Pet Health Community

First thing would be to take a trip to the vet to rule out any possibly painful medical conditions that might be making her snappy...

Once that is ruled out then a trip to an animal behaviorist and/or trainer should be considered....

She's testing you to see who is the real "Leader of the Pack"... Every time she gets away with the growling and biting it is telling her that she is the boss.... and she doesn't want her "underlings" picking her up (a submissive position).... unless and until she is shown that she isn't the boss but that the humans are, this will just escalate (and become more dangerous) as she gets older....

Thanks for asking the question because the behavior is NOT normal and should not be acceptable. Some puppies are "pushy" and insist on having their own way. It is critical for owners to become the leaders early on, because every success the puppy has reinforces the behavior. For one this bad it is important to get professional help. I would suggest asking your veterinarian for a recommendation about a trainer. You will want a trainer that uses positive training, and preferably one who will allow you to train with a head halter rather than a choke chain or pinch collar. If you have a board certified veterinary behaviorist in your area (your veterinarian might know), that person could be extremely helpful in helping you with this little critter.

Good luck, this is a serious issue.

thank you for your advice. I spent a lot of time with her today. She started to growl and I told her in a very stern voice to stop. I put her outside for a few minutes. When I let her back in she came up to me and started whimpering...??? I got on the floor and she started licking my hand. So, hopefully she will continue the good behavior.

Thank you for the advice. I have her starting an obedient class for puppies this Sunday. She trains with the "lead" collar rather than the "choke" chain. Again, thank you.

I believe the whimpering and licking are signs of submission... which is good... it means she understands and doesn't have a problem with you being the Leader... in fact, she may be relieved... if you don't step up as being in charge then the pup feels that she has to even if her personality is more as a follower than a leader (which can cause her stress)....

Sounds like you both are on the right track

have an 8 week old bloodhound and golden lab ...he is very aggressive and also growls and tries biting when we go to pick him up and move him from a sleep.He drew blood on my daughter tonight bite her wrist,i sternly muzzled his mouth with my hand and told him bad but he then growled and tried biting me ..Now is this the bloodhound breed because my old dog wasn;t like this when he was a puppy..what should we do i'm thinking taking him to obedience classes.and i'm thinking he thinks he can do what he wants but he is house trained already had him for 2 weeks and he has only had a couple messes in the house..

Read the responses above.... a puppy that is aggressive will turn into an adult that is aggressive unless something is done... obedience training is one avenue... another is to consult with an actual animal behaviorist who can explain to you why your dog is doing what it's doing and how to address it...

I really hope you aren't trying to move him while he is asleep... no wonder he'd wake up and try to bite... wake him up first by calling to him or waving a tasty treat in front of his nose....

Please do yourself, your family, and mostly your dog a favor and find the help you need.... I hate reading dog bite stories where the dog is blamed when it is really the human's fault....

Good luck

I know everybody's going to freak out when I say this, but I currently have five bloodhounds and have raised many many more. There are certain lines of these hounds that are super aggressive. This makes them great trailers, but it also makes them very difficult to own especially if this is your first bloodhound. Now here's the part where people are going to be really angry at me. When you get these super aggressive bloodhounds, passive training methods don't work. You have to be more aggressive than the hound. Pinning them down to the ground until they stop fighting you is really effective. Since we use our dogs for police work, we have the extra aggressive dogs and sometimes a 2x4 is what it takes. Alright, bring on the hate but bloodhounds are NOT normal dogs. I've raised other breeds where a "no no" is all they need. These dogs need more or they will kill you and that is not an exaggeration. We've taken on rescued bloodhounds from people who thought you could love a bloodhound into behaving well and we don't go out to their pen without a gun. I knew someone (a sheriff in Texas) whose bloodhound ripped out his intestines and he only survived because his wife came out with a shotgun and saved him. These are TRUE stories. In the bloodhound world, there is a rule that if a bloodhound bites (after puppyhood) you put it down. It is absolutely normal for a bloodhound puppy to growl and bite, but you have to be willing to show that puppy your the boss NOT MATTER WHAT IT TAKES or it could end up killing you or someone else. **Everyone can get as angry with me as they want, but until you've been cornered by a snarling 200 pound male bloodhound and then had to fight for your life with whatever is handy like I have then don't show your ignorance by telling me what a horrible person I am please.

What I don't understand is where does "Super agressive" = "Great trailers" ??

Hunting dogs can be bred to be great trackers without being aggressive... look at the Beagle.... the Coonhounds.... any of the the "tracking" breeds....

I thought Bloodhounds were supposed to track people... not hunt them down and kill them....

Ok, NOW I am concerned! My puppy is now 10 weeks and I am wondering if I should call the breeder and try to take her back. I am so worried she will hurt/kill my sheepdog when she gets older. Are there anymore "signs" I should watch out for....

I believe that, we own one, it treats children as prey and runs and attacks it is very aggresive and it started at 8 weeks with food aggresion, the breeder we got it from was selling to police / security etc, we have tried everything and have been thinking and trying to convince ourselves to put her down but we love her, although i dont think she really loves us, but she has never attacked us, she once had a power struggle with my wife over going in the crate at about 1yr old and we purchased a shock collar, the collar totally curbs her behaviour but when she is not wearing it she knows it and bcomes very dominant, ultimately i think we will have to put her down, i would really like to speak with you or any others that may have the same issues our dog is 18mths old and was bread in alberta canada anyone with a bloodhound from alberta i would love to talk

get rid of it before you get to attached you cannot fix it, very powerful dog at 6mths we tried everything possible 1on1 training,classes nothing will help, shock collar keeps control but the dog is like a machine not a pet

Finally the true answer to our dogs behavior instead of all the bs you read on the web "whats good about them whats bad about them" after owning a bloodhound I realise that not many people actually own them.
If you want a bloodhound as a pet you need to get one from a breeder who is experienced doing it for many years.
we got ours less than 2 yrs ago and they were selling puppies month after month 1000.00 each ckc akc registered,The breeder has now disappeared. i now know if you want a bloodhound , get one from a breeder who has been doing it for years and breeds them to be good pets, its very important.
You may not like what you are reading from ANON but he knows what hes talking about, believe it, its true. The bloodhound is a very rare dog, you must realise how powerful they are, I do not doubt that a full grown could kill a man, ours is less than 2yrs old and its still growing 150lbs and very muscular and strong. I have been searching for the answer to our pets behavior for over a year, and finally it all makes sense to us, I think our dog is the product of the wrong parents, it is very sad for our kids as we have now definetly decided to get rid of our Ruby, My kids are crying, but we have no choice, if she ever got loose she could probably really hurt someone, and we have known that for sometime but were in denial, thanks to Anon for filling us in on why shes like she is. trainers , friends, and other people do not understand when you say were giving up, theres nothing else we can do. The bloodhound is rare there temperment is not known or advertised do not believe what you read on the internet, if you research you will find that the info you read is the same everywhere you go, great with children, lazy, dont bark much docile, thats all bs, ours is very energetic barks and howls a lot and wants to prey on children, it also never leaves the yard un fenced at the lake unless chasing down a animal, always comes back swims across the lake chasing turtles, all the way accross.
Such a cool dog. But reminds me of a wild animal in its ways.
the unfortunate thing is that because know one really understands
or is aware of the danger this animal is potential of we must.put her down. shes so beautiful its so sad, but I really can see what ANNON is saying he knows what hes talking about. please do not delete his post, the real story on the breed is very hard to find.
Annon, can a bloodhound be a pet? Do you think we could try again on another one? I am thinking that theres a reason this is a rare pet. Maybe these are strictly working dogs.
In closing I would like to mention that we spent about a 1000.00 on training, bought videos, worked daily from day one trying to train this dog to be good, we are home with the dog everyday , she is never leashed. Never left alone for long periods of time. we have tried to train and as annon said love this dog to be good, it has not worked for us shes a nasty bitch.
Very Sad day for us RIP Ruby.