[Rachel]

Also we purchased her from a breeder and have had her since 8 weeks.

[Ed]

Crating when she gets cranky should help. She may have associated some sort of negative experience with paw cleaning. I would go with a strategy similar to nail clipping which is touch reward, next day touch, hold briefly, reward. Then next time the same, but touching a towel, and so forth till the whole sequence is built with one paw, then 2 and so forth. I would go with these gentler methods first and see what results I’m able to achieve.

[Gene]

It sounds like she might be trying to initiate play. Puppies bite and growl, when with their litter mates that is what they do and if they get too exuberant the mother will step in. Sometimes they can throw hissy fits when they are over tired.

You may want to get a nice pair of thick gardening gloves. Also she is probably teething and wants stuff to chew on. After walking, playing whatever I would crate her with a wet frozen washcloth or a frozen banana sliced down the middle (gets half/quarter} and let her relax.

You want to keep hand feeding her meals. This builds a bond of trust and respect you are engaging with her as opposed to just setting the bowl down and walking away. With the paw stuff I would try a small piece of chicken wipe the paw. Small piece of cheese, wipe the paw. At this time you do not want to be correcting her for these actions. The puppy doesn’t understand what the correction is for. You become the Fun Police. I would do just a simple “Let’s Go” and into the crate. There are over 30 videos on the site relating to puppy issues.

[Riggan]

Rachel, I know exactly what you are talking about, and don’t worry. It is not aggression. It is more like a puppy temper tantrum. Just like little kids, puppies don’t know how to handle the emotions and hormones running through their bodies. Even if they might “know” what to do, they simply don’t have the self-control, and respond in the only way they know how – with their growls and teeth. My last golden grew into the gentlest, most tolerant dog I have ever known, but he was a holy terror as an adolescent. His snarling, growling, and biting (I called it his “growly face”) could be quite intimidating!

First thing is to start observing when this behavior occurs. This will both help you understand what is happening as well as give you clues on how to respond. With Jazz, I identified 4 circumstances that would kick off the “wild child” behavior:

1. When he was over-stimulated or aroused (whether from playtime, greeting a friend who came over, going to a favorite playground, etc.)

2. When he was over-tired but couldn’t find his “off” switch.

3. When something was being done to him that he didn’t like.

4. When he was faced with more pressure than he could handle (eg, when he really WANTED to do what I asked, but just couldn’t make his body obey or when he thought he was getting in trouble)

I would guess your pup is dealing with the same types of situations. So, what do you do?

1. Remain completely calm and non-reactive. Do NOT respond with anger or corrections. That will just increase the stimulation (for types 1-3) or increase the pressure (for type 4, when he is already unable to cope with the existing pressure).

2. For types 1 & 2, I would just scoop him up and place him in his crate. No anger; no cajoling. Just matter of fact. So often, I could almost SEE the look of relief on Jazz’s face, and often he would be sound asleep within a minute or so!

3. For type 3, be very calm and matter-of-fact about whatever you are doing. Don’t make a battle out of it. Often, people can get very forceful with the “No Bite!” using it as a command, and it just ramps the dog up even more. I either don’t say anything, or just a calm “Knock it off, you idiot!”. I am guessing that when you are trying to clean her feet, she is already stimulated from being outside playing. Then, when you grab her feet, she goes into over-arousal or views it as another game. If you are holding her paw, do NOT let go of it while she is throwing her tantrum. Then, as soon as she is quiet for even a nano-second, praise her and release the paw. You may not get the paw cleaned, but you are teaching her the behavior you want. If you need to, put her in the crate and then clean her paws when she has settled down. After a while, she will start realizing that the paw cleaning only ends when she is quiet. Initially, don’t even try to do all 4 paws. Progress at her rate for the paw cleaning, and continue what you are doing with handling her paws at other times when she is calm.

4. For type 4, be aware of how much pressure you are putting on her during training. Once I realized that Jazz was not being intentionally disobedient, it gave me the ability to see when I was asking more than he was able to give. Instead of getting mad or correcting him, I could back up a few steps or take a break and play for a bit. I worked with a friend whose adolescent golden would have melt-downs when out on a walk. My friend would get angry, give strong corrections to try to get Ember under control, and then would fight with her trying to get her to walk in heel position. The walks were no fun for either of them! Once I pointed out that Ember was working extremely hard to walk at my friend’s pace, but at some point could no longer contain herself, my friend was able to change her response. Instead of getting into a fight, she would hold the leash at arm’s length while Ember released all that built-up tension. Then, with a calm “Are you done? Feeling better now?”, they would continue their walk. With just a little bit of time and maturity, the behavior disappeared on its own. Even more importantly, my friend became much better at “reading” her dog and their relationship improved immensely. She became much more aware of the efforts her dog was putting into TRYING to do the right thing, and then could back off before the pressure built up to a point the dog couldn’t handle. She also found other ways to help Ember release that built-up tension, such as taking a break and having a short play session BEFORE the tantrum occurred.

Remember that your puppy is still VERY young. Be patient, calm, and consistent and you will end up with a lovely companion. Those first couple of years can be incredibly challenging, but they are also going to forge the bond between you. Good luck, and welcome to the group! Let us know you things go.

Riggan