[puppymom]

We have two papipoo pups that are 4 months old. They are male and female. Althought we adopted the female 10 days before we adopted the male, they are littermates.

Right from day one, the female has exerted her dominance over the male. He lets her eat first, even though they have two bowls, he gives up toys to her, etc. They wrestle and play as puppies do and they get along very well. They are both very happy and healthy.

The problem is she is starting to try to show dominance with us as well. If we don't pick her up in a way she likes, or we pet her on a part of her body she doesn't like, or we try to trim her face or touch her feet or ears, look at her teeth, etc. she growls at us and sometimes snaps. My husband was petting her last night and for no reason she turned and snapped at him. He immediately told her NO and put her on the floor, out if his lap.

How do we correct this? She is a loving little thing but sometimes she thinks she is boss. It usually happens when we least expect it and we don't want her snapping at people and not being able to trust her.

Please help!!!!!!!!!

[IamTracy]

I am by no means an expert, but I believe I read somewhere, that a momma dog teaches submission or bite inhabition by gently mouthing the pup back.
Have you tried grabbing her muzzle firmly (with your hand) and telling her NO BITE? Maybe even give it a gentle shake while you command NO BITE?

[opossum]

Does she have any training or know any commands? Does she know what no means and does she obey it? What did she do when your husband put her on the floor?

[puppymom]

She knows basics such as sit, stay and yes, she does understand the word NO although she doesn't always choose to obey it as puppies often do. When she snapped at my husband and he put back down on the floor she just stood and looked at him and then walked away. Two minutes later she was asking to be picked up again.

We are assuming because she shows her dominance with our other pup that she thinks she can show it to humans as well. She is normally a very happy little thing and it's not something that happens all the time but she does have a bit of attitude and we want to nip it in the bud before she starts snapping and growling at other people. She gets a lot of access to other people as well as she visits the senior's lodge on a regular basis but we have stopped doing that recently because I don't trust her. Would feel horrible if she snapped and nipped one of the old folks.

[briteday]

I would not take your pup around the elder house until you can trust her, completely. I thought our pap would make a wonderful therapy dog when we first got her because she was so calm and sweet. However, as she grew we discovered that she, and I think this may be common in toy dogs, doesn't like to be picked up or held, prefers to lay on the end of the recliner or sofa next to our feet. She will never be a therapy dog or totally trustworthy around children or elders. I crate her when they come to the house. Ours will run under a table and growl at epople to avoid contact. We are finally dorting this out after a few years but she is not much more "social" then whe was before. She has just learned to accept people in her environment. But I don't think she will ever run over and greet a relative stranger and allow them to pick her up.
Paps, I can only speak for, are terriers or spaniels by heritage. They have a bit of an attitude and can be yappy, at other dogs and people. You will have to work with these pups. I find that owners of small dogs tolerate bad behaviors longer than owners of bigger dogs because the smaller dog is a smaller problem. But if you let bad behavior continue it eventually becomes annoying.
The most improtant thing I would do at this point is to take your dogs into all kinds of social situations on a leash of course...crowded school yards as school lets out, kids' soccer games and such with lots of loud noises, a busy park or outdoor mall, a pet store that allows dogs in, any place that has lots of people and noise. Don't pick them up or allow them to cuddle in your arms. Once they are not so stressed over this socialization you can sit on a park bench and if someone sits by you and asks if they can pet your dog, warn them, but if they still want...give it a try. Until they are comfortable around all kinds and lots of people and noise, I tell people who ask to pet my paps "no, they bite." That usually stops the human.
And your dog will usually come back within a short amount of time after being reprimanded. Dogs have very short memories. I've read studies that say as short as less than a minute. So you can scold your dog and she'll still be your buddy. They don't hold it against you. I just slapped a newspaper against my hand last night when my pap growled and snapped at a foster dog we have, just because the other dog layed down on the floor against the sofa that she was laying on. This foster dog has been in the house for 4 weeks and he is no stranger to her. She jumped down and ran into the next room, sulked on the chair in there, and came back within minutes to lay on the foot of my recliner.

[luv4gsds]

This is a good website to read.
http://www.inch.com/~dogs/taming.html

[opossum]

The smaller the dog, the bigger the attitude.

Some things you can start doing:

Don't let her walk through doorways before you. Make her sit before she gets her food or anything else she wants. If she looks at you, stare her down until she looks away or shows other signs of submission. Get her to walk on a leash and heel. If you can get her to roll over and scratch her belly, do that often. Don't force it though. Be firm when you say no and make sure you get the point across.

It's hard to give good advice on this without seeing how the dog responds. There are a lot of things that I would do but I'm hesitant to advise someone else to do them. It sounds like your problem is minor but it should be delt with now before it gets any worse. If the simple things above don't seem to help, post back. You may also consider getting some local help if it gets any worse.

[cshellenberger]

First of all, a four month old dog is too young to show 'Dominance' Her reaction is either fear or pain based. Do NOT grab her by the snout.

Here is the bite inhibition article:
http://www.jersey.net/~mountaindog/berner1/bitestop.htm

You also need to work on this with BOTH dog, first individually then together. It's called Doggy Zen and can help establish you as the leader.
http://www.dogforums.com/3-dog-train...doggy-zen.html (Doggy Zen)

This may also help:
http://www.dogforums.com/3-dog-train...cool-down.html (Rev Up/Cool Down)


You also need to respect her space. If she is sleeping, don't disturb her unless absolutely neccessary. You also need to desensitize her to handling the feet and mouth. She is simply scared you're going to hurt her and is defending herself. THIS IS NOT DOMINANCE. You could start by perhaps teaching her to give paw, any good clicker training book will teach this trick. then reward her for allowing you to hold onto the paw for a second or two and work up from there. Making things less scary for her will make your relationship with her MUCH better.

As far as taking her to elder homes, don't do this if she's nervous about being picked up or petted. If she bites, YOU are liable and she will end up in the county quarentine for 10 days.

[Keno's Mom]

Another important thing to do with a dominante dog (of ANY size). Do NOT let them sleep in bed with you. Dominant dogs will get worse if you let them be on the same level as the pack leaders (you and husband). So if you allow them to sleep with you in bed - stop it immediately. They are to sleep in their crates at nite.

I agree on the littlier the dog the bigger the attitude - and because of their size, people let them get away with far too much that you would not allow a bigger dog to do

[puppymom]

Thank you for the posts to my questions and we will definately take all into consideration.

Just a little bit of background. She is a very happy, friendly pup. She loves to have people come to visit and can't seem to get enough attention when we have visitors. She allows them to pet her and she litterally bounces around the floor when she knows there is company coming to visit as they are pulling into the driveway. She is not at all scared or sensitive to strangers. She is very active and loves attention from anyone.

We also don't allow her to sleep with us. She has slept in her crate, in the kitchen from day one. We also make her sit for her food and she never goes out the door before us. She usually stands in the doorway with her nose poking out, allowing us to go outside first while she evaluates the weather, ha ha ha. Then she follows us. She is also our little one that is not afraid of much. She is usually the first one to venture into unknown territory without much fear. About the only thing she doesn't like is rough play. Our male loves to rough-house with my husband and play tug-of-war and fetch but she stands back most times and watches. About the only thing she will do is once the male fetches the ball, she tries to take it away from him. Again, a dominance thing.

Usually when she snaps and growls is when we have invited her to come up onto our laps while watching tv, etc. and she jumps up onto our laps, cuddles herself into our chests and lays her head down. It's at that point, if we try to pet her that she growls or tries to snap. So that's when we pick her up and set her back down on the floor and ignore her. We are hoping to get the point across that if you are going to behave like that then you stay down on the floor.

I guess I have to disagree with whoever it was that said a 4 month old pup is too young to be dominant. We have seen it with the way she behaves with our male pup and now with us. It's attitude that has to be changed. We unfortunately don't have access to trainers and such as we live 200 miles from the closest major centre so that's not a possibility. We socialize the pups by taking them to the hospital, senior's lodge, school and anywhere else we can find people and they have always behaved. It just seems to be an issue with us at home. But we have stopped taking them for visits because we don't trust her totally. As far as being in pain, she has no pain. She has been checked by a vet numerous times as our vet is also a very good friend and sees her regularly. She also plays rough with her brother on a daily basis and if she had pain, I'm sure she would be a lot quieter.

[opossum]

When she growls are her ears up or back? Is she showing any teeth and if so, is it mostly front teeth or can you see any back teeth? Does she look at you or is her head to the side? I realize it may be difficult to see all of this if she is in your lap. I would definitely put her on the floor if she growls. You might consider making her stay on the floor.

[Dogsareme]

Sounds like you just need to establish a pack order.

Try using NILIF (nothing in life is free)
The rules of NILIF is everything and anything the dog wants he/she has to earn. If the dog wants to go outside, then the dog has to sit (or your choice of obedience) before the door is open. Before being fed dog has to sit and wait until the food dish is on the floor and you back away from it before she is allowed to eat. If she wants to be petted, she has to (insert obedience cue). And on and on.

As for stealing her brothers food I would suggest standing between them as they eat (he be in one corner and her in another). If she starts to go towards him and his food dish, clap your hands and tell her calmly no. If she keeps going say no pick her up and place her back infront of her food dish. You mentioned she did not like to be picked up except for in certain ways, so maybe have a leash on her during meal time so if she goes for his food you just bring her back with that. Sounds like its not just dominance but also a bit of bullying (yes dogs can bully too).