# Dealing with growling puppy



## pjjoseph131 (Dec 4, 2009)

Hi! Atlas is a 4 month old yorkiexpoodle mix. We have had him for 1.5 months... What is the best way to deal with growling and trying to nip? I don't mean puppy play tug growling, I mean "leave me the heck alone" growliing...for example, I was trying to put his harness on and he growled, so I told him firmly "no" and proceeded. He then snarled and tried to bite. I held him firmly and told him no till he calmed down. On the some occasions when I have invited him into my lap, he will fall asleep, and when I go to move him to the crate, he will growl. I tell him "no" and put him in the crate anyway... Is there another way to deal with this? He doesnt usually do it with me, but with the kids, it is a bit more common. We all tell him "No" and then praise him when calm, but this is frustrating...I want us all to get along! Is this a phase? He doesnt do this with food or toys...just when he doesnt want to do what I am getting him to do... Any help in dealing with growling will be appreciated. Thanks!-pj


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## Binkalette (Dec 16, 2008)

It is my belief that when a puppy growls when you move them/pick them up/roll them over that they are assuming whatever you are going to do is going to be 'bad' (also assuming there is no medical problem causing the puppy pain when he is lifted). When we first got Maggie, she would growl every time we picked her up. I came here for some advice, someone suggested teaching her that being held is a -good- thing, so that's what I did. Every time I picked her up I would have a handful of tasty treats ready (for Maggie this was cheese and hot dogs) when she would pause in her growling, I would give her a tasty. She doesn't growl over anything we do anymore. She is always MORE than happy to be held and loved on. 

There are a lot of differing opinions when it comes to a growling dog, and all of them have their points. Some say that when they growl, you should respect that and leave them alone or risk getting bitten. Some say you should correct it. Others say if you correct it, they will go strait to biting in the future since growling didn't work. In this case though I think it is just a matter of teaching your boy that you moving him/putting on his harness is not a bad thing. Good luck!

Oh and for some cuteness, here's what Maggie's growl used to sound like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaUOdyPafk0
She's just playing with Zoe there obviously, but that's the same growl she'd use when we picked her up..  Terrifying. I know.


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## katiemay (Jan 30, 2010)

You don't want to stop the dog from growling - that is his warning and if he's being scolded for growling, he won't any more - some dogs will go straight to biting. This happened with my sisters dog after she correted the growling and all of her kids ended up being bitten because they didn't know the dog was agitated.

I agree with Binkallete, make putting his harness on a good thing for him. Bring on the treats and praise ( if regular treats don't work, move it up to warm hot dogs or cooked chicken ). Instead of actually picking him up to move to his crate, get his attention with the treats and let him go in on his own.


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## Ocsi (Oct 11, 2009)

check this out:
http://animal.discovery.com/videos/its-me-or-the-dog-diesel.html
obvioulsy you don't have a Huskie, but keep in mind the extream situation.

I can't find the video of the Chiwawa, but maybe if you search you can find it. She did some great work with a Chiwawa in the UK.


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## pjjoseph131 (Dec 4, 2009)

Thanks everybody. I have given up on the harness (for now), but I do let him get up on his own. He has lately taken to growling and snapping when i try to put his sweater on. I have 5 children, and none of them liked getting things pulled over their heads as infants...they just didn't bite! I am going to buy him a coat that goes on a different way. In the meantime just keep us in your thoughts. He is can be a real sweetie, but when I brought him in from his walk this evening, again taking off his sweater, he growled and kept snapping to the point where i gently subdued him and could not let him up till he was calm(er). I will talk to the leader of the puppy training class about this when he goes back. He will not go this upcomming week, because he is getting neutered on Mon, and the trainer felt he should not be in class on Tues. Thanks again....-pj


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

pjjoseph131 said:


> Thanks everybody. I have given up on the harness (for now), but I do let him get up on his own. He has lately taken to growling and snapping when i try to put his sweater on. I have 5 children, and none of them liked getting things pulled over their heads as infants...they just didn't bite! I am going to buy him a coat that goes on a different way. In the meantime just keep us in your thoughts. He is can be a real sweetie, but when I brought him in from his walk this evening, again taking off his sweater, he growled and kept snapping to the point where i gently subdued him and could not let him up till he was calm(er). I will talk to the leader of the puppy training class about this when he goes back. He will not go this upcomming week, because he is getting neutered on Mon, and the trainer felt he should not be in class on Tues. Thanks again....-pj


Is your pup ever unsupervised with your kids? I'm not accusing your kids of being mean to the puppy, but even the most gentle kids (and adults, for that matter) can unknowingly handle a small breed puppy wrong, causing discomfort and/or pain, which could lead to defensiveness when being handled (since it's mostly his harness and sweater and being handled, not food/toys, etc). How is he at the vet? Has he been to a groomer, and if so, what did they say? Have you talked to your puppy kindergarden teacher about this? (I know I know...questions, questions, questions )


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

Please make sure that your pup is not in pain from Lymes, and injury, matting, or anything else. This isn't really normal behavior. I would also be concerned about the safety of your children. A face bite is a bad thing. Watch closely.


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## pjjoseph131 (Dec 4, 2009)

To LazyGRanch:
questions are never a problem. Yes, they have been unsupervised with atlas- the ages are 17 yr, 17 yr, 16 yr, 13 yr, and 9 yr. It is a possibility, though I have talked to them about being careful and kind with him. I will observe and re-enforce.I plan to take the harness to Kindergarten next time we go, but unfortunately that will be NEXT Tues- he is getting neutered on Monday, and the vet recommended that he skip class on tues. At the vet and the groomer he appears nervous-curious, but I have never heard him growl and the groomer reported that he was nervous b/c of the noise of dryers and clippers but was not growly-snappy. It really seems like he becomes another dog at those times...I don't want to have a dog we cant touch and love on...thanks for the advice. I will keep you all posted. BTW, he exhibits gaurding with only ONE chew- its a consumable large bone shaped chew- so we don't give it to him any more. He gets very possesive of it, and will run + hide with it and/or growl when you try to move him or take it. He is fine with the rest of his toys. He is learning "leave it" but totally ignores the command with that chew. Thanks again everyone!-pj


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## didee (Oct 18, 2009)

My first thought when I read your original post was "guarding" because of the growling when on your lap when you move. Then you said he guards only one chew item. I may be wrong, but perhaps he has a guarding tendency that is starting to develop more strongly.

I am personally dealing with my dog's newly exhibited guarding issues. She did not show these tendencies during her first month with me. Now during the 2nd month she has started to guard objects and locations (treat toys, a legal pad which she stole from the table, and location guarding of the couch when I try to sit next to her). And she bit me twice. It started with growls.

I will leave for others more experienced with guarding to comment about your scenario, but I wanted to suggest that this might be what's happening with your dog.


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## qingcong (Oct 26, 2009)

pjjoseph131 said:


> I don't want to have a dog we cant touch and love on...


Don't take me wrong here, I'm not trying to be accusatory, but I think that this is an issue. We all want to love our dogs and for our dogs to love us back, but from this quote, it sounds like you are not keeping your dog's best interests at heart. Not all dogs enjoy petting and physical contact as much as others. You can't force him to like something he will never like, you need to respect his personal space while at the same time slowly conditioning him that people handling him and coming near him is a good thing. 

It sounds like your dog is on the defensive a lot. From your dog's point of view, he sees all these crazy humans coming near him trying to do stuff to him. He doesn't know that you mean no harm, he's just trying to tell you that he doesn't feel comfortable with the approach. The humans don't listen to his warnings so he escalates his growling. Then the humans yell and get mad, so sure enough, humans are confirmed crazy and he has to defend himself even more next time.

Below is a decent article on resource guarding, which should help with your case. 

http://ahimsadogtraining.com/blog/resource-guarding/


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