Kaya is showing her dominance

[tjscrittergrl]

I have three 5-week-old GSD/Husky mix puppies, and one of them, Kaya, is terrorizing her sisters. She tends to just pounce on them and grab them by their little heads, and just bite them and shake them, all the while they're just yelping and trying to get away. I was told to take her by her scruff and gently shake her when she does it, but it just seems to make her even more angry! She just growls and actually snarls at me! Her sisters are to the point where they are afraid to even play with her now. I have 11 other dogs, but have never had one with Kaya's kind of temperment. Is she just showing that she is the dominant one of the litter, and should I worry? Any suggestions would be much appreciated, but keep in mind she is barely 5 weeks old!

 

[Saje]

I wouldn't do the scruff shake. Other than that I'm not going to advise. This is more of a question for CreatureTeacher. I'll direct her too you.

 

[bubbatd]

Were they ( are they) from a litter you bred ? If so. she's probably just playing . At 5 weeks they start puppy play. Their Mom should scold soon ......if you bought them, you've got a lot of ahead of you......their age and from the same litter can be a problem.....You've got 14 dogs ????

 

[tjscrittergrl]

Regarding the scruff shake, I went to a site run by a man who raises and imports pedigree GSD, and he had a question/answer section, and that is what he said he does with his puppies. I thought, heck, I'll give it a try since he said it worked, but, 'sigh', it just made her worse! I wont' do that ever again!

 

[tjscrittergrl]

No, I didn't breed this litter. My aussie mix was having a false pregnancy and took them from a friend's relative's dog who was TERRIBLY underweight and couldn't care for 10 puppies.

 

[CreatureTeacher]

Hello tjscrittergrl!

I'm glad you've decided against the scruff shake. Lots of 'old school' trainers swear by it, but in reality it only makes the problem worse while degrading your dog's emotional bond to you. Besides that, in my opinion it's an inhumane practice and shouldn't be considered part of training.

At 5 weeks old, I would say that yes, you definitely have trouble brewing in Kaya. She is awfully young to be displaying the behaviors you describe. My guess would be that she may already be smarter and larger than her sisters. The easiest thing to try would be to give her a 'time out' when she's doing something you don't like. Just pick her up and shut her in an isolated room--like the bathroom or a large closet--for 5 minutes, then let her out. Don't yell at her or even talk to her. Just show her that playing with her sisters is a privilege, not a right, and you will take it away if it's abused. It shouldn't take more than a couple of days for her to catch on. If this doesn't do it, let us know and we'll try something else.

Hope this helps! I'm dying to see pictures of your brood.

 

[tjscrittergrl]

Thanks CreatureTeacher! I'll try your idea right away and let you know how it works!
My scanner is down indefinitely, so no pictures for a while---sorry!