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  • Puppy play or puppy aggression?

    Hi first time puppy owner over here! My fully vaxxed almost 5 month old heeler/pit mix that we’ve had since he was 8 weeks old has recently had what’s starting to become some concerning behavior. he sleeps in his crate overnight for about 7 to 8 hours. wake up around 6:30am, we go out for potty right away, always poops & pees & sometimes (ab 2x a week) if no one is at the dog park in our neighborhood we’ll go there for 5- 10 mins of play. back in for his breakfast while i make my coffee & then all hell breaks loose for the day. 🥲 this has only started maybe 2 weeks ago. Before then what i’ve read & assumed was normal land shark puppy behavior happened here & there throughout the day but had a mostly sweet boy. Now it seems like im constantly fighting him off my pants or socks which all have holes in them from his biting & pulling. so i mostly wear shorts & no socks around the house now. So now he’ll nip at my heels & calves. i’m not allowed to do nothing. lol if i’m cooking or seemingly “busy” he’s fine ? (for the most part) but recently he’s getting less patient. even then he’s barking & growling while trying to “attack me” not full on latches on skin or anything like that but lots of lunging & nipping while barking & growling. i assume it’s him playing bc his tail will be wagging? recently he’ll be sitting on the couch watching me in the kitchen & then charge at me with a growl & bark A LOT & lunge & nip at my legs. if i’m sitting on the couch he’ll jump on me & BARK & growl & nip me everywhere. & nothing will seem to calm him down except if i immediately go into training with his treats. he has lots of toys & chews. he loves his benebone. ive tried redirecting with chews, i’ve tried walking into a different room & putting MYSELF in timeout for 30 seconds & come back into the room. but the behavior just immediately continues. we do our training a couple times for 5-10 mins during the day. we play with his toys together. he has puzzle treats kongs mats. everything. so i doubt it’s that he’s bored or under stimulated ? he goes down for his naps every couple of hours. but i’m not sure if he’s actually sleeping the whole time. he doesn’t bark or whine in his crate & goes in happily. so idk. i know he’s teething & has begun to lose some teeth so i want to chalk it up to that but this morning he did kinda scare me with the behavior. on the walk back into my apartment after his walk he attacked my slippers & was growling at them in the hallway i had to pick him up & carry him back inside. then after he ate breakfast he jumped on the couch & was barking rather close to my face on the couch while nipping me all over my arms. i had to pop him in the crate bc like i said i got scared :/ this just happened then came to reddit to type this. this behavior is starting to get to me a little. i love him so much, but it’s obviously stressful & i don’t know what else to do. does this behavior sound normal ? or should i begin to worry ? any advice ? thank you in advance 🥹

    edit : to add he’s a good boy out in public. we take him for dinner dates & sit outside. he mostly sits at our feet & people watches. we’ve been teaching him “focus” so when other dogs go by he focuses on us bc he was getting a little reactive to other dogs, whining & wanting to say hi & play. nothing aggressive there. loves attention from strangers. & is sweet outside the house. so this behavior seemingly only happens inside ? :/

    submitted by /u/_sadandboujee_
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  • 3 month old puppy growled at the vet.

    hi! this might be a little long i apologize lol! i have a 3 month old great pyrenees/ pit mix. just for a little extra background information i have had him since he was born and bottle raised him. anyways, when we got to the vet the front desk lady took us back to the exam room. my dog was very excited when she was petting him, no issues at all. she left and i noticed him to seem pretty nervous and uncomfortable. i tried petting and talking in a calming tone. the vet eventually came in, said hi to me and gave him one little pet and automatically went to handling him. he was pretty tense and when she got to his genitals he let out a low deep growl. she backed away and told me to scratch behind his ears and try to distract him. he growled 2 more times after that but they weren’t as serious as the first time. when we were done and she actually started petting him he was happy, wagging his tail, and trying to play. she seemed a little nervous when he was trying to play, which is totally understandable but even after the growling she was even able to clip his declaw nails with no issue! i asked her if that was a little too much for a puppy this young. she told me “i will never punish a puppy growling but that was a little over the top”. i don’t wanna be blind or stupid to this behavior so that’s why i’m asking for advice on this. i feel as more so it was the environment, he was uncomfortable, and she didn’t do a good job taking a second to introduce herself and went straight to handling him. he’s never shown aggression towards dogs, kids, especially other people. he LOVES people. the only “bad” behavior i’ve seen from him is when he took a slice of pizza off the table and growled when i tried to take it but i just redirected him off of it with something higher value and he was fine after that.

    submitted by /u/West_Permit_996
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  • Should I still get my puppy if I’m pregnant?

    So I’m supposed to take home a puppy I’ve been waiting for on April 25th, less than a month. Deposit was paid a while ago. BUT I just found out I’m pregnant (completely unplanned). Would it be wrong to back out so close? Or should I still take the pup? I’m at a complete loss, and I don’t know what to do. What’s the general advice for puppies and babies together?

    submitted by /u/kamarie418
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  • Overwhelmed by advice online

    I was gifted a golden retriever puppy 2 months ago, he’s 3 months old now, we’ve been working on sit, stay, paw, safety etc, mostly working on drop at the moment, I’ve also been crate training him and it sees to be going well, however he’s gotten his last vaccination recently and should be good for walks on Friday, only problem is there’s so much advice online of what to do with puppies biting and walking on leashes, some say slip leads, prong collars others say chain leads and harnesses, I’m driving myself mad trying to decide what will work best

    Tldr I don’t know what the best way to train my puppy is and I’m scared of messing everything up

    submitted by /u/TharizdunOfOerth
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  • What does your night routine with your puppy look like?

    We dont have a puppy yet but looking to get one soon. Ive been trying to imagine what our night routine would look like if we had a puppy.

    We have two kids (8 and 10). Their rooms are upstairs above our family room/kitchen (where we spend most of the time) and then the master bedroom is on the first floor farther away from the main area.

    My question is, if we were to crate train, where would we put the crate? In the family room or our room?

    I would guess that the first week or so, i would have to be next to the puppy at night. Curious to know what everyone else does?

    I would like to eventually let the dog sleep in the bed with us but I know that wont work in the puppy stage.

    submitted by /u/Sea-Sundae-9113
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  • Help getting my pup not to jump on people

    I have a six month old lab. I started him out with training and then life happened. Two dogs attacked a horse in my yard and I had to save it and of course it kicked and I fell. Long story short I had a total hip replacement March 17th. So I only had the one training session. However, he’s great with just me. Listens, doesn’t jump, and doesn’t chew on me anymore!! However, when my daughter or her friends are around or I have company over he gets so excited he loses all control and they allow it. What can I do to stop this behavior m? I am a oto have another surgery for cancer and I really want to nip this in the bud. Do I need to keep him on a leash when company comes over until I can get him to stop? I’m thinking about having the trainer come over and work with my daughter so she knows what to do when she has friends over. Because keeping him locked up definitely isn’t the answer. Being crippled isn’t helping matters any 😂

    submitted by /u/Expert_Tangelo_7304
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