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I just bought a 7 week old Norwegian Elkhound and already i find she is showing signs of aggression. She absolutly loves people and runs right up to them and rolls over for belly rubs and sits for treats but it's when she plays with other dogs that has me worried. My friend has a 4month old beagle puppy and when I took Indy (my pooch) over there to meet her, hoping they would become good friends she attacked her. She walks up stiff legged and grabs on to whatever she can and just starts shaking her head and snapping and snarling. I have family and we always get together and bring all the dogs and they all play together and have a good old time. I took Indy there this weekend and she ran right up to a Rottie pup and started snarling and snapping. I'm really worried about this, if she continues to do this I'm afraid I won't be able to take her anywhere where there are other dogs around. Just to note, all the dogs are female and she only attacks the pups, never the adults....is there anyway I can get her to play nice with the other puppies or will she always fight for dominance!!

Help
Thanks Riz

I don't know much about this stuff, but one thing I do know is that a large part of the problem may be because they are all female. Often two males or two females will have territorial issues with each other whereas a male and a female will usually be fine..

Another thing is that you said your pup is 7 weeks old? Pups should not be taken from their litter and mother until at least 8 weeks, 10 to 12 is preferable by far. The reason is that these last weeks with her mother and siblings were going to be when she would learn about playing nice and not biting too hard and all those things that only another dog can teach her. Because she was taken away far too early you're going to have to work ten times harder to overcome those problems and make sure that she's properly socialized as a puppy. I would say you're off to a good start having her get together with other dogs and pups but maybe someone else will have some ideas on how to actually solve the dilemma. I can only offer suggestions about what the problem is..

Hi Riz...I left a post in the Your New Puppy forum that may be of some help.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

>>I just bought a 7 week old Norwegian Elkhound and already i find she is showing signs of aggression. She absolutly loves people and runs right up to them and rolls over for belly rubs and sits for treats but it's when she plays with other dogs that has me worried. My friend has a 4month old beagle puppy and when I took Indy (my pooch) over there to meet her, hoping they would become good friends she attacked her. She walks up stiff legged and grabs on to whatever she can and just starts shaking her head and snapping and snarling. I have family and we always get together and bring all the dogs and they all play together and have a good old time. I took Indy there this weekend and she ran right up to a Rottie pup and started snarling and snapping. I'm really worried about this, if she continues to do this I'm afraid I won't be able to take her anywhere where there are other dogs around. Just to note, all the dogs are female and she only attacks the pups, never the adults....is there anyway I can get her to play nice with the other puppies or will she always fight for dominance!!
>>
>>Help
>>Thanks Riz

>>>>>>>>>>

What does the breeder say? She needs to be evaluated by an expert. And she should not be exposed to any other dogs except vaccinated, kindly adult dogs at this age. You're apt to lose her to parvovirus.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47