[MarcoLissa]

Hello,

I've seen a lot of great things in this forum but now registered because I need some advice and/or tips for my dogs' behaviour. I hope you can help us.

Since a few months we have a poodle puppy. But as she's growing up she starts to bark aggressively towards us. Since a while she also started to bark at kids and other small dogs and started biting us (the owners). She doesn't try to bite anyone else but acts aggressive. This happens especially outdoors.

At home she is most of the time behaving normally until she wants attention or play, then she start biting and barking at us and grab our shoes.
We keep her unleashed when we walk outside and she always stays near us, but since she become aggressive we have bought a leash just in case.

From tips we've seen online we've tried to hold her on her back, tell her not to, pull her away and make her calm and tried to hold her. But nothing seems to work and she only gets crazier.
We only want her to be calm towards us and especially to other people and dogs and that she can play in a decent way.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[McCourt]

The first and best advice I can give you is NEVER ever have your dog outside unleashed. Next I would advise you to read the rest of this website because this topic has been covered a few times.

 

[MorganE84]

Hello,

I've seen a lot of great things in this forum but now registered because I need some advice and/or tips for my dogs' behaviour. I hope you can help us.

Since a few months we have a poodle puppy. But as she's growing up she starts to bark aggressively towards us. Since a while she also started to bark at kids and other small dogs and started biting us (the owners). She doesn't try to bite anyone else but acts aggressive. This happens especially outdoors.

At home she is most of the time behaving normally until she wants attention or play, then she start biting and barking at us and grab our shoes.

I doubt it's true aggression. It sounds like rude and obnoxious demanding behavior. She's demand barking to get attention. She's biting your shoes to get attention. So the worst punishment for her would be to be ignored.

I have an older puppy that I just rescued a few months ago and they can be defiant jerks. They're teenagers. My puppy doesn't demand bark nearly as much since I started ignoring her. I don't yell at her. I don't tell her no (she doesn't know what that means). I try to wait it out with no reaction (no eye contact, no words) and if I have to then I leave the room. She's started to catch on that calm behavior gets treats and pets. Acting obnoxious does not. She's still a work in progress but she's learning.

 

[Besoeker]

The first and best advice I can give you is NEVER ever have your dog outside unleashed.

You are right. It has been discussed a few times. And we will probably continue to disagree over this.
There is no one size fits all.

 

[cookieface]

Welcome. Sorry you're having such troubles.

It sounds as though there could be a few things going on and it would be helpful for you to find a qualified trainer who can observe your pup in person.

How old is your puppy? A young pup is unlikely to be aggressive; more likely she is either overstimulated and doesn't know how to control her emotions (like a young child), in a fear period (that could explain barking at other people and dogs), or just a puppy who hasn't learned the appropriate way to interact with you (you need to teach her that behaving nicely is the way to solicit attention).

The things you've tried, "hold her on her back, tell her not to, pull her away and make her calm and tried to hold her" are unlikely to help and can make the situation worse. She'll may think you're playing or start to fear you and in both cases she may just try harder.

Here are a few good resources from the sticky section (roughly in a prioritized order):

Finding a Trainer, Behavior Consultant, or Behaviorist
Impulse Control and Calmness
Biting, Mouthing, and Nipping
Reactivity, On Leash Aggression, and Barrier Frustration
Calming Signals
Suppression, Modification, Shutdown, and Fallout.

About walking off leash, if there is a safe place to do so (away from cars, livestock, other dangers); your dog can ignore other dogs, people, wildlife, etc.; and your dog has excellent recall, it's a nice way to exercise. In your situation, given what you said about your pup's reaction to kids and other dogs I would not recommend it. Once your dog can ignore kids, other dogs, etc. and has excellent recall, you can revisit the idea.