[m.morris]

Good afternoon everyone,

So on Thursday I took my puppy (12 weeks old) to get his ears cropped (breeder did not do this) and went to pick him up on Friday. My husband, who is active duty military, rode with me to pick up our puppy. I've had my puppy for a month now but my husband has only spent about two days with him because of work. The puppy did well on the car ride home and I cuddled him the whole time while my husband drove. However, a few hours after we got home my puppy starting trying to rip apart his bed so I firmly told him "no" and took it away. For some reason this made my puppy so mad to the point where he started growling and barking at me. Once again, I told him "no" but he continued to growl at me. He has never behaved like this before so it really took me by surprise. He is usually very good about what "no" means. He has been getting along great with my husband and listens to him, but when I try to redirect or correct any bad behavior (chewing on carpet, jumping up on furniture, etc) he growls and tries to lunge forward to bite me. He does not behave this way when my husband corrects him so it's making me upset that he is behaving this way towards me. Any ideas why he has had such a sudden change towards me or how I can get him to listen to me without the aggressive behavior?? Any advice will be much appreciated

 

[greenkouki]

You're sure he's not just trying to play? Dobermans are vocal and will nip and snarl when they are really riled up wanting to play and sometimes new owners misinterpret this as aggression. Please get a video of this behavior if you can and post it here.

 

[m.morris]

yes, I am sure it is not a playful growl or bark. It has occurred several times since I brought him home and it's usually in response to me correcting bad behavior. I will try to get a video of it next time

 

[jdd]

I hope you are doing what ever it takes to MAKE him stop this if it truly is aggressive behavior. Stop it before he is too big to stop.

 

[VZ-Doberman]

The video would really help.

 

[ZeldaRules]

How does your husband correct him? It sounds like the pup is being a little snot and trying to push you to get what he wants. I don't think he is "acting out" due to the crop. Puppies are not born into this world speaking and understanding our language. Have you heard of tether training?

 

[m.morris]

I hope you are doing what ever it takes to MAKE him stop this if it truly is aggressive behavior. Stop it before he is too big to stop.

Any suggestions on how I can get him to stop?

 

[m.morris]

How does your husband correct him? It sounds like the pup is being a little snot and trying to push you to get what he wants. I don't think he is "acting out" due to the crop. Puppies are not born into this world speaking and understanding our language. Have you heard of tether training?

My husband does what I do. We use firm voices to correct any bad behavior. He listens really well to my husband and has not barked or even growled at him when he corrects him even though they have hardly spent time together. Unfortunately, my husband is gone again (he was only home for the weekend) so now I am trying to get my puppy back on our routine and getting him back to listening without getting aggressive

 

[Adara]

I would get a good trainer on board ASAP if you have any suspicion this is true aggression. If so this is very very serious.

 

[Noek]

12 weeks old seems very young to be showing that kind of aggression towards you.

Our pup is also 12 weeks and he plays very hard, loves play biting and jumping, basically everything a puppy should do, but rarely does he ever make noise while doing so, and has never displayed any defiance (aside from bath time).

I understand puppies, like humans, have individual personalities. If my puppy started displaying this behavior spontaneously, I would take him to my vet first to make sure he was healthy, a phone call to my breeder, then seek professional help as others have suggested.

This is just me though, it may be simpler than that but I wouldn't personally take the chance.

I hope can you sort it out.

 

[brw1982]

It sounds like he's being a rotten Doberman puppy, not aggressive, IMO. Doberman puppies are handfuls and can be very, very obnoxious and most loooooove to bite. When Fiona was a puppy she used to bounce around me like she was orbiting me and she would lunge in to snap at me and bite me - it was a game to her. She also thought it was fun to jump up and bite me in the ass when I walked away from her - again, not aggression. I didn't find it nearly as fun as she did, but she wasn't being aggressive.

Be careful how you handle this because, if it is in fact NOT aggression but you overreact and treat him harshly for it you could very well create an aggression problem as he matures.

Find an experienced, positive based trainer before you continue correcting your puppy for this.

 

[RedFawnRising]

It sounds like he's being a rotten Doberman puppy, not aggressive, IMO. Doberman puppies are handfuls and can be very, very obnoxious and most loooooove to bite. When Fiona was a puppy she used to bounce around me like she was orbiting me and she would lunge in to snap at me and bite me - it was a game to her. She also thought it was fun to jump up and bite me in the ass when I walked away from her - again, not aggression. I didn't find it nearly as fun as she did, but she wasn't being aggressive.

Be careful how you handle this because, if it is in fact NOT aggression but you overreact and treat him harshly for it you could very well create an aggression problem as he matures.

Find an experienced, positive based trainer before you continue correcting your puppy for this.

To the bold--my Whisper also did this, and laughed and laughed--she thought it was a grand game.

My bet is, OP, that your pup feels comfortable enough around you to show off and be sassy and obnoxious, while he's more unsure of your husband, and so doesn't try to engage him in naughty puppy games.

However, that said, this isn't the type of thing you solve over the interwebs--please search on the APDT site and find a good positive methods trainer to evaluate and coach you with your pup.

If there's the slightest possibility this is aggression, how you handle it now could very well have huge impact on your dog's future behavior.

 

[ZeldaRules]

My husband does what I do. We use firm voices to correct any bad behavior. He listens really well to my husband and has not barked or even growled at him when he corrects him even though they have hardly spent time together. Unfortunately, my husband is gone again (he was only home for the weekend) so now I am trying to get my puppy back on our routine and getting him back to listening without getting aggressive

http://www.sluggercitybullybuddies.org/SCBBTetherTraining.pdf