14 week old puppy is getting agressive and loud

[deka]

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Have a border collie I got from a farmer all legit, proper details taken, vaccination records and I still send pictures to them with updates.

Puppy has always been full of energy and excited but thats to be expected but seems to be getting quite snappy these days and whines.

At first she loved getting picked up for example and took a lot of naps on floor, and loved jumping into my arms, toilet training is back and forth with her starting to get good unless I missed one of her random episodes.

I took away pads about 2 weeks ago fully except in bedroom.

She only has access to living room and kitchen when I go in there.

She knows basic commands now and reacts to them well except when shes overexcited or overtired which is where the problems seem to be.

Mornings are mostly ok she just wants to sleep in my arms, after her lunch she starts getting very restless even if I take her for a walk. and in past week or so she has started to lunge at me and bite my arm wanting attention, if I pull back in pain she just barks and uses even more force, I can't go in my bedroom as she bites my ankles and feet so I can't even make my bed, I have as of yesterday tried treats to get her attention to not bite me but that only works for a few seconds.

In past 2 days my arm has about 2 large scratches on, 2 have blood on them.

I can't even pick her up anymore without her somehow snapping though this isn't every time, its often if I do it when shes does something like want to play or is already playing, she also starts to bite me if I go on a phone call.

She wags her tail most of the time too.

The rest of the time and most of the day shes gentle and if I take her outside and she sees someone she wags her tail and if they want to pet her she rolls on her belly and lets them, no agression towards other people.

The last few days she even now starts to bite my leg if I go into the bathroom, she doesn't show obvious signs of anxiety, and shes worse in evening so I assume thats tiredness and of course gentle to the point of even if she wants to mouth my hand I can't even feel it.

Changes in past 2 weeks that may of contributed.

Have left her alone twice a week for 1-2 hours a time to get shopping.

Change in what food I get her (still dried food)

Maybe fireworks day? That was when the problems seemed to get much worse even though she barely reacted to the fireworks

Maybe not related but since yesterday she has made a few horrible farts, but then I started giving her treats again as of 2 days ago to help train her (so maybe the treats are causing the huge increase in last 2 days but wouldn't explain the previous week)
I worked 3 days at home last week (I work from home normally but had a week off the previous week)

Taking her into garden less as originally I was taking her out as much as 6 times a hour just in case and she took that as a excuse to play in garden, so now spread it out (would explain how shes having more accidents now)

Not sure if its teething also as shes suddenly started jumping onto my living room desk and licking my ice cold bottle there, maybe I should start giving her frozen carrots again (did it once last week)

 

[JudyN]

Don't worry, this isn't aggression, it's normal, typical puppy behaviour. When my dog was that age I looked like I'd been self-harming! It's good that she is gentle for much of the time - hang on to the fact that this is what she will end up like all the time. For now, she will have these mad moments when she can't quite control herself

Have a read of this post, but do come back if you have any questions: Puppy biting

I would try to avoid picking her up if at all possible, as she seems uncomfortable with it. Instead, think about other ways to get her to where you want her to be - maybe put a light house lead on her so you can lead her to where you want her to be, or call her instead.

Bear in mind also that being a Border collie, she is doubtless very smart and needs a lot of mental stimulation. If you don't provide it, either her mental health will suffer, or she'll find her own ways to entertain herself (and your mental health will suffer). As part of my dog's impulse control training, I would teach him to stand on an old carpet tile, and wait till I put another carpet tile a few feet in front and asked him to move to that one. Then I would take the first carpet tile and put it in front... and so on, down the length of the kitchen till we reached the treat I'd placed at the end. Games like this get them thinking, encourages them to listen to you, and helps them learn to control their natural impulses (like just going and grabbing the treat). You'll be able to find plenty of resources online for ways to make your dog think.

For toilet training, have a read of this post: House training

 

[deka]

Well last night about 30 minutes before bed I gave her a frozen carrot and that calmed her down and she went straight to her bed rather than her usual jump on my bed,

Today she was great wanted to sleep on my lap all morning, she did get snappy after lunch though until she bit one finger and I made a very loud "aaah" this shocked her and she instantly stopped and backed off and she has made a few lunges in the day since all have been far gentler, still can be nip/sore but no longer enough to be more than a quick ouch.

 

[JudyN]

That all sounds really good. Some dogs do respond to you going 'ouch!', whereas others just get even more wound up. If 'ouch!' works for you, do that along with turning away so the fun stops, but make sure you're not loud/fierce enough to scare her - you never want your dog to be scared of you, and particularly your hands.

 

[deka]

Well normally I say ouch she does nothing but this time I was loud, not scream the house down loud but like like drop something on your foot loud.

She started snapping again about 45 minute ago, I gently held her mouth and covered her eyes as that helps but I worry that will just make her frightened of me, I have done this before.

Eventually she just decided to lie at my feet, don't want to move now as it may wake her

 

[JudyN]

Again, holding her mouth shut could just add to her frustration. Remember that it's heightened emotions that cause the behaviour (along with the fact, of course, that she's a puppy and puppies do everything with their teeth), so anything you do that increases the emotions can backfire. Really, you want her to learn that when she puts teeth on you, you become very boring. Whatever you do, though, you do have to be 100% consistent, and remember that, just like toddlers, she'll have good days and bad days, and even when she's got the general idea, she'll relapse at times. When my dog had stopped jumping up and mouthing my arms, I could guarantee that if I took him down the beach he'd have a short mad jumpy/bitey session to start off with before calming down.

 

[deka]

Anyway im going to change her diet, will keep her on dry food for a few weeks, the stuff I am using now seems to make her go more and it stinks, so when she has a accident indoors it stinks the whole place. Going to buy some good quality dry and change her to wet/raw food when shes a little better toilet trained.

Also this evening when she was trying to bite lead rather than do her business I just turned my back to her for a few minutes and she stopped and acted normally.

When I use a treat she does stop biting me for a moment then goes back to it, its more that I work from home 2 and a half days a week so I need to have her not biting me or running around, or doing her business inside.

 

[JudyN]

I work from home 2 and a half days a week so I need to have her not biting me or running around, or doing her business inside.

She is a puppy, so biting, running around and having toilet training lapses will be par for the course for a while. You might need to take her out more often for toileting, following the advice in the link I gave. You could also try giving her a bone or a long-lasting chew (not rawhide - they're not safe), or a frozen Kong to keep her occupied for longer.

If giving her a treat to stop her biting, do make sure that you don't accidentally train her to bite you just to get the treat...

 

[Hemlock]

Great advice there. One of my pups was an absolute thug, but grew into such a wonderful dog we called her "Mrs. Perfect". Hang on in there!

 

[deka]

Decided to treat her to some very expensive dry food, no more smelly farts called Arden Grange, no idea if its the "best" but it was expensive

Yesterday was a great day with her except her tantrum in evening, she went toilet and only had 2 wee accidents in evening, and went all night without needing to go out, today was great until evening as each time I went outside she wanted to play biting the lead and jumping on me to bite further up the lead and not doing toilet and when coming in then doing it and so does it so fast I can't stop her eating her waste.

I tried the leave room method for her biting tonight, or should I say each time I went to leave room she ran in front of me so I could close door, each time was only about 15-30 seconds but it took 3 attempts for her to calm, even the 1st attempt she was calmer.

Can I go back to a query about dogs sensitivity to phones, I have a cordless landline phone, when I use it even if shes asleep in my arms she instantly wakes up and yelps or barks, and worse case scenario she jumps off me and then lunges and bites, I assume this is a frequency thing as she doesn't do this when I use mobile or make a call by pc (with a headset)

Relatives dog gets upset with cordless phones too.

She still reacts to training well, to the point if she hears me something rustle in my pocket even if shes biting or excited she instantly stops, I still haven't successfully got her to sit still though or lie on her mat which means I have to be so attentive,as I panic whenever I see her jump on corner sofa as thats where she likes to do her toilet (so I have put blankets there which may be encouraging her more)

On a side note I have put 2 puppy pads back in the living room in the 2 areas she keeps going regardless since she has regressed in her training.

About bones, what can I give a puppy? My local butcher can give me free bones but I worry about them being too big or small.

 

[JudyN]

It sounds like you're going in the right direction with calming the biting - my dog used to have tantrums too, but if it's OK for human youngsters, it's OK for puppies

The phone thing is interesting. I would aim to use the landline from another room. At what point does she get up set - when you pick it up, when you dial a number, when you speak in it? Unless whatever she can hear is actually painful for her, you could do some training for this: from the other side of the room, pick it up and throw her a treat. Repeat, repeat, repeat, until she is clearly happy to see you pick it up. Move on to pressing a button and treating, repeatedly (or dialing a whole number if she's fine with individual buttons). Also try picking up the phone and speaking into it without actually connecting a call... and treating.

Then try actually connecting the line - either call a friend who you've agreed the plan with, so you can connect and hang up straight away, or phone something like the Speaking Clock (if it still exists). You could also work on receiving calls in a similar way, maybe even phoning your landline from your mobile.

This could take a few days or even weeks. If at any time she gets upset, you're moving too fast and need to go back a step.

Toilet training - make sure you clean up all accidents with an enzymatic cleaner (a google will bring up lots of options), or she's more likely to return to the same place. And you might need to take her out more, and make sure she gets lots of praise and a treat for going out there. Bear in mind that puppy pads can confuse dogs, as they make them think that toileting in the house is OK - it's simpler to have a clear divide between 'inside' and 'outside'.

@excuseme should be able to give you some good advice on what bones are best for pups. Oh, and Arden Grange is a good food

 

[deka]

Her ears perk up when I dial/get dial tone and a second or so after I start speaking she barks and she just gets very restless throughout the call.

I have 2 different types of simple solution for the mess, one is a stain and odour remover one is a urine destroyer I use the stain one for 2's and the urine destroyer for the wee's, she just seems to of decided thats her spot and every few days I wash the blankets, would do it daily but if I do that I wouldn't have any to cover the seats.

She goes outside great in morning and during night, it's the evening when things get bad both for her excitement and her toileting.

 

[JudyN]

It's normal for pups to turn into dervishes in the evening (just when you want to sit down and relax) - hopefully, as she gets calmer in the evenings she'll pay more attention to her bladder. But the more you give her opportunities to go outside in the evening, the less likely she is to toilet through excitement.

 

[deka]

I forgot to say, a big problem in the evenings is due to her excitement she wants to play with lead more outside rather than do toilet, I have a small back garden and a larger front garden but still have to use lead as front garden has no fence and she prefers to go there in evening as its well lit,

Shes too distracted by the lead to do anything, she only goes if shes desperate there and then.

 

[JudyN]

I'm guessing the back garden isn't secure either - are you able to fence off a small area of the back garden with either chicken netting or a freestanding dog fence? (I used an opened-out dog playpen for a similar purpose with my dog, which worked well. Another possibility is to use a metal chain lead, which is much less fun to play with - like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Louvra-Dur...t=&hvlocphy=1006548&hvtargid=pla-636342650125

 

[deka]

Back garden is secure, but it has pebbles at the side by the path which she likes to pick up and 2 muddy corners where she likes to eat the mud or dig

 

[excuseme]

I have never had a problem with bones for puppies, just make sure that the bone is not too small.
Get one that is quiet a bit larger so that it can not be swallowed whole until your puppy knows just how to manage these things.
I start puppies on bones at about 5 weeks of age. Any type can be used especially soft chicken bones.
Never feed COOKED bones!
If you are wanting a bone for amusement or as a boredom buster, lamb rib bones are good, they are not so hard that they can not be nibbled and consumed, but with adult teeth (when they arrive) they can be consumed a little more quickly.
Pork bones are quiet soft and a lot of these are quiet easily and safely eaten. (our lot are not always too keen on pork products but they do get eventually get eaten)
Most beef bones are very dense and hard but their ribs do slowly get shorter, some seem to last for ever.
Chicken bones are all very soft and edible and will be eaten quiet quickly.

 

[Hemlock]

I'm another who weaned my puppies straight onto raw bones. They do fine with them.

 

[deka]

Butchers had no bones left today, had a session with trainer today and she was very well behaved and just got home and she just decided to go straight for a nap, hope she stays that way

 

[JudyN]

Be aware that whenever a pup has been doing anything in the slightest stressful, or rather 'arousing', they may be more likely to play up later on. Think of a child after a day at primary school, a little tired and having been 'good', and/or think hard, all day. Or a child after an exciting party... Or 6th-formers when they come out of their final A level exam.... Fingers crossed pup will be peaceful this evening, but don't despair if she has extra pent-up physical or emotional energy that has to come out one way or anyther.