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I am having a heck of a time with Penny, who is 14 weeks old today.
She can be a perfect, snuggly angel that likes her belly rubbed and to play with her toys, but then there are the other times when she turns into Spawn-of-Satan dog. This morning was one of those times. She's been liking to get up really early, 4:30AM or 5:00AM to play. We suffer through her barks and cries for an hour (she does NOT have to go potty, i must note... nor is she hungry or thirsty... just wants to play) to try and teach her that we don't get up-up, except to go potty, until 6:15-6:30A.
Upon letting her out, she sometimes gets kind of crazy. Running around semi-uncontrollably. If you sit on the couch, she lunges, continually jumping and biting (hard) at anything she can, your feet, legs, sweatshirt, arms... even your face if you dared to get it close. At these points its all I can do to not hurt her by pushing her off of me. I drag her to the bathroom and shut the door, she scratches for awhile, calms down (sometimes pees) and then I let her out. She's usually good for 2-3 minutes, but then she's back at it!
I was practically in tears this morning... I just didn't know what else to do. Spraying her with water isn't working. "No!" doesn't seem to faze her at all. She only bites more if you yelp. Coins in a can... fail. We walk her and tire her out, which works immediately after the walk, but not in the long term.
I'm trying to positively reinforce good behavior, but i'm so startled by this seemingly aggressive behavior... she's not my first dog, but I don't remember my previous puppies (labs) doing this! I smacked her on the butt with my sock monkey slipper this morning and felt so bad!! But the little puppy-teeth-sized bruises on my arms and ankles, and the dime sized bruise on my stomach (yea.. .she went for the ties on my hoodie) suggests it was warranted!
Please tell me this is a puppy thing! Or do i need to seek some professional help for Penny Bean?
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