Expert: Alan J Turner, SATS LL1 - 12/20/2007

Question
Hi, about a month ago we acquired a female rottweiler puppy. She is very affectionate. She is now about 3 months old.

Problem 1 : She sometimes starts barking at me(while lunging forward and trying to bite me and does slightly nip sometimes) out of the blue.
What could the reason be behind this?
> Is she challenging me or what?
I have been told to stand my ground and smack her - What do you recommend?

Problem 2: Sometimes when we say come she comes but other times she just ignores us and goes on with her business.

Please help
Thank-you

Answer
Dear Ben,
Thanks for writing. A 3 month old puppy is rarely aggressive. They are too young. She is not challenging you and no, you should not smack her. She's soliciting play the only way she knows how.

Here's an excerpt from my book in progress, Pup Start I.

Have you ever watched dogs play together? They are a riot! They jump, mount, growl, bite, mouth, snap, nip, bark and chase. That’s how they play. It’s normal behavior.

Play-biting occurs when some of these normal, play behaviors are directed at human body parts and human clothing. Play biting is a stage of development. Most puppies naturally grow out of the stage, unless people unknowingly reward the pup for play biting.

Change Your Behavior
Few (including myself) can resist the soft cuddly fur of a puppy. I firmly believe that puppy tumble therapy is a marketable service. The buyer enters a room with several 7-10 week-old puppies, gets on the floor and just soaks up puppy-glee by touching, tumbling and interacting with the puppies. I can’t imagine how such interactions would not be helpful for stress relief. I’d pay for the opportunity. Wouldn’t you?

Most people’s ideas of playing with puppies involve tumbling and rough handling.

Aren’t handling, pushing, wrestling, poking, teasing, tumbling, hugging, holding, cuddling, rolling, and chasing all good clean fun methods to interact with puppies? Fun? . .  yes; helpful for teaching a puppy? . .  no.  

Expect to be bitten if you get on the floor and play wrestle, hug, manipulate, or otherwise use your hands to roughly interact with your puppy.

All these behaviors give puppies the impressions that we are just like their canine playmates. Puppies play rough with other puppies. At some point, puppy handling morphs into miscommunications which morph into playful puppy attacks! Ouch, those needle teeth are sharp!

Please visit my web site, http://howsbentley.com  for instructions about reducing play-biting.

She's an infant. She doesn't know come yet. You'll need to teach her.

There are some great books for new puppy owners. Puppy Primer by Patricia McConnell is a good one.  Have fun with your pup. Thanks for writing.

Alan J Turner
http://howsbentley.com