# Aggression during FRAP...Young Pup



## ewinchester (Jun 5, 2011)

I have a 9 week old Golden Retriever puppy. She is generally a good pup, always getting into things and what not, however she is always a little bitey. 
We use the lip roll to help stem the biting, but she seems to get more aggressive the more we do it. After several attempts to stop the biting, she will go into a Frenetic Random Activity Period...run around and around and around...and if she attempts to bite and we try to correct, she will get overly aggressive towards the correction...ie, deeper growls, snarling, etc. 
Any suggestions on the biting, but more so...how do we make sure she does not get more aggressive towards us??? The last thing I want to do is make my pup aggressive.

Thanks

Ethan


----------



## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

What is "the lip roll"? What do you do to "correct: the biting?

Hehe, my Lab used to go into FRAP all the time. That's what we called it, too. I don't think that's aggression. She's just overly excited and doesn't know how to control herself yet. I would guess that if she gets excited like that after being "corrected", it may be too rough for her? I would recommend not using any kind of physical corrections, they tend to have that effect on some dogs.


----------



## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

ewinchester said:


> I have a 9 week old Golden Retriever puppy. She is generally a good pup, always getting into things and what not, however she is always a little bitey.
> We use the lip roll to help stem the biting, but she seems to get more aggressive the more we do it. After several attempts to stop the biting, she will go into a Frenetic Random Activity Period...run around and around and around...and if she attempts to bite and we try to correct, she will get overly aggressive towards the correction...ie, deeper growls, snarling, etc.
> Any suggestions on the biting, but more so...how do we make sure she does not get more aggressive towards us??? The last thing I want to do is make my pup aggressive.
> 
> ...


She's mistaking your method of 'correcting' her nipping as an invatation to play. It's NOT aggressiom it IS rough puppy play. try using Ian Dunbars method instead The Bite Stops Here which removes all attention.


----------



## RaeganW (Jul 14, 2009)

ewinchester said:


> I have a 9 week old Golden Retriever puppy. She is generally a good pup, always getting into things and what not, however she is always a little bitey.
> We use the lip roll to help stem the biting, but she seems to get more aggressive the more we do it. After several attempts to stop the biting, she will go into a Frenetic Random Activity Period...run around and around and around...and if she attempts to bite and we try to correct, she will get overly aggressive towards the correction...ie, deeper growls, snarling, etc.
> Any suggestions on the biting, but more so...how do we make sure she does not get more aggressive towards us??? The last thing I want to do is make my pup aggressive.
> 
> ...


What you're seeing is an escalation of excitement. You pup starts with a desire to use her mouth, this is very very natural behavior. Dogs don't have hands, so they use their mouths as their main tool for investigating and interacting with their environment. Additionally, Retrievers in general tend to be very mouthy. She doesn't have the ability to regulate her body or her emotions all that well yet, so when you put pressure on her (the physical pressure of pinching a lip but also the social pressure of interaction) she responds by getting more excited. Snarling and biting aren't really aggression - true aggression in 9 week old puppies is as common and disturbing as 9 year old children who murder their parents - it's frustration, excitement, and playfulness.

Instead of continuing to try to correct, which your pup is interpreting as play which is reinforcing the biting because she bites, you pay attention to her, a more effective course of action is to end interaction with her when she bites. Ian Dunbar's bite inhibition protocol is exceptionally effective at teaching your puppy how to regulate her mouth and give her a head start on learning to regulate her emotions. His book "Before and After you Get your Puppy" is excellent, and much of it is available online.


----------

