Agressiveness? Or just plain meathead?

Miss Marley

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#1
Well, I supposed Miss Marley is well adjusted now having spent almost 5 days with us. She's quite the nibbler.

Thing I'm trying to establish is whether or not I'm seeing agression already, or if she is just being a silly meatheaded puppy :p

She is sneaky, she'll lick your foot, and slowly bring her teeth in and she'll nip you pretty hard. Everytime she nips me, I tell her no sternly and give her a tap on the nose but she still continues to do it.

She also LOVES shoes, and while we try to keep all those away from her, she is sneaky and got into the closet and chewed up my flip flops.

Housebreaking is easier than it should be in my opinion. She already goes to the door, and we've only have one accident.

She just seems a little more nippy than a usual 8 week old pup. She also took off on my dad this morning when he let her out to pee. She dashed down the street and around the corner.

Are there any tips I can use to get her to understand that I am the dominate? I am afraid to try to alpha roll, and don't know any other ways.
 
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#2
Its not agressive behavior. Your puppy played with its littermates through nipping. You must show it that nippping is not a way to play. Repalce your foot or shoe with a toy.
 
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#3
What a cutie :)
Firstly Hi and Welcome :D

I think that it sounds like typical puppy behaviour.
Instead of tapping her, did you try and use a water bottle?
If you just squirt her with the water when she nips it will take her attention away from your foot (or whatever she is nipping at) and at the same time she isn't seeing where the water came from.

There are many people here who could advise you lots more than i can, but the 1st thing that comes to mind for me is the Water bottle.
Good luck.

Oh and well done with the housebreaking, thats great :)
 

Miss Marley

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#5
I don't tap her hard, and she is no where NEAR hand shy if thats what your referring to. Helga and Deiter (the breeders) make sure all their puppies are handled from day one. She loves giving me kisses, and I cup her nose all the time to get kisses, and kiss her and such

I dont hit her at all aside from tapping her nose. Its more of a pressure even ... I just push my finger down firmly on her nose, and it stops.

We have several toys, ropes, vibrating bugs that chirp and she just finds feet and shoes more interesting. She just discovered chewing her leash on walks too. Fun stuff for me :p

If its just puppy stuff then I feel better. My biggest fear is having an agressive dog. Lexus and Ceara (our late boxers) were the most gentle things ever. Gentle , however imposing at the door when strangers came over :p


EDITED TO ADD:

Thanks also for those websites, I printed off some of the tips, and will make sure to give those a try. :)
 

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