New Puppy, AGGRESSIVE Behavior...help please :)

[Lazacka]

Hi everyone, I am brand new to the forum, just found it when doing some research and hope that you guys can help me!

First off, I have never owned a purebred Husky, I had a part Husky when I was younger and loved him to death, very friendly, loving, loved to go everywhere with me and so own, never had an aggressive bone in his body. After he passed, I didn't get a dog until I was 21 and it was a purebred cocker spaniel I rescued from the pound, the only time she got a tad bit aggressive with me was when she had a bone in her mouth but would grunt if I went too close, but didn't do a thing when I took it away. On to my last dog an Akita. Akita's are a tough breed and are large dogs, guard dogs, loyal and can be aggressive, she did bite my niece when she took her toy from her mouth and that was the first and last person she bit because from then on there we only let her around family members and close adults. I would walk her and we would walk close by other dogs and never bothered with them or attacked anyone out of the blue, but you never could be too careful as far as I'm concerned. We lost her suddenly 4 months ago, she was 11 1/2 and we had her since a pup.

On to my Husky and the problem I'm having. As a family of 5 (me, husband, 19 year old daughter and 14 year old twin boys) we decided that since we're active and didn't want a large aggressive dog and they didn't want a small dog, our compromise was to get a Siberian Husky. A medium sized dog that was active, liked outdoors (we own property in the mountains also) and we have a huge backyard, lots of parks, beaches, trails and a waterfront to take him on daily walks and journeys. We got him 3 weeks ago and he was a bit shy at first, but playful, you could tell he missed his family. We researched and wanted to find someone who bred for temperament and told the breeder the last thing we wanted was an aggressive dog. We absolutely fell in love with Nigel (that's what we named him) when we saw his video and pictures, after many emails and phone calls, we decided to purchase him. He had to be shipped and although I was worried, he arrived safely, hungry, but safely. He did the usual puppy thing (I saw lots of threads on here about this) with the play biting, annoying, painful and just plain aggravating at times, but we knew that was going to happen. We didn't realize that he was going to have roundworm, so although 90% of the time he goes on the pee pee pads, it's annoying that we have to retrain him to go outside. He's had a lot of diarrhea and shots, medications, etc. (I'm stating this in case it maybe part of his problem, sorry so long!) it's been on and off for 3 weeks now and I'm taking him back to the vets tomorrow if they can see him, if not Friday because I'm starting to get a bit worried about him.

So, here's my dilemma/problem, on Sunday we had my niece and her puppy over, he's a Shorkie and he's 5 months, they got along great! Playing all day, rough housing and just having fun. Nigel has this favorite rubber bone/chewy thing we got for him and he was lying down chewing it like he has done so many times before. My husband bent down to pat him and he literally got aggressive! He growled viciously and tried to bite my husband, it was so unexpected! We thought with all the excitement, maybe it was just a fluke. We took it away and thought that because there was another dog in the house he may have just been possessive. He tends to chew it and if he catches his reflection in the French door glass he'll growl a little and pick it up and walk backwards, I get a kick out of that, well I did. A little later he wanted to play and my niece's pup didn't, her dog got a bit aggressive with him and he back offed and sort of cried, I immediately picked him up to take him out of the situation and he did the same thing to me as he did to my husband! He aggressively growled and tried to bite me by swinging his head back and forth. I put him down and was sort of just stunned, I told him he was a bad boy, but didn't yell at him or anything, again, I attributed to his excitement of what went on, but was still shocked! Well now it's Wednesday and there were no more incidents, none before that, none after, I actually started to train him with the same chewy, I would make him sit, give it to him for a few minutes, gently put my hand near his mouth and say "Off" and he would do it in a playful way, I would praise him then give it back. I did this numerous times and he didn't seem to mind it. So tonight he had it in his mouth after he came back from his nightly walk/run and he was lying beside the coffee table next to the couch where I was lying, my husband bent down to pat him before he went to bed and Nigel went nuts! He got extremely aggressive and tried to bite my husband again, this time I grabbed him by the collar (gently I might add, but quickly!) and said no, he started growling and going back and forth trying to bite me. This was NOT playful, he does the playful biting a lot, but he's starting to calm down from it, it's part of him being a puppy. He does have a bad tummy but I'm not sure if that's part of it. I was under the impression that Huskies were NOT aggressive dogs, the breeder told me she breeds them for temperament and quality, we're not even allowed to breed him due to that. She said that he was the sweetest little guy of the litter, the video even showed that, he wasn't a bully, he wasn't pushy, he was just a little sweetie.

I have emailed her but have not heard back from her so I thought I would go to the next best thing, the experts aka you guys! What would make a Siberian Husky who gets a lot of attention, a lot of love, exercise (we take him on 2 walks daily, one about an hour which includes some running, exploring, playing and meeting people, socializing and meeting other dogs and another one at night where he walks a 1/4 mile and sprints another 1/4 to wear him out for bedtime and it seems to be working). He has 1 to 2 sessions of play outside with the ball and general running around each day about 15 minutes each, we hardly leave him alone and if we do we crate him and it's no more than an hour, he sleeps in the crate though. I also train him 15 minutes a day with sit, stay, come to start off with, he picks it up quickly! We threw out the chewy he was being aggressive over, but that's not the solution, it can't be. I'm just so scared that we bought an aggressive dog! Otherwise he's just a dang sweetheart, we can barely get through walks sometimes because he loves people and people love him!

Any advice on what we should do, what we're not doing, what could be the cause of this? Again, I apologize profusely for the LONG first post but I just wanted to give as much info as possible! Thank you all in advance! ~Laz~

[Sakutama]

I don't have any Husky experience training experience (just a super researcher and planning to adopt) so please take my advice with a pinch of salt! Hopefully some of the more experienced folks here can give you better advice. It sounds like he is a little toy possessive, and there is something triggering the possessiveness. It sounds like you are giving plenty of love, but are you being alpha/pack leaders? Being a pack leader isn't a one-time thing, it's something you gently remind the dog of over time from different situations and events. It's kind of a state of mind, with very subtle body language and gentle corrections. For example, most people say a firm "NO" when a dog does something bad, but even just a slight sound or tap will do. Your feelings play a stronger role in most cases, they can feel assertiveness and weakness/worrisomeness. The leader gets control of toys, food, everything. If you are already being pack leaders for him, it could be he is challenging you and you need to step in and remind him who the alpha's are. This means everyone in the family of course! Some dogs are naturally dominant or submissive, no matter what breed they are. I think it could be possible if he is having an upset stomach he could be stressed or upset by it, but I can't say 100%.

I am a little worried about giving advice without personal experience, but if it was my Husky, I would correct the behavior first by establishing myself as the pack leader in different situations. Then, I would address the toy issue and correct it the instant it happens and teach everyone in my family to correct it in a consistent way so the dog isn't confused. If only one person corrects him, he will only see one leader and try to get away with it with someone else. Dogs easily treat each member differently based on how they act when the dog does different things.

I hope this helps, and if I have said anything completely off, please correct me!

[Sakutama]

I don't know how old your Husky is, but I think this is a great video and it can apply to older dogs as well. If this is your kind of training method, as each person is entitled to their own preference for training methods that work best for them and their dogs, it might give you some ideas. 0:45:10 is when they discuss possessiveness.

F-Z3nSPjEoU

[Liz Jones]

Not sure how to deal with the aggression but as for the upset tum... what are you feeding him on and how much.. the majority of huskies have a wheat intolerance.. and they dont need as much as most other large dogs...

I have to agree with Sakutuma sounds like he is being toy aggressive for some reason.. I'm sure someone with more experience will reply soon..

[Milly]

I adopted a 6 month old Husky almost 2 weeks ago who has exactly the same problem! He even drew blood at the weekend when we were in public and I had to take a treat off him that he had 'stolen' from one of my bags. I have a trainer/behaviouralist coming tomorrow morning - I have three children and the trainer at his puppy school said that this is something that needs to be addressed now otherwise it will become a serious issue. Will let you know any useful tips afterwards.

[mydiamond]

I like Evyn's point up there. You said you are giving him lots of love, but are you being the pack leader? And plus Lazacka how old is Nigel? Any bad experiences in his life? An older dog equals more effort, but I'm not saying the younger ones are a piece o' cake either I know it's hard, but try your best to not be afraid of him. Don't show any kind of fear or anxiousness when you're about to bend down and pet him. The more you're afraid, the more Nigel would be "aggressive". Now why the quotation marks?

IMO Nigel is not being aggressive at all. You can still touch him, you can train him and he didn't do this all the time.. It was just possessiveness. Possessiveness is actually a side effect of letting a dog to take over the alpha spot, but a bad past life or amount of dominance in his blood might result in this behavior as well. Just be very firm. Rather than yelling and screaming "noooo!" at him, try to make your voice deeper (imitating a growl) when you say "no". Usually they listen to this kind of correction better. You're doing the right thing by giving him immediate correction, but your nervousness and fear is the one that worsen this behavior. Try to remain calm, don't corner him, and just tell him "no" try that as a starter.

One more thing: I picture Nigel as a little puppy in your story above. How old is he exactly? Am I wrong to think he's a baby and he's actually a 2-years-old? Because puppies shouldn't get a one-hour exercise per day.. It would damage their joints and you don't want that you start with a five-minute walk when he got all his shots and add five more minutes to the duration every month. Some people changed "5" into "10", but usually people remain with the 5-minute rule

[Tikaani'smum]

Does pup know that you are approaching him? Just a thought as if he is surprised by your approach he probably would act in the manner you described. Maybe you could try talking to him as you approach? You have only had him for 3 weeks, he's had a stressful journey to get to you, so maybe he's still feeling a little stressed? Perhaps he got possessive over his toy because the other dog was in the house, and carried it on after it had left.....was this the first instance of aggression?

I haven't had problems of aggression with my two, apart from with each other - never with the humans of the house, and typically huskies are not an aggressive breed...maybe he is just trying to find his place in your pack, and if he doesn't believe you are leaders and are able to 'look after' him, he may be trying to fill that role?

As for the tummy problems, you may have been given the answer earlier in your post re; intolerances, and also over feeding will produce the same 'results'. You could try giving him bland food until he hardens up (boiled chicken/rice, etc), then slowly introduce his food again.

Just a few ideas that come to mind, but I am in no way an expert and I'm sure someone will come along to help.

[Sakutama]

Just a few ideas that come to mind, but I am in no way an expert and I'm sure someone will come along to help.

Hurry up experts! The non-experts are trying to help at least!

[mydiamond]

Hurry up experts! The non-experts are trying to help at least!

LOL no one calls themselves an expert somehow x) but we do know we have lots of 'em here!

[Lazacka]

Oh my goodness you guys are awesome! <3 I'll address each one of you individually, if you don't mind.

Sakatuma (is that your pup's name? love it!) You could possibly correct, we've only had him 3 weeks and since he came from a litter and one was a bully in the litter, maybe he does feel comfortable now in our home with all the attention on him, that he thinks he is the boss. My husband is contacting a trainer today and will have them come next week. Nigel is 13 weeks today actually, he's still a baby. That video you put up, the little white dog that was growling like that and being aggressive (don't know what type it was) is exactly what Nigel did, only not as long, great video! I am going to try that at least until the trainer gets here. Thanks so much for the input!

Liz Jones, we feed him Blue Buffalo, that's what the breeder was feeding him and we didn't want to change his food the Vet told us that was great. We did however after the vet visit up his daily feeding from 1 1/2 cups a day to 3 cups a day, but I did want to add that it was after I gave him the heartworm medication that the diarrhea started and on and off for the last 6 days. I am putting pedialyte (sp?) in his water because it's been 2 days in a row, I just fed him and he had another loose stool. Going to wait for Vet to open to see what they suggest, otherwise he has a great appetite (like he's never had a meal before!) and is running around playing with toys and happy to see me and is now taking his morning nap. He doesn't act sick, just his tummy I will definitely mention the wheat intolerance to the Vet. Thanks for your input!

Milly, that's what I'm afraid of! He's only 13 weeks right now, but we bought our Akita at 14 weeks and she was extremely food and toy aggressive and it started out that way, only in my opinion, Nigel's was worse because he tried to nip whereas Soraya just growled at that age. Please let me know what your trainer says, we're having one come next week and I'll do the same! Good luck and thank you for your input!

Mydiamond, Nigel is only 13 weeks and no bad experiences that I know of, he was giving a full health certificate before he was shipped to us and our Vet gave him the A Okay sans the roundworm which she states is very common along with the diarrhea he had at first that stopped due to separation anxiety. I did not know that we were exercising him too much, maybe that could be it?? We take him for "adventures" for about an hour or so and that does include socializing and meeting other dogs, people and enjoying nature. Should we stop that? I can give him a simple walk at night that would last 15 minutes and no running, but sometimes Nigel just loves to sprint and he loves, loves, loves going to the park and beach. Maybe we're making a brutus out of him lol. So 15 minutes should be sufficient no running? Would it still be okay for him to go exploring or should we stop that?

Tikaanis'smum, OMG NO he did NOT know we were approaching him at all, you may have hit the nail on the head! The first time my husband came from behind and so did I went I scooped him up so he wouldn't get hurt, the second time he was busy chewing his toy and didn't notice my husband bend down to pat him and then I grabbed his collar from behind immediately. WOW, that is exactly what happened! We can actually put our hand in his bowl to add more food and he doesn't growl or get possessive and that of course is from the front, I just never thought about the element of surprise, I was just stunned he did it. The funny thing about that toy was that he LOVED to chew it and it helped him with his teething and I was going to buy him a new one, he also use to chew it in front of the french door then look up, see his reflection, start growling lowly and move backwards like some other dog was out to get it but it was actually him lol. When I approached him from the front to train him with it, showing him I can take it away and give it back and there would be no harm done, he was fine. This has to be the reason! I want to buy him another one and allow it to be his to chew on his own because it keeps him busy and his teeth off the coffee table or the firewood. Thank you so much for your input!

So it seems Nigel is "possessive" and not "aggressive" that makes me feel so much better. Like I stated, otherwise he's just a loving little ball of fur who makes us laugh and brings so much love into our lives, even if it's only been for 3 weeks. He's actually gotten my daughter home more from school haha...she's actually coming today to see him, not us, but him for the weekend. Thank you guys so much, all of you! I was so worried that he would be aggressive and these tips (especially the approaching from behind and that video) are a huge help to me. I am going to take him to the Vet for his tummy issues, that's not sitting to well with me, I just don't want him to have an upset tummy.

Thanks all! <3

[Lazacka]

Oh PS, I put a pic up of him so you can see him, most everyone has gorgeous pics of their beautiful pups up, I felt I must share

[mydiamond]

well the only problem with the one-hour exercise is his joints.. We don't want him to tore his ligaments socializing is good, but he is yet to have the energy to do it all-day long guess you should carry on with the socializing but not with the excessive exercise you can bring him to the beach/park if you like but remember to carry him after he reached his limit. Btw enjoy the ability to carry him around x) you should do it often.. Few more months and he'll be too heavy LOL

EDIT: just saw that you stated he has a runny poo.. Could it be that you fed him too much? Huskies don't eat much.. They don't like to show you that they don't need that much food tho!

[Sakutama]

Oh my goodness you guys are awesome! <3 I'll address each one of you individually, if you don't mind.

Sakatuma (is that your pup's name? love it!) You could possibly correct, we've only had him 3 weeks and since he came from a litter and one was a bully in the litter, maybe he does feel comfortable now in our home with all the attention on him, that he thinks he is the boss. My husband is contacting a trainer today and will have them come next week. Nigel is 13 weeks today actually, he's still a baby. That video you put up, the little white dog that was growling like that and being aggressive (don't know what type it was) is exactly what Nigel did, only not as long, great video! I am going to try that at least until the trainer gets here. Thanks so much for the input!

Actually I don't have a Husky yet. I REALLY want one though! We are (trying!) to wait until we buy a house, it could be several years but who knows... Sakutama is kind of my internet nickname I came up with when I moved to Japan. Saku for Sakura (cherry blossoms) and Tama for Tamago (egg) because both are sweet and cute! Hubby helped me make the name, I didn't want to use a name that sounds completely strange here in Japan! I had not thought of naming our future Husky Sakutama...might have to think about that now.

I'm so happy I could help a little! But i'm just being a mega researcher until I can adopt my own Husky, so any advice I share is from my own research for our future Husky. That's why I always give a warning just in case I miss a step somewhere. Wonderful you are getting a trainer, even if it's only a small thing, it's good to get a professional there to check things out for your peace of mind. Easier to correct early on then later! Sometimes I dream of being a dog trainer, so if I seem a little Cesar obsessed sharing his videos, I do apologize. hehe But i'm glad the video helped, I love videos. I even downloaded that one because I have a feeling I will be re-watching it frequently when we finally adopt our own, adult or puppy. It's easy to forget things, you think you'll remember them but when your dog actually does something, you can draw a complete blank!

I'm sorry I didn't give a formal welcome, we're really happy to have you here! I hope you can sort the issue out quickly and get back to the wonderful stuff.

[mydiamond]

Actually I don't have a Husky yet. I REALLY want one though! We are (trying!) to wait until we buy a house, it could be several years but who knows... Sakutama is kind of my internet nickname I came up with when I moved to Japan. Saku for Sakura (cherry blossoms) and Tama for Tamago (egg) because both are sweet and cute! Hubby helped me make the name, I didn't want to use a name that sounds completely strange here in Japan! I had not thought of naming our future Husky Sakutama...might have to think about that now.

I'm so happy I could help a little! But i'm just being a mega researcher until I can adopt my own Husky, so any advice I share is from my own research for our future Husky. That's why I always give a warning just in case I miss a step somewhere. Wonderful you are getting a trainer, even if it's only a small thing, it's good to get a professional there to check things out for your peace of mind. Easier to correct early on then later! Sometimes I dream of being a dog trainer, so if I seem a little Cesar obsessed sharing his videos, I do apologize. hehe But i'm glad the video helped, I love videos. I even downloaded that one because I have a feeling I will be re-watching it frequently when we finally adopt our own, adult or puppy. It's easy to forget things, you think you'll remember them but when your dog actually does something, you can draw a complete blank!

I'm sorry I didn't give a formal welcome, we're really happy to have you here! I hope you can sort the issue out quickly and get back to the wonderful stuff.

oh so that's the history of the name naming your pup Sakutama is a pretty good idea IMO would suit a little lady better tho.. Won't really work if you're dreaming to have a baby boy.. Then you can call her Saku-chan btw don't worry even if you don't have a husky yet you do have done enough researches to help others. Feel free to post up helps and advice, that way you'll help yourself to remember everything you've learned don't worry if you make a mistake.. Someone would show up and correct it (now that you know how people in this site are, you must have known I'm talking about a very unoffensive way of correcting ) so keep posting

[Alex T]

As for the runny poo - husky's eat less than most other breed of dogs! Do not use the recommended daily amount on the food that you are using, use less! You say 2-3 cps of food a day - this doesn't really give us enough info as we do not know the size of cup that you are using. When my girl was a pup 3yrs ago she used to have 50g of food per meal and was fed 3 times a day! As an adult she know has 250g a day.

If I were you I would reduce his food intake by 25% and see how things go, if he begins to loose weight, increase slighlty, over time until you get the best results for him. In the meantime try feeding him chicken and rice for a few days to firm him up, again not too much though!!!

[Storm Angel n Auroras Mum]

Im here lol jokes.

Im no expert but I did have a huge issue with storm as a pup biting constantly. So bad that I almost rehomed him!

But I didnt and im glad of that.

The toy bit seems like definetly toy aggression.

Take all toys away for now. Only allow them under supervised play, you know like tug play where you both have hold of it.

Also could be a bit of dominance issue.

You need to be the boss. Assert yourself over the pup.

When Storm was little and bit we could clamp our hand over his mouth and carry/march him to his crate for some time out.

(little extreme maybe but it worked)

heres one link to something you can have a read of http://www.husky-owners.com/forum/threads/bite-inhabition-the-most-important-thing-you-can-teach-your-dog.8234/

there is also the NILF - Nothing In Life Is Free Training

http://www.pets.ca/dogs/articles/nothing-in-life-is-free-nilf/

http://www.terrificpets.com/articles/102212265.asp

http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

[mydiamond]

Im here lol jokes.

Im no expert but I did have a huge issue with storm as a pup biting constantly. So bad that I almost rehomed him!

But I didnt and im glad of that.

The toy bit seems like definetly toy aggression.

Take all toys away for now. Only allow them under supervised play, you know like tug play where you both have hold of it.

Also could be a bit of dominance issue.

You need to be the boss. Assert yourself over the pup.

When Storm was little and bit we could clamp our hand over his mouth and carry/march him to his crate for some time out.

(little extreme maybe but it worked)

heres one link to something you can have a read of http://www.husky-owners.com/forum/threads/bite-inhabition-the-most-important-thing-you-can-teach-your-dog.8234/

there is also the NILF - Nothing In Life Is Free Training

http://www.pets.ca/dogs/articles/nothing-in-life-is-free-nilf/

http://www.terrificpets.com/articles/102212265.asp

http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

and finally one of our beloved experts came... you're late :p:p

[Storm Angel n Auroras Mum]

and finally one of our beloved experts came... you're late :p:p

aww Liv dont call me that lol Im not an expert ive only been in the breed for almost 2 years.

[mydiamond]

aww Liv dont call me that lol Im not an expert ive only been in the breed for almost 2 years.

same here LOL

[Lazacka]

Wow! You guys are amazing! I haven't had time to watch the videos yet but I am going to get back to you guys in a little bit, waiting for the Vet to call back!

[Lazacka]

oh just to answer quickly, I use ounces (American here lol) so that would be 8 ounces in the AM, 6 ounces in the afternoon and 12 ounces at night....or I do 8/8/8 I too thought it was far too much food and he doesn't beg at all but when I do put his food down he attacks it like it's his last meal ever!

[Christine0925]

I have a 12 week pup ( close in age to yours) and instead of a toy aggression, she had a food aggression ( at 9 weeks) We STRESSED the NILF technique with everything. Her personality is very strong and we have to do EVERYTHING consistently! Walking before her going in/out of doorways, having to stop her walks 40 bazillion gillion times when she pulls until she goes into a sitting position ( teaches her I control the walk, not you, and when you pull, the walk stops) Is it super frustrating? YES! Does it take us 10x longer and I probably look like a mad person to everyone else watching me walk my pup, but I know it will pay off in the end.

Wether it's a "NO, STOP, or ah-ah ( which my husband and I decided because when I say no its not deep enough and she basically just laughs at me, but when she gets the ah-ah, she KNOWS to stop what shes doing)

EVERYTIME I give her a command, she will always talk back to me.

"Me- Sit Meeka"

Her- arhh arhh bark bark bark arrgh , then she sits.

"Me- Lay down Meeka"

Her- arhh arrh bark bark bark arrh sighs, then lays down.

Rinse, Recycle, Repeat. Every.Time.

Just took a video to demonstrate her stubborness

jeqYivrsRTM

Good Luck, your pup is beautiful!

[Removed #5]

LOL no one calls themselves an expert somehow x) but we do know we have lots of 'em here!

... and after your response, you didn't leave us other amateurs much to say ....

Okay, now for the formal welcome from the desert of West Texas.

Hi Lazacka and Hiro!! Welcome to the best HUSKY forum you're ever going to find anywhere!

Since we're 6,200 strong and scattered across 60+ countries around the world, some of the questions and answers are going to depend on where you live. It helps us a lot if you fill out the location item in the profile and also pin yourself to the member map at http://www.husky-owners.com/forum/memberMap/

Again, ask whatever you want, we have a great group of people here and we'll try to answer just about anything you want to ask.

End of canned message!

I like the fact that you recognize that you probably surprised him. Even given that, though, the response is not acceptable. (( BTW, I did almost the same thing shortly after adding Sasha to my pack and did get bit by a [roughly] 2 year old girl! )) She's pretty much on a NILIF 'diet' now. Once he's really comfortable and assuming you do exert the dominant role you'll probably find you can do most anything you want with / around him - but for the time being he must learn that everything he has is yours and you just let him borrow it when he behaves.

MyDiamond did make a good point about exercise. I think the accepted is 5 minutes of exercise time for each month of age as this is the time when his bones are developing and you don't want to stress them. Since you are an 'outside' family, you'll need to watch that but I also think that you can find that you can tire him as much by mental exercise (( teaching skills / tricks )) as by physical exertion - and this has the added benefit of putting you in the control of the situation (( the dominant one, if you will )).

[Elyse]

Sorry for the late-ish reply, but I don't have anything to add. I agree that it does sound like toy aggression, although I've never had a puppy so I'm not sure.

You should definitely decrease the amount of walking. You should still socialize him to anything and everything, as that's super important, but too much exercise at that young age will lead to painful joint problems! Re: The "+5 minutes per walk/per month of growth after their last set of puppy shots" rule.

My boy can be food possessive, and I find the NILF (Nothing in Life is Free) method does wonders to fix his problem. A simple Google search brings up a bunch of hits...

[Alex T]

oh just to answer quickly, I use ounces (American here lol) so that would be 8 ounces in the AM, 6 ounces in the afternoon and 12 ounces at night....or I do 8/8/8 I too thought it was far too much food and he doesn't beg at all but when I do put his food down he attacks it like it's his last meal ever!

1 ounce is approx 28g. So when you feed 24 ounces per day that equivalent to 680 grams of food - far too much!!!

Just been doing a bit of research into BlueBuffalo food and according to their feeding guide:

21 (9.5kg) to 50lbs (22.5kg) / 1-3 months old / 1 - 2 1/2 cups per day

I'm assuming that they use a standard cup which comes with each bag of food, do you use their cup size or one of your own?