a pup from getting mouthy - it doesn't go away by pushing at her (that tells her you are a peer and want to play - puppies play rough).  And, it certainly doesn't go away by being rough with her (your dad is inadvertantly going to create an aggressive dog if he continues - dogs that don't bite the pack leader may aggress against a "subordinate" someday).  It's time to take your hands off this dog!!!  Instead, when she is mouthy, simply leave.  Go to the bathroom, or file your nails or something.  No eye contact, no talking, nothing.  She will learn that her obnoxious behavior gets her left in the dust.  Dogs eventually quit doing what doesn't work for them.  And, if she mouths to get attention, and you so much as look at her, guess what?  That's a "gotcha".  Please do your entire family a favor and enroll this dog in a positive training class, and take the whole family with you.  It sounds as if dad especially is laboring under some misconceptions about how to successfully train dogs, and at this dog's age, you still have time to turn this around.  To find a class near you, see these sites:
www.peaceablepaws.com
www.clickertraining.com
www.ccpdt.com
For some free lessons and videos, go here:
www.clickerlessons.com
www.clickertrainusa.com

ORIGINAL: spiritdogs

This dog is still a PUPPY.  Puppies explore with their mouths, and if they think you are either a peer (playing) or an aggressor (holding the mouth shut) they will learn to respond in kind.  This has gone on way too long because no one properly taught you how to keep a pup from getting mouthy - it doesn't go away by pushing at her (that tells her you are a peer and want to play - puppies play rough).  And, it certainly doesn't go away by being rough with her (your dad is inadvertantly going to create an aggressive dog if he continues - dogs that don't bite the pack leader may aggress against a "subordinate" someday).  It's time to take your hands off this dog!!!  Instead, when she is mouthy, simply leave.  Go to the bathroom, or file your nails or something.  No eye contact, no talking, nothing.  She will learn that her obnoxious behavior gets her left in the dust.  Dogs eventually quit doing what doesn't work for them.  And, if she mouths to get attention, and you so much as look at her, guess what?  That's a "gotcha".  Please do your entire family a favor and enroll this dog in a positive training class, and take the whole family with you.  It sounds as if dad especially is laboring under some misconceptions about how to successfully train dogs, and at this dog's age, you still have time to turn this around.  To find a class near you, see these sites:
[linkhttp://www.peaceablepaws.com]www.peaceablepaws.com[/link]
[linkhttp://www.clickertraining.com]www.clickertraining.com[/link]
[linkhttp://www.ccpdt.com]www.ccpdt.com[/link]
For some free lessons and videos, go here:
[linkhttp://www.clickerlessons.com]www.clickerlessons.com[/link]
[linkhttp://www.clickertrainusa.com]www.clickertrainusa.com[/link]

 
Anne, ssshhhhhh, didnt you read that the OP already went to bed? []

Ian Dunbar, one of the true fathers of positive training methods, recommends addressing this behavior by 4 1/2 months. You're running a little late with this but she's still an adolescent.

Please get his book, Before & After Getting Your Puppy. Chapter 5 deals with this exact problem. He also covers aggression issues (food, dogs, etc.). People may have issues with other dog gurus but Dunbar is highly regarded by pretty much everyone. It's never too late to teach a dog. There is no time limit. Whether 7 months or 7 years, dogs can learn. You will learn so much from this book. It's short and concise, very much a how-to book. It will help you in so many ways.

Yeah, as to your father. Make sure there is no hitting, no rubbing her nose in things. Never call a dog to you to punish it as they see this as mixed behavior. For the safety of the dog and other people, you never want your dog to ever have reason to believe it will be punished for coming to you. They don't see what it was they're being punished for, they think they're being punished for being called over and responding to that requenst. Instead, without a word, grab her collar and lead her into a room without people in it and close the door. When you release her 10 minutes later, just open the door and walk away. No praise or affection. Wait until she performs another behavior you like to give that.

Newfies were bred to be workers and helpers. Being cut-off from their pack, their family, is a serious rebuke for a dog bred to be a cooperative worker. Her brain tells her that she needs to help her pack. It's her role in life and she will give her life to do that if asked. If her pack rejects her then she can't fulfill that function. Praise her when she performs behavior you like. Be effusive, scratch her where she likes, but don't get over excited. Alpha dogs bond to other pack members by going over to them and grooming them. The alpha determines when this happens, not the subordinate. Scratching behind the ears, stroking rubbing duplicates that behavior and so it is effective praise. Treating can help with this but I suggest learning a treating-based training method if you go that route before you do anything with it. Ignoring the dog is punishment effective enough. You must ignore the dog exactly when the bad behavior occurs. If, for example, she snapped at someone earlier in the day, ignoring her an hour or even 5 minutes later, won't do a thing. She'll have forgotten the cause and it will damage the relationship. Newfies must be with their people to be happy dogs. Some dogs can live virtually alone with little human interaction and be perfectly happy. Newfies aren't remotely like that. No dog house for the Newfie. They're in-house dogs. Thus, when you deprive her of the one thing she wants, that's a big deal. Eventually she'll understand that when she performs behavior X that the pack ignores her and thus she'll avoid performing behavior X. Now, it's essential that your family doesn't send signals to encourage bad behavior. The Ian Dunbar book, and others, will help your family learn how to send signals to encourage good behavior and discourage bad behavior. Believe me, that's more than half the battle.

Definitely look on the nutrition forum here about what dog people consider good dog foods. Also read the section here on bloat since Newfies are at risk for this condition. Bloat can kill a dog faster than you can get her to the vet. Read [linkhttp://www.dachshund.org/bloat_instructions.html]The Bloat Book[/link]. Print those pages and put them with the dog's first aid kit (you do have one right?) and keep the supplies on hand to deal with bloat if you have to. Every member of your family must be familiar with bloat symptoms and act immediately. I don't know if your vet offered to perform a gastropexy when your dog is (or will) be spayed, but do consider it. It won't prevent bloat but can lower the risk of it. One of the things that appears to lessen the incidence of bloat is to keep the bowls on the floor. Don't use raised bowls. Raised bowls appear to allow the dog to swallow more air and eat faster than they should. Use a high-quality canned dog food. Dry foods expand in the stomach (after all that water drinking after eating). There are other articles on here and other places on the internet to help you. Be sure to have either your vet's emergency telephone number on hand or, if your vet is more than a few minutes from your house, the name of a good ER vet very close to your house.

Don't mean to frighten you but deep-chested breeds, molossars in particular, are susceptible to bloat and I want to be sure you're aware of this potentially deadly condition. Sadly, few vets or breeders (definitely not BYBs and pet shops) help owners prepare for this not-so-rare life-threatening condition. Many lives have been saved by owners seeing the symptoms early and acting on them immediately, the trick is to know the symptoms.

Ok I'm awake now =) Thanks for that reply! I have just updated my family with what to do. I just have one question. What if Someones in the middle of cooking and my dog starts biting their pants? We couldn't really just walk away because either the house will catch fire or SOMEONE will eat or food =P lol. But yea because she sometimes bites the pant legs to far and accidently bites us which really hurts.

Look, thanks for trying to help jason, but I'm telling you that she's not an aggressive dog. She absolutely beautiful with other dogs and other animals. We own a parrot and she very gentle with the way she handles him. A pigeon also once walked into our house and she cornered it and asn't sure wat to do so she gentley picked it up by its wing and put it outside. Oh yea and once it was raining and she brought inside this big fat slug and played with it and the slug wasn't hurt and she accidently put her paw on it and she lifted up her paw to check if it was ok.  And i do not buy regular dog food. I adopted her from a very good breeder who gave me the 3 brands she recommends and we're feeding her on one of them.

I don't think she's aggressive either. She's just doing naturally what she would do with other dogs because she doesn't know that it's not ok to bite humans.

Imagine a scenario where your dog is visited by someone or a child and, because she's the alpha female, feels no inhibition in correcting their behavior. She will bite them to keep them in line. If she REALLY wanted to harm you she could. She'd draw blood, go for the neck, and try to bring you down. She's not doing that. But your friends and, perhaps, their children don't know that. Strangers coming to the house won't know that. You could lose your dog, be sued, and she could be taken away and destroyed if she bites someone. She doesn't have to draw blood for you to be sued or for her to be taken away. My concern is for the dog's welfare. For her to be trustworthy she must know what is and is not tolerated. Again, I don't believe she would conciously mean to hurt anyone in your family but her size mean she could without meaning to. She's biting as she would another dog. Dogs have fur and a lot of excess skin and she's applying pressure as if she were dealing with other dogs. Humans have very different skin and pain thresholds. She may not mean to draw blood someday, but she may, particularly if she bites a child or elderly person. It's essential to stop this behavior before those things happen for her welfare and yours. If she really wanted to kill someone she could. She's not. She's not a vicious dog. I'm not giving you advice for someone with a vicious dog. I'm giving you advice for a dog that needs to be trained out of a behavior that could get her killed or someone else (inadvertently) injured.

Ok well I'm working on it but she never bites people who don't live in our house

As to the cooking thing, yes you have to stop and put her in another place away from you. If she does this while cooking then put her in a place away from you while you cook or are doing things where you can't respond to her immediately. If she has a crate or room then put her in their while you cook. Prevent the bad behavior before it happens.

When you cook your dog sees you handling food and as the alpha female she believes she should be fed first. She's telling you to move away from the food and give it to her.

Ok well I'm working on it but she never bites people who don't live in our house

That's great to hear but so long as she is biting people I would not trust her with other people until the behavior is stopped. People are unpredictable, more unpredictable than dogs. Don't risk your dog on the whim of someone who doesn't understand her behvaior and decides to take offense and seek legal action. It's not to punish the dog, it's not because she's vicious, it's to protect her and your family from possible disaster.

Newfies are fantastic babysitters. They've been known to see children running into danger such as roads, fire, pools, and run up to the child and block it. If the child continues the dog will bite the child and physically pull the child back to a safe area. When packs go out to hunt they leave the puppies in the care of the omega dog. The omega babysits the puppies, making sure they don't run away. Newfies generally perform omega duties very well. This is why it's esssential she learn that biting humans causes them more pain than dogs and that, if she ever feels she must bite to protect someone, that she bites the clothing or uses her mouth as gently as possible so as not to cause harm.

ORIGINAL: bearnewfie

Ok I'm awake now =) Thanks for that reply! I have just updated my family with what to do. I just have one question. What if Someones in the middle of cooking and my dog starts biting their pants? We couldn't really just walk away because either the house will catch fire or SOMEONE will eat or food =P lol. But yea because she sometimes bites the pant legs to far and accidently bites us which really hurts.

She should be crated or confined when the family is not able to deal with her appropriately.  If you had an infant that got into trouble, you'd have to deal with that, so dogs are no different.  Personally, I'd shut the stove off, put the food in the oven for a second, and go into the bathroom, but I would stop making excuses for why it's too much trouble to train the dog.
A 7 month old pup is on the verge of adolescence.  Soon, she will be in the "second chewing stage" and if you leave her unconfined then, you may find a table leg chewed into toothpicks before you get done cooking dinner.
Sometimes, a little Vicks Vapo Rub on the pant leg can keep the dog from finding it too interesting as a chew object.  Also, make sure that she does have some appropriate chew items - stuffed Kongs, Orbee bones, etc.

Jason has some great advice. You have yourself a big dog - and even if she isn't "aggressive" she is a big dog and needs to learn some manners. The best way to do that is to figure out what she wants. Then only let her have it when she is calm and behaving properly. This could mean only petting her when she is sitting quietly. Or only playing with her when she is not biting or being pushy. Or only giving her food when she is calm and not excited or demanding. If you search for NILIF (stands for Nothing In Life Is Free)you will find some good ideas for letting your dog know you are the leader because you are in control of everything she wants and needs.

As far as dogs in the kitchen one trick that worked for me was to ask the dogs to stay at the doorway of the kitchen when I'm cooking. If she came into the room I'd point back and say "out" then use body blocking to get her back to the doorway. When she is in the correct area, she gets goodies. If she comes into the kitchen, no goodies. If you randomly toss bits of kibble or whatever you are cooking to her while she is in her spot then she will learn quickly that she'd rather be there! Then you can work up to only giving her goodies when she is sitting or when she is lying down. I did this with my dogs and they quietly lie down at the kitchen entry and wait. I usually only have to give one or two goodies for a reward and sometimes even forget. But now that it is a routine they don't care. The key is do make sure she is calm and quiet. DO NOT reward her for barking at you or demanding a goodie. Only reward her when she is behaving.

Pooch Saves A Dog From Drowning

WHIZZ the Newfoundland dog was hailed a hero yesterday — after rescuing a drowning pooch called Topper.
The 10st giant leapt into a disused water tank, grabbed the red setter by the neck and hauled him to safety.

Topper#%92s owner Charlotte Burroughs, 41, was walking in a wood near Clevedon, Somerset, when her pet disappeared. She searched in vain for half an hour, not realising Topper had fallen in the sunken tank and could not get out.

When Whizz passed by with owner Dave Pugh, the Newfoundland — whose breed is famed for saving drowning people — suddenly shot off into the bushes.

Dave said: “He knew the other dog was in there, although no one else did.”

Charlotte said: “He#%92s a true hero.”