Golden Retriever Puppy (10 weeks) – biting and growling?
I have a 10 week old golden retriever puppy who is typically well behaved – a couple times a day though he snarls and growls and won’t stop biting my husband and I. He is not play biting at this time but actually has his lips curled back growling and will bite anywhere he can reach (legs, arms etc) and does draw blood at times. We have tried showing him we are his masters but are running out of ideas and do not want to hit him as we’ve read this will only make the problem worse. My husband was recently told to growl back and show his teeth which seems to work. Does anyone have any other ideas? I know puppies bite but this is aggressive biting and we know we need to stop this behaviour as early as possible. If it matters often after he does this he will fall asleep right after. He will start when we are playing with him or not so I don’t believe its caused by boredom … and golden retrievers aren’t typically aggressive dogs. Is it something he will grow out of?
Just treat him as his mother would do when he was in the litter. She shakes him by the scruff of the neck and growls at him. You don’t have to be rough with him, just let him know that what he is doing is unacceptable. Always have a toy or a bone to offer him instead to take his mind of biting you.
Don’t forget that puppies are like children. They can get very wound up very quickly and it is not a bad idea when he gets like this to give him ‘time out’ and put him either in his crate or another room for a short time until he has calmed down.
He will grow out of this behaviour, don’t worry, but in the meantime perhaps you could enrol him at Puppy Training Class to teach him the basics.
I kept two puppies from my last litter (now 4 months old) and they are manic at times. I have the bitten arms and bruises to prove it. When they get wound up like that I try and take their mind off this bad behaviour by putting them in another room for a short time with a bone each to gnaw on or a Kong filled with some kibble to take their minds off biting each other (or me!)
I have 9 Goldens and they have all been through this puppy stage but not one of them is aggressive so take heart.
They grow up too quickly in my opinion.
How to train a golden retriever puppy or dog
