Puppy's true side comes out

[Katty_Kit]

I have had this puppy for about a month now, he's 3 months old. My uncle came over today to visit and see the pup. Well, when he first came over, Bear (the puppy) seemed okay, he barked a little but that was it. Then my uncle reached down to pet him, Bear backed off, so we let him sit around for a while and get used to my uncle being there. After about an hour, Bear seemed to be okay, he was walking right up to my uncle and tryin to get him to pet him. But then my uncle reached down to pet him, and Bear gnarled his teeth, growled and then barked and lept at my uncle! I was shocked. We knew Bear was shy but I didn't ever think something like this would happen. I've never had to deal with an aggresive puppy before, don't get me wrong, Bear's not mean to us, but still. I've never had to deal with this problem in raising my other dogs. So what do I do? He just doesn't seem to like other people.

[Dupont]

You might try visiting a dog trainer or take her to a puppy socialization class before he gets older. There was a dog at the puppy socialization class I was at a weekago that had it's tail between it's legs and ran behind it's owner in the begining. Toward the end of the session she was playing with the rest of them. Be up front with your issue to the dog trainer. I could be completely wrong about the class.. they may want to work with the dog in another way.

I heard he is getting sued but I saw a dog whisper on a small dog like this and he just kept his back to her and forced her into a corner with him. If she snapped he just put his hand on her until she calmed down.

My dog started growling at my brother in law when he went to take a toy out of her mouth when we first got her, I caught it as it was happening and just went in and took it away - told the dog don't you dare snarle at me. For some reason she never did it again.

If it's toys she is aggresive about I've heard teaching share is a good thing .. take a toy of equal value to the one she has and say share and swap them out.

It is hard to say if your dog had a bad experience with a human or another dog, has a territory problem .. I think catching the problem early like you have and dealing with it, possibly with professional help, will go a long way though and avoid real problems when he gets older.

[Katty_Kit]

Thank you for your input!

The pup is now a little over a year. He has grown so much, looks nothing like what we thought he would. Which is funny because his name is "Bear" cuz he looked like a lil fluff ball and was the biggest in the litter. He still is by the by.

He has the sweetest temperament. After this whole situation we did take him to a lot of dog parks and other places where he could be socialized. He's still a little shy but it doesn't take long before he's all lovey dovey with anyone and everyone he meets.