Agressive Puppy

Knottie37373131

We have a Maltese puppy who is about 8 or 9 months old. We take him on two walks everyday that are about 10-20 min long. When we pass people he gets very aggressive if we do not allow him to go up and say hello. People think he is mean, but he is barking because he is excited and wants to meet everyone. Of course, many people do not want to stop and play with puppy so we keep on walking and he gets upset. If we move our hands anywhere near him and do not allow him to go up to someone he bites us. Same if we are on our porch and people walk by, and if we are standing still on the side walk and cars go by. Anyone else have this experience. I am not sure how to react to him in a manner that will help him.

penguin44

My dog has this issue with other dogs. Wants to go sniff them but tells us by growling and getting really excited. 

We haven taken her to a few training classes. We focus on "leave it" with treats. So I will hold out a treat and not let her have it until I'm ready.

Then, when we see other dogs/people we tell her to leave it. I have her sit and say "leave it" until she is calm. When she calms down she's allowed to walk again. This took a lot of practice, but now we can use "leave it" for a lot of different scenarios. This seems to work well for her. 

Knottie37373131

I might have to try that. When cars pass I normally have try to stop moving, and say No. But, that is obviously not working. He gets wet food twice a day and he is not aloud to get it until I count to three and say "go get it". Sometimes it can still take am minute to get him to sit patiently to do that.

charlottesmom0626

Does he walk well on the leash? He should be walking beside you and stop when you stop. You can work on this using verbal and food rewards. Then when you encounter this situation you can have control...train him to sit and wait, after the people pass reward him with praise, food, or petting

penguin44

taylorann0626 said:

Does he walk well on the leash? He should be walking beside you and stop when you stop. You can work on this using verbal and food rewards. Then when you encounter this situation you can have control...train him to sit and wait, after the people pass reward him with praise, food, or petting

SITB:

We also use "wait" for a lot too. If she stops healing when we walk, she has to sit and wait until she calms down. She sits and waits for her dinner too. Wait and leave it are the most used "tricks."