Pete is a little meanie! Help please!

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Peterbilt
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Pete is a little meanie! Help please!

Post by Peterbilt »

I am probably acting before he gets settled.

My friend brought over an 8 week old beagle yesterday and Pete, who absolutely loves my schnauzers, tried to attack this puppy when he came near him. Never seen this sort of aggression before. Before we broach him home he even saw a chihuahua and was excited to see it.

Pete tried to stand by me a lot and when the puppy continually approached he would go into attack mode. So I would sharply say no and give him a little tug. What should I do? I need to wait a little to get him a class and even then I don't want them using any physical force. It's gonna be tough.




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Sirchow
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Re: Pete is a little meanie! Help please!

Post by Sirchow »

This depends on body language mostly. Either way he sees the beagle as a threat. Either he is scared and cowered by you tail down making himself small and the beagle didn't pay attention and pushed him out of his comfort zone he had to defend himself or he was protecting what he sees as his territory which includes you and his friend. Better to take them for a walk together so that the energy is focused on doing something than to leave them to entertain themselves which if you have kids you will know will always end in tears.

I think at the baby stage socialisation is better done with older dogs who know how to behave and will teach you baby some valuable lessons by example and Pete won't find their behaviour so threatening and scary. My trainer always said puppy's learn nothing from puppies except bad habits!
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Ursa's daddy
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Re: Pete is a little meanie! Help please!

Post by Ursa's daddy »

It is also possible that Pete saw the dog as an intruder into his space.
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Re: Pete is a little meanie! Help please!

Post by DrewBear »

Peterbilt wrote:I need to wait a little to get him a class and even then I don't want them using any physical force.
You may want to search for puppy play groups in your area. These aren't really training classes, just supervised play with mostly other puppies. It's usually indoors where the play area can be properly sanitized and all pups are required to be current on their vaccinations.

The one my pup attended had 2 separate areas; one "rowdy room" and one for the gentler, more timid pups. They kept a pretty close eye to make sure nothing got out of hand and quickly cleaned up any accidents that occurred. There was a "time out" area where owners (or the supervisors/trainers) could put pups in for short periods if they were misbehaving. They also asked all the owners to bring high-level treats and took frequent play breaks to practice the basic commands (sit, down, etc.).

If I had to choose between either formal training or this socialization/play group, I would choose the latter. You can find all sorts of training instruction on YouTube these days, but there's no easy way to give your pup socialization time before all the puppy vaccinations are complete. Socialization in those early weeks are very important.
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