Does my Corgi puppy have a behavioral problem - too aggressive?
We added Sadie to our home on Friday, 04/10/09. She is 9 weeks old today and is so cute. I took her to her first vet check and the veternarian feels that she has a behavioral problem and is very concerned because I have a 4 year old son. Sadie did not act afraid of anyone or anything at the vet's office including the vet himself. She would jump up on him and ask for his attention, before and after his exam of her. However, while he was examining her, she growled furociously. That was the first trigger that concerned him. Then while visiting with me about injections, etc., he picked her up and was playing with her. After about 30 seconds, if that long, she began growling and snapped at him a couple of times. It was not at all playful behavior. There were times when he would hold her in a submissive position, i.e. on her back in his arms, and she would do fine. So we began to narrow it down to she mostly did it when he would rub her head, mostly around her ears. He checked real good around her ears and head to make sure there was no sore spots, lumps, or problems. I have never seen her act like this in the time we have had her. We have not played aggressive with her and I have tried to correct her from nipping, biting, or pulling at things with a firm NO and removal from the situation. The vet was concerned enough that he said he would not give her a shot today and let me think about our future with this puppy first. He was comparing her to all the puppies he sees everyday and says it has been a long time since he has seen one do what Sadie did and it is very rare. He is concerned for my son and/or any friends he might have over. Has anyone seen this kind of problem before or have any advice? Thanks.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by MagnoliaFly on
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I would contact a trainer (positive reinforcement) and have your puppy evaluated. There are signs you can look for at that age that can determine if you have the potential for an aggressive dog on your hands. Some of the things you are describing make me wonder if she isn't a resource guarder with body handling issues early on. Sometimes that can turn into aggression if handled the wrong way.
I think you should take your vets warning to heart and see a trainer with aggression experience. If you can, try to find a veterinary behaviorist and do an evaluation.
It is not uncommon to find puppies with aggressive tendencies at such a young age. I work at a dog training center in Tampa and we've seen quite a few come through recently that were badly bred in Alabama and then taken in by the Florida Humane Society and adopted out without being temperament tested. These dogs were seriously scary to evaluate despite being 9-10 weeks of age. They had zero social attraction (wanting to go greet people, kids or other dogs) and would lunge and bite you without provocation.
From what you describe I think you've just got body handling issues and you MAY see food or resource guarding since they tend to be paired together. It is really, really vitally important you get with a trainer NOW and begin working on it before it worsens with each bad experience she has. I have a corgi with body handling issues and despite my working on it she is still very fearful of the vet and I have to muzzle her at each appointment while feeding her treats.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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I believe Corgis are noted for having body handling issues quite often, which may be why vets don't seem to always have positive impressions of the breed.
Puppy behavior can be tough to judge. Our Corgi was picked for us by the breeder specifically because he was one of the more laid-back pups in the bunch. But after I got him home, I followed some trainer instructions I found online for temperament testing. One was to remove pup's food (they suggested to only do this once as a test, and not to make a habit of it as it can actually lead to resource guarding or fast eating). Jack growled ferociously, but he actually seemed to be directing his growling at the bowl, not at me (as in, "How dare you try to run away from me, food bowl!). His was a very big litter (I think there were 8) and my guess is competition was pretty strong for food, toys, etc from the time they were born.
So, we simply followed the advice to periodically add extra tasty things to his food while he was in the middle of eating, and within a week or so the problem resolved and now you can take anything from the dog's mouth and he won't growl or snap. Honestly I don't' even know if our intervention was the main cause, or if it was that he had a chance to relax away from the litter and realize that his bowl was all his and no one was going to try to steal it.
Little puppies ferocious growls are not always what they appear. When you bring them home, they are still treating you as they treated their litter mates. They have very little understanding of human expectations.
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Permalink Reply by Cindi on
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This sounds like normal little puppy behavior. And, as young as he is, he probably wasn't in the litter long enough to learn bite correction. It also could be that a big ol' hand coming on top of his head scares the bejeebers out of the little guy. I wouldn't be worried. But do continue to correct, firmly but non-aggressively. If there's a PetSmart in your area, he's just about old enough to enter puppy classes. It would be an excellent way to socialize him more and get him used to be handled by a number of folks. If you have questions, drop me a line and I'll be glad to help.
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