Aggressive playing

Posted by Angela
Sep 7, 2007
Hello all.

I have a lovely 18 week old Weimaraner who is actually by nature not aggressive, but a behavioral problem has arisen due to the fact that I wasn't able to pick him up until 16 weeks. (I live in Cyprus and import of puppies is not allowed under any circumstances until 4 months of age).

The breeder was able to run him on for me for the 1 month, however during this time he mostly played with another puppy (different breed). Obviously it is natural for puppies to play, but they were allowed to bite each other, jump up, and play aggressively.

When I take him out for a walk he is great, walks to heel, and is calm, however if I try to liven the walk up, make him walk faster, make it more fun and play, he then tries to run and jump up and bite my hand, or knee, and can chew the lead and growl. I do manage to diffuse this behavior, but would rather he learned to play nice.

Other than this issue, he is a lovely weimy, and it very smart.

Every day I maintain alpha dog status around the home, so I don't think this is a cause. I really do think it is just down to his early play experience with the other puppy.

If any of you pet lovers have experienced the same problem it would be great to know how you dealt with it. Or if this is covered in one of the videos please let me know which one so I can jump straight to it.

All feedback appreciated.

Thanks

Angela
Posted by eyeluvdogs
Sep 14, 2007
Hi there, I love Weimaraners - the ones I have met have been very sweet natured dogs. I bet your pup's behavior when you try to walk faster with him is a little frustrating though. It does seem that your pup has picked up some bad habits, and when he sees you start to walk faster he gets a little too excited - thinks its playtime! What you could do is next time you start to increase your speed and he starts misbehaving, make a loud, high pitched noise that is designed to startle him into stopping the bad behavior. As soon as you have issued the noise, stop and walk back 5 paces, then turn around and ask your dog to sit and wait. Once he is calm, start walking again. Continue this process until your dog starts to get the message that if he wants to get anywhere he is going to have to stop the silly behavior. Good luck