10 week old puppy growling at my son - need to deal with ASAP

blue_monkey_2

I've got a problem, sorry this is long, I wonder if anyone can offer any advice please.

We got a new SBT puppy 9 days ago and she is 10 weeks today, all was fine for a few days but as she got more confident around us and our other dog she started growling at my son if he tried to stop her doing something she should not be doing. At the weekend she was trying to get out the back door so I asked him to bring her into the kitchen and he picked her up and she growled and turned and snapped and scratched his face with her teeth. Now, if he stops her doing something she will growl at him. She does not do it every time he touches her - usually when he stops her doing something she wants to do or if she is in the middle of doing something she wants to do.

I thought it might be because she was tired but I am not sure this is the case. She does not do this with the adults who stop her doing things though - just him. DD does not really pick her up as she is not as confident as him with animals so I am not sure if she would do it to her as well.

We chose the pup because she had grown up in a family environment and there were children the same age as ours, the boys were always carrying her around, and we did all the checks possible with KC to ensure we was buying from the right place and we have had her vet checked and she is lovely but we just have this one problem - which albeit little is also huge.

I am not sure if this problem is because she was bought up in a house of boys who were always picking her up and she is old enough to say 'enough'. We do not leave the pup alone with the kids anyway and she is crated at night. She is only allowed in the lounge and the kitchen, all other areas of the house are gated. She is she is crated at night and if we are not in the room, also if we go upstairs or I go out, she otherwise has run of the kitchen and lounge and is supervised.

We have another dog and they are always playing rough with teeth (my other dog, a staff x has always played with teeth) and the 2 dogs are always biting and growling at each other - something I am trying to discourage now because I do not want her being too aggresive when she is playing - but obviosuly she is a puppy and she wants to play. If it gets too rough then we just say no and they usually stop. I have to add it is the puppy doing most of the rough play and growling, not my dog, however whenever my dog plays with another we have noticed that the smaller dog usually makes the most noise. Do we have to put a stop to the growling or let them play?

At the moment I am just getting my son to lure her over and make a fuss of her, pick her up and touch her as much as possible and then give her a treat if she does not growl - is this the right thing to do? She had a growl at him this morning when he first picked her up. I have said I'll give it 4 weeks and if she is still doing it I am going to call in a behaviour specialist as this is too important to ignore and I need to deal with it while she is young - I can't find a huge amount on the internet so I wonder if anyone else had any advice for me.

As I say, it is not all the time and she does not do it when we pick her up. My son is the youngest so would she be trying to be assertive and get higher up the 'ranks' than him, she does not do it to the adults? I thought she might be too small for this but it was something that crossed my mind. Thanks for any advice, it would be most appreciated - this is too important to ignore.

Tulip09

I dont know if this helps tbh but i was watching that vet in the Dales programme and he was saying that puppies that growl or snap at certain people are doing it as they see themselves as 'higher' than that person. He told the family to sit the child down and turn the puppy on its back daily and stroke its stomach to let the puppy know that he was underneath the humans etc. The puppy wasnt impressed initially but soon got used to it and stopped snapping at the child. The puppy in the show was 10/11 weeks old.

I would take it to see the vet anyway and see what he recommends.

blue_monkey_2

Thanks for your post.

I will get my son to start doing that once a day too to see if it helps. I did find it interesting that it is just the youngest she does it to and wanted to make sure I deal with it while she was 4kg and not 20!!

We did not have this problem with our other dog but she was a little older when we got her.

I am due to see the vet for 2nd jabs so will speak to them but this was something I wanted to deal with ASAP and start working on now. I thought it would be a specialist behaviour person I'd need to see about this but if the vet can help that would be fab too.

Lirin

Mine would get the bellies rubbed, they love it. Had a similar problem, and (OP, not aimed at you in any way) it was the result of my step-daughter treating the dog as a toy. She got a bit worked up, as the little one would grab her for hugs etc a lot (a few years ago now.)
It took time training the dog, but also the little one- had to treat her not to grab. Is it possible he's grabbed the dog at some point and unsettled it?
Dog would get a bit snappy, then get a rough head on, and try charging around the room. Used to grab her, pin her down, and rub her belly, making sure she couldn't get up until she calmed, talking to her all the time. Soon the tail would start thumping off the floor, and the sheepish look and licking our faces.....

It will take time, but especially with pups, they are easily unsettled. Loud noises, unexpected movements, etc can unsettle them and cause them to snap. Sometimes this is bad-tempered, other times it's fear, defensive, or a pup that hasn't realised it shouldn't.

If the pup's only doing this with the youngest one, it could be an assertive issue, or the result of a 'bad' memory (sorry, no offense meant with that, tired and can't think how to phrase it better!)- where he's maybe grabbed it a bit hard, taken it away from it's favourite treat etc. Pups will react like children this way- the basic line of thinking will be either like or dislike.

elliesmemory1

I think you would be much better off seeing a behaviourist who uses positive reinforcement. vets are good at their jobs,but they are not behaviourists and some of the methods they use may be out of date.

Some of the dominance theory type of training such as turning the pup on its back may do more harm than good. I would try to see a good behaviourist asap as the longer you leave it the more the bad behaviour will become a habit.
Good luck

zaksmum

How old is your son, blue monkey? I would not allow ANY dog or pup to get away with growling or snapping at anyone.

If a pup snapped I'd make a huge fuss, yelping as if really hurt, and holding the finger or whatever he snapped at. Usually the pup will look guilty and lick you to apologise.

But Staffies are a big problem to me because they can be aggressive. I've known some adorable Staffs but there's so much negative publicity about them I wouldn't ignore it, and for that reason would never have a Staff.

walwin

zaksmum wrote: »

How old is your son, blue monkey? I would not allow ANY dog or pup to get away with growling or snapping at anyone.

If a pup snapped I'd make a huge fuss, yelping as if really hurt, and holding the finger or whatever he snapped at. Usually the pup will look guilty and lick you to apologise.

But Staffies are a big problem to me because they can be aggressive. I've known some adorable Staffs but there's so much negative publicity about them I wouldn't ignore it, and for that reason would never have a Staff.

Please don't take this the wrong way but are you sure you aren't unfairly unbiased toward Staffies?

It's because of people perpetuating the myth that they are more aggressive than other dogs that there are so many who are put to sleep each year because people are afraid to rescue them.

When I was younger Alsations were the so-called 'rogue' dogs and there have been various others down the years. Now it's the poor old Staffie's turn.

almond

hi agree with walwin
I had a beautiful wonderdog called jay she was a collie cross, jay was thrown out on the street when she was 8 weeks old, later we found out the women that had her also had 4 kids under the age of 5years.
jay was daft but hated yasmin my niece who was only 3 when we got jay i reckon it was to do with the way she was treat by the kids.
when jay died i got offered and nearly turned down a staffie cross lucy who is now six, because of what i believed about staffies, can't believe how wrong i was, this is how daft she is when she had her first season she used to wear knickers (wish i could find the photos)
we have now taken on bob he is full staffie 15 weeks old , again found living on the streets
we were worried how lucy would take to him being so spoilted but getting on like a house on fire.
but back to your problem , i am no dog expert but i am wondering if it could be to do with what happened before she came to you? think that why jay was like that with yaz ? can you try and get little boy to train her to do a trick for a reward ? so the dog thinks good things when she playing with little boy. I reckon she is just pushing her luck.

blue_monkey_2

I've been thinking some more on this on the way back from school. DS if the only one who does not stroke her belly, I always stroke her belly by turning her over and I mentioned to a friend and she had the same thing with her pup and her youngest daughter and the dog trainer told her to stroke the belly too. I had not realised it was so common but I guess they are just trying to find their way up the ladder at an early age.

I am going to get the name of the local 'dog whisperer' (as they call him) as he is apparently very good and charges £60 for a 2 hour call out so it'll be a good amount of time to speak to him.

I think ANY dog has it in them to be aggressive - and smaller dogs are worse than staffies, I know lots of staffies and they make wonderful pets - in fact they are too affectionate at times - we have a cross already and would not have hesitated in getting another. It is how they are treated and integrated into the family which makes them how they are, if we ignore this issue then it will escalate and next it might be me.

I want to make sure we deal with this in the right way. As I say, she does not do it all the time, just when he is asseterting authority over her so this is why I mentioned it being a dominance thing, she quite happily lies on him to go to sleep and comes up to see him tail wagging in the morning when he gets up. I guess she has to realise that the humans are in charge!!

EmptyPockets

I would want to speak to one, maybe two different, canine behaviourists, and see what they have to say/advise.

I would also be very wary of using the methods mentioned, re turning the dog over to 'tickle' its tummy: Staffies are very, very powerful dogs, and I would be too nervous of the risk that, if she decided one day she doesn't like it and doesn't want it... she could lunge up to the face of whoever is holding her down. As she gets older this will be more of a risk. There are other, safer ways of asserting yourself over a dog, should this be the way you wish to go... personally I'd check out other expert help as, like you say, this is too important to ignore.

I'll be very interested in any updates on how you go about it...

cindy101

blue_monkey wrote: »

I've got a problem, sorry this is long, I wonder if anyone can offer any advice please.

We got a new SBT puppy 9 days ago and she is 10 weeks today, all was fine for a few days but as she got more confident around us and our other dog she started growling at my son if he tried to stop her doing something she should not be doing. At the weekend she was trying to get out the back door so I asked him to bring her into the kitchen and he picked her up and she growled and turned and snapped and scratched his face with her teeth. Now, if he stops her doing something she will growl at him. She does not do it every time he touches her - usually when he stops her doing something she wants to do or if she is in the middle of doing something she wants to do.

I thought it might be because she was tired but I am not sure this is the case. She does not do this with the adults who stop her doing things though - just him. DD does not really pick her up as she is not as confident as him with animals so I am not sure if she would do it to her as well.

We chose the pup because she had grown up in a family environment and there were children the same age as ours, the boys were always carrying her around, and we did all the checks possible with KC to ensure we was buying from the right place and we have had her vet checked and she is lovely but we just have this one problem - which albeit little is also huge.

I am not sure if this problem is because she was bought up in a house of boys who were always picking her up and she is old enough to say 'enough'. We do not leave the pup alone with the kids anyway and she is crated at night. She is only allowed in the lounge and the kitchen, all other areas of the house are gated. She is she is crated at night and if we are not in the room, also if we go upstairs or I go out, she otherwise has run of the kitchen and lounge and is supervised.

We have another dog and they are always playing rough with teeth (my other dog, a staff x has always played with teeth) and the 2 dogs are always biting and growling at each other - something I am trying to discourage now because I do not want her being too aggresive when she is playing - but obviosuly she is a puppy and she wants to play. If it gets too rough then we just say no and they usually stop. I have to add it is the puppy doing most of the rough play and growling, not my dog, however whenever my dog plays with another we have noticed that the smaller dog usually makes the most noise. Do we have to put a stop to the growling or let them play?

At the moment I am just getting my son to lure her over and make a fuss of her, pick her up and touch her as much as possible and then give her a treat if she does not growl - is this the right thing to do? She had a growl at him this morning when he first picked her up. I have said I'll give it 4 weeks and if she is still doing it I am going to call in a behaviour specialist as this is too important to ignore and I need to deal with it while she is young - I can't find a huge amount on the internet so I wonder if anyone else had any advice for me.

As I say, it is not all the time and she does not do it when we pick her up. My son is the youngest so would she be trying to be assertive and get higher up the 'ranks' than him, she does not do it to the adults? I thought she might be too small for this but it was something that crossed my mind. Thanks for any advice, it would be most appreciated - this is too important to ignore.

well congrats on your new edition to your family,
at 10 weeks old you really are at a great time to train this little one try enrolling in a puppy class, maybe join http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/
and you will get all the best advice,

the pup is only treating your son like one its litter mates and you will have plenty of hurdles to cross in training this pup but staffs are the Nanny dog they are great with kids and family's in the right hands,
Never be tempted to smack the puppy this just causes fear in the dog and a fearful dog is a dangerous dog,
reward based training is the best i found worked great with all my dogs and clicker training you will be amazed what you can teach your new pet to do without saying a word using just a click,
i'd say have a google around on the subject, get into a local puppy class,

terrier breeds are always a challenge but if you keep your pups mind busy with short training sessions throughout the day you will have a fantastic dog and member of your family,

i used a lot of Victoria Stilwell's methods as i found they worked great for my EBT, (DIDNT STOP HIM COUNTER SURFING AND NICKING MY ROAST BEEF LAST WEEK :mad:):rotfl: BUT hay what can i say it was a wicked bit of beef would have tasted even better i assume!

best of luck,