[Poppy'sHooman]

Hi all, we have had our first V puppy (Poppy) for what seems like forever but which the calendar tells me has only been 2 weeks. She is 10 wks old. While some of her behaviour and nippy-ness is slowly starting to settle a bit (towards Vizsla puppy average) as we've figured out better routines and activities for her, one thing that has developed that I find a little concerning is some aggression (growling and attempting to bite) when I pick her up to move her on from things. We caught on, thanks to a helpful post, that she was starting to get over stimulated in after too long outside or too much activity. When this happens we try to direct her attention elsewhere; do some sits/downs or try with a different toy etc, but when we are outside and she's caught a scent even her favourite treats will not entice her. In these situations we will pick her up and return back inside, trying to "settle" along the way. This was working, but about a week in she started to get really aggressive, turning back to try to bite me and even growling/snarling at me. She's getting bigger that there's literally no way for me to move her to a different situation or back inside without me being exposed to quite aggressive biting attempts.

I've tried making the trips outside a little more focused and a little shorter (but more frequent) but some days are just bad. And once it starts in a day it feels like it doesn't stop. Am I doing something wrong? Should I not be carrying her anymore? The alternative would be dragging her with the leash which doesn't seem good either. Any and all advice re aggression or overstimulation welcome.

 

[Sloane]

Hi! I also have a vizsla named Poppy! She's 16 months old now, but the first three months I had her were very rough. She was my first puppy as an adult and quite a lot more to handle than other puppies (I had only met adult vizslas before I decided on the breed). My Poppy also had issues with puppy biting - so much so I thought she hated me in the beginning haha. I had to wear long sleeves and long pants for the first few months and those all have holes in them now from her razor teeth. It DOES get better.

Are you crate training? This worked well for us. The first few months when we weren't interacting - potty time, play time, training time, or snuggle time at night - she was in her crate. This helped me work and helped her get enough rest. At this age, they get tired quite quickly and need tons of sleep. The only way I could ensure she actually slept was to have her in the crate.

When you take her outside, do you have her on a lead? I got some small puppy harnesses for Poppy (made sure movement wasn't restricted, but the collar on a puppy that young freaked me out - rightly or wrongly) and used a long nylon lead (10+ feet). That way, she had some freedom, but I was able to get her back inside. When she was being stubborn, I would call her name in a high voice and sound "exciting" so she would follow me. If she's not responding to her favorite treats, try some boiled chicken.

These are two things that worked well for us, but you will figure out what works for you as she gets older and you figure out her personality more. It's going to get worse before it gets better, but you will have a wonderful companion. Good luck and feel free to post some puppy pics!!

 

[rsarvis]

It’s definitely scary as they get bigger, especially for children and smaller adults that can’t overpower the dog to control him/her. The best thing is to learn the signs that the dog is tiring out or getting overstimulated, and/or to have a hard time limit for any stimulating activity and on the awake cycle, and crate them to relax before the crazy begins. Also, when they have gone crazy, we found that carrying a walking stick worked wonders to keep the dog at bay. His attention would focus entirely on the stick, leaving us unscathed. Around 6mo, that craziness starts to subside.

 

[gunnr]

I’m going to say that “true aggression” in a 10 week old puppy is extremely unlikely. She is operating off of instinctive behaviors. She doesn’t yet have her adult faculties. She’s still just a puppy. She barely remembers 5 minutes ago, but she will rapidly develop that brain over the next month, so it’s time to imprint some behaviors.
As previously stated, get her into a nice padded harness with a handle on top, and keep a meter of leash attached. It sounds as if she needs more leash conditioning.
unless you have some weather elements, or live in apartment with lots of stairs, let her walk on her own to the maximum extent possible.
For the first few months I had Finn, my hands and forearms looked like I’d been playing with barbed wire fencing. None of my other Vizslas were ever this problematic as puppies.
You’ll get through it, just remember that as of this moment, she’s only 10 weeks old, and has very minimal attention span.

 

[derwos]

A 10 week old puppy simply doesn't have the intellectual or instinctive ability to be "aggressive", as you've inferred by the title of your post and contents. Your concerns are over reaction.

Poppy is just being a vizsla puppy, when tired. Poppy's current "growly" behavior can be viewed as synonymous with the psychotic "sharkies" you are going to soon be experiencing. There's ZERO correlation of these puppy antics, to actual aggressive behavior, later on.

How to deal with Poppy now? Ignore the growly antics. Pick him up and love and cuddle him... and adore the puppy growlies!!

 

[Dan_A]

As others mentioned this is not aggression. This is a puppy that doesn't understand how to "play" with humans yet. With V's it takes time to slowly teach them that super rough play and especially with mouths and jumping are not acceptable play styles when playing with people. For now defend yourself with redirection to toys etc. As for teaching a V puppy to settle, its not as easy as other breeds I've experienced. Ellie didn't self-settle until she was 4-5 months old. I was concerned she would never just lay down and relax on her own. It was always us enforcing nap times in her crate through the day on a schedule. Then one day in my home office, she layed down on a blanket I had put out for her. In the past she could care less about the blanket, then plop she relaxed. I was so happy i took a photo and sent it to my wife with something like "FINALLY SHE LAID DOWN ON HER OWN!!!".

If she tries to play too rough, redirect to toys. Teeth or other behavior on you, start coming up with a "No" sound and be expressive with it. Not yelling, but make it serious. Express your displeasure, disengage as to not feed into the behavior, redirect with a toy and act super happy when she engages teeth on the toy like its the best thing ever. She'll start learning that bad behavior is no fun, but good behavior gets a big rise out of you and its sooo much fun!

 

[texasred]

Your puppy could use some collar pressure puppy games. It’s just putting your thumb under their collar, and the rest of your hand on the chest, or shoulder. Depending on which way you are wanting them to move. You softly move them with that hand, and then give a treat. You can even lure with a treat at first. To help them understand what your asking. You work different directions, while being beside them. So they learn to move sideway towards you, sideways away from you. To back up, and move forward. While it’s a game, the puppy learns to give to collar pressure.

 

[Poppy'sHooman]

Thank you for your suggestions everyone! We have switched to more frequent but shorter outings and are working on ending the outings on a high note before she starts showing signs of overstimulation. I do understand it isn't "true aggression" and am less concerned that it is telling for long term behaviour, and more just about trying to manage a situation when it is already going bad. That being said, there is a distinct difference between her normal sharkies moments (lunging at me and biting/growling etc) where I do redirect with toys, and what will sometimes happen when she is already overstimulated and I am trying to remove her from the stimulation and get her back home as quickly as possible. These moments are well beyond her usual "you're a playmate, I don't know how to play with humans yet" attacking and lunging etc.