# Problems with my 10months male



## LittlePart (Jan 27, 2013)

Hello all, 

in the past couple weeks, my fiance and I have problems with our vizsla, a male puppy of 10 months. When we bought him, I asked the breeder whether the puppies differ in character. He mentioned that the puppy we have chosen might be sligthly more dominant than the others, but that (even though this is our first dog) this shouldn't be a problem. 

The puppy grew happily and after 2 months, after I have recognized that he doesn't respect me at all (the biggest problems was that, when something didn't go his way, he started jumping onto you and "biting" - it was harmless bites, more of an agressive play, not something that would hurt you) we chose to get help in the form of individual schooling. The schooling progressed nicely. We taught him quite a bit of tricks, mastered the recall etc. We also castrated the puppy, which supposedly helps with alleviating their dominant streak. 

In the past month, I've been noticing a change in his behaviour. The puppy started to act aggressively towards other dogs, especially smaller ones. Instead of smelling them, he jumps onto them and starts grabbing with his mouth. This happened to me at least five times. He's on a leash for the whole time, so I'd managed to prevent a fight every time. But now I'm afread of walking anywhere near other dogs.

I should tell you that the puppy is quite friendly with several other dogs from the neighbourhood, whith which he plays regularly. Sometimes, when a new dog joins the play, our puppy backs away and watches from the distance (it seems like he's akward at meeting new playmates).

Well, besides jumping and growling at other dogs, he has started to show a similar behaviour towards some people. Until now, he sometimes barked at the accidental stranger passing by, if she or he was on a bike, for instance, but not violently. But during this past weekend, we went through two unpleasant events. Firstly, the puppy was in his crate when my grandma, who he never met before, came. He started to bark loudly, almost histerically and perhaps also violently. I thought that this was because the person was unknown to him and also because he was closed in a crate, from which he can't escape. And secondly, we came through the elevator door and met a neighbour who seemingly just came from his run. The puppy started to jump towards him. Because we use an order to walk through doors, I'd managed to stop him and wait a few seconds for him to calm down. The puppy did calm down, but (luckily I had him on a short leash) after I gave him the order to exit the elevator, he once again jumped towards the person, started barking aggressivelly and gave the impression that he wants to attack him :'( But I'd, once again, managed to stop him and walk him out of the building.

Some think that this is only him being in the puberty, but I'm sincerely afraid that my puppy, who is so gentle otherwise, is an aggressive dog who I won't be able to handle for much longer.

I would be immensivelly grateful for your opinion, experience or advice.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

I will be succinct, do please don't take it as rude.

You sound very inexperienced with dogs, let alone a V. Go find a good trainer who can teach you and pup before you lose total control.

Some of the behavior you mention is just normal. But you need more help in dealing with it than forum posts.

Where are you and can others close by suggest some great Vizsla trainers?


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