aggressive biting

Question
QUESTION: I purchased a 10 week old Maltese puppy (female) from a breeder 2 weeks ago.  She started out as the sweetest little thing, a little shy which was to be expected. Now after she is getting a bit more comfortable in our house she has started to bite myself, husband and kids when we do something that she does not like. For instance, picking her up to get her out of the dining room or taking the rocks out of her mouth that she picks up EVERY time I take her outside.  She has actually drawn blood!  It is clear that she is not just playing. She growls, snaps and bites VERY HARD!.  I have tried giving her her bone or chew toy and replacing the harmful rock but she still tries to bite me. She knows that she shouldn't have the rock so she tries to run away. I am actually getting nervous about handling her. I never know when she will snap. Other than this she is very affectionate, loving and craves attention. I have to stop this aggression though before it escalates. I just started using the crate at night and when I am out; I am hoping that this will break her attitude problem a little along with keeping her safe and helping with the house breaking issues. Please help!   Lisa

ANSWER: Personally, I would return this puppy and get your money back. This is NOT normal behavior, and I think she is too dominant for your family. Dogs like this tend to continue to escalate unless they are taken severely in hand, and it really requires someone who is extremely dog-knowledgeable to work with them, which the average person is not (and most particularly children are not!). She may be a cute and darling little puppy, and sweet when things are going her way, but just imagine that you brought a wolf cub into your household, because that is pretty much what you did... and a dominant one at that.

The crating will certainly help with the housebreaking, but it in no way will solve the primary problem, which is a puppy with a "God's Gift" attitude and a totally uninhibited bite. Yes, this can be worked with, but because there are children in the family, I don't think it is worth the effort since they will not be able to follow through with what needs to be done in regard to this puppy. EVERYONE in the family must be able to work with her.

If you still want to try, email me again and I will tell you what needs to be done, but I think that you will end up with a dog that respects the adults and bites the children.

Please return her and find a puppy that is more submissive.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Wow!  That is what I was afraid you would say. I had the same feeling myself. Problem is we already love her. I appreciate your offer to email which I will take you up on. Thank you so much!   Lisa

Answer
Okay, here goes... and remember that this will probably not stop her from biting the kids, depending on how old they are. Children in the family are usually considered littermates by the dog and are fair game in the dog's mind.

First, you must NEVER back down from the dog... never show fear or nervousness. The dog will know immediately if it has the edge over you, and you will have lost before you even get started. Your attitude with the dog must be one of "HOW DARE YOU!!!!" when she shows any aggressiveness. And this can also apply if she is aggressive to any of the children.

Here I have had more alpha dogs step in to prevent fights between two others, and in two instances, a more alpha male attacked another who 1. was a potential threat to a new litter of puppies when it got too close and 2. was severely attacking a screaming puppy and appeared intent on seriously injuring or killing it. (What ensued here was a brief fight that was over in a heartbeat as the puppy scrambled to safety, and the alpha dog threw the other onto its back and stood over him for what seemed an eternity until I eventually called him off. This all happened while I was sitting here at my computer, and the offending dog was on his back before I could even get up out of my chair, even though I was bellowing as I was reacting.) What all this means is that an alpha *can* interfer in another's behavior if it is deemed "unhealthy" to pack harmony or safety. This means that activities between this dog and the children must be supervised at all times, and you must be ready to step in and react **IMMEDIATELY** if your puppy shows any sign of aggressiveness to the children as they most likely won't be capable of responding appropriately to the dog.

Get this puppy into on-going obedience classes and work with her daily. (I am talking about MONTHS here, not one or two classes.) Practice "Nothing in Life is Free" with her. She must work for every single thing she wants in life. http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm Get the entire family involved in all of this as much as they are able (VERY important for the children!). And the more she doesn't like something, the more it should be done to her so that she learns to tolerate anything, from any position. Practice "Long Downs" with her at least three times a week. http://www.volhard.com/general/artbywv.htm#tnw

Find someone (or two) who has a fairly dominant dog who will put down a DogSnotWannaBe in a good way without really hurting her. My last truly "God's Gift child" was catered to by all the dogs, and at five weeks she fought with an adult male here and was WINNING. I was the only one correcting her until I "fed" her to a couple of my cantankerous bitches. One was very old, hated puppies, and would attack them from two feet away if she thought one might be thinking of bothering her. I usually kept them away from her, but let nature take its course a couple times<G> The other bitch was a big gal who loved to eat and was very possessive with her food bowl. One night she got an extra feeding by herself... and then I put the puppy in the kitchen with her... and she got to have SnotPuppy for dessert<G> Between the three of us, we quickly got that puppy back under control, and she turned into a most wonderful dog!

So when this puppy gives you *any* "lip" at all, you must react instantaneously, loudly, and aggressively. Grab her by the scruff of her neck, hold her dangling up in the air as you stare her in the eye, and roar in her face (like a lion). If she bites, either shove your hand further down into her throat and hold it there for a few seconds until she stops, or pinch her lip HARD while you do the above (you will still be roaring at her). Here I loudly roar, then I deepen my voice and in a more gravelly voice I say, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY IS MY HAND IN YOUR MOUTH?" or "DON'T BITE!!!" This generally is enough in most dogs to get them quickly apologizing with a sweet lick, but a small handful of more dominant dogs might try to continue, and those dogs I will literally bite on the muzzle to truly get my point across. (I am a firm believer in "bite me and I bite back.") When the puppy behaves or apologizes, praise quietly.

Now all the bleeding hearts out there who are reading this will be totally appalled, but this *does* work. I can guarantee that if you do not do this and make your puppy understand that this behavior will no longer be tolerated whatsoever, that the time will come when you will be placing her (there are liabilities involved in placing a biting dog!) or you will be putting her down. Now is the time to decide what you want to do, and I still say that you should return her because of the children involved.

This will take a LOT of hard work on everyone's part, but it can be done with consistency, firmness, and praise at the appropriate times. This puppy has the potential to be a total dog terrorist or a loving family pet. It is totally up to you as to which one you will end up with.