Re: puppy: aggressive to people

In Reply to: puppy: aggressive to people
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Posted by:  jamie
Posted on:  October 27, 2002 at 20:48:48

: we have a 6 month old F who has ALWAYS been difficult to manage. she has quite the personality. at 3 months we had trouble with her becoming extremely aggressive, growling, showing her teeth, and biting us when we would approach her while she was chewing on a bone or something she shouldn't have (socks,etc). we saw a trainer at our vet who witnessed the behavior and taught us to press her down to the ground at her neck (on her stomach) and take the bone while saying "no!" and try it again and again until she would let us take it, praising her for the good behavior. this changed her behavior almost immediatley. now she sits on our laps and chews her bone. however, still having trouble with occasional times she has something she shouldn't and the above correction not effective anymore.

: MORE IMPORTANTLY, she has growled, snared, and bitten several strangers (to her)for no apparent reason. mainly, when they were bending over to pet her. this behavior is very disheartening to us. i am worried about when we have our friends over or even worse when we have children ourselves or as visitors. our vet is saying this is typical of the terrier breed. i am not accepting this as a final answer. i want the behavior ELIMINATED! i do not want a mean dog. can you please offer any suggestions or resources? THANK YOU!

Response:

Hi Jamie,

This is not typical terrier behavior, while terriers do tend to have an independent attitude and are a bit more fiesty than other breeds, it does not excuse aggressive behavior.

My suggestion is to get your terrier enrolled into obedience school. You will then be able to teach her important commands like "LEAVE IT", "COME", "SIT", "STAY", "DOWN" and "HEEL."

It sounds more like your terrier has not been socialized and has become aggressive as a result.

This is why we stress taking your JRT through obedience school, and even encourage going to puppy play groups and puppy kindergarten. This breed needs all the socialization it can get and then some.

This is also a breed that needs a firm, consistent hand throughout its life because they will test their limits all their lives. Physical punishment is one of the worst things you can do with this breed, so don't think about spanking and the like. Agression can beget aggression with this breed.

So first, try obedience school, discuss the problems you have been having with the trainer. Remember to do the "homework" that goes along with obedience school and see if there is any improvement with your terrier. If you feel there are still some aggression issues afterwards, then talk with your trainer and vet for the name of a certified behaviorist who, in conjunction with obedience training, can help you map out a course of action to take.

Your terrier is young enough to be turned around without too much effort so now is the time to start before these behaviors become too ingrained.