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

ali-t

EmptyPockets wrote: »

I find this rather odd - isn't your son ignoring the puppy completely, kind of going backwards? I'd have thought the pup would find this very confusing, and can't see what it will teach her, apart from that humans can be very strange... Plus, it may well damage the bond between your young son and this little pup.

I would be very wary of the advice you receive from this 'behaviourist' - remember, not all 'experts' do things the same way, some are still stuck in the dark ages when it comes to dog training, and you may find you need to look elsewhere for someone who uses different methods...

Not letting the dog call the shots in terms of himan contact is pretty common in dog training circles and has been reccomended by a lot of trainers/behaviourists I know. If you do this the dog should come to the child when the child initiates the contact so the dog realises that the child is in control of the situation e.g. the dog can be called over by the child, given a treat and stroked. This is similar to the principal of letting the child be the one that feeds the dog and prepare the dog for going outside - good things happen around the child.

Things like tone of voice can be very important and children don't have the gravity in their voices that adults do when giving verbal corrections. Consistency is key and although this is difficult when there are lots of people in the house, the more things you can be consistent with the better.

Clare, if it is any consolationI would have given back my (now 7 year old) staffy at any point in the first month I had her as she was a terror. She bit, she launched herself at people snarling and growling and once took a leap at my face -jaws open and ready to bite! The terrier in them tends to mean they are quite hard work as pups. I now have a lovely couthy, well adjusted adult and it didn't take 7 years to get her that way.

ellies_angel

I was given a piece of advice which I thought a bit silly at the time, but understand now. A friend had problems with her dog and her teenage daughter. The dog would growl at her etc. She was told that when the dog was being bolshie with her to go and sit in the dogs bed, what it was saying to the dog was, I am in charge not you. The daughter was then made responsible for feeding the dog and so the dog began to look at her as top dog. They can get to an age where they are trying to assert their place within the pack and they just need to know that their place is right at the bottom.

gottodothis_2

I am by no means an expert...but i have dealt with a lot of staffies in rescue and handreared more than one dumped litter.

i would definately start obedience training.. you can do this at home before the second jabs

I have no idea how old your son is but i would get him to do all the feeding. Make puppy sit and stay before he allows her to eat the food.

Also no one should be picking up puppies, they are not toys. They cant ask you to put them down so do it in the only way they know how.

I would always touch all of the puppy at floor level especially paws and ears as it gets them used to it.

I would not allow the dog on the sofa/ chairs either so that to the pup there is clear definition of who is higher up the food chain.

i always said to my daughter that she had to control the dog with her voice because when it is five stone as mine is its not easy to pick it up and move it.

zaksmum

walwin wrote: »

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.

I did say I've known some adorable staffies, but yes, I am wary of them and would never have one. Usually it's the scally lads who have them around here, and of course it's said there are no bad dogs, only bad owners.

But you never hear of a labrador or Golden retriever savaging a child, do you?

onetomany

i would give ur son the job of feeding the dog and then maybe the dog will relise he lowing in the pack and assocated ur son with a good thing food

sarabe

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.

I haven't read any replies so sorry if I'm repeating what has already been said.

First of all no she isn't trying to get higher up the ranks than him.

http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/why-wont-dominance-die

Whilst pups should be acclimatised to being handled for obvious reasons they shouldn't be picked up by children. You don't say how old your son is but he won't be able to pick her up when she is an adult.

I expect that if she was constantly being picked up by the breeder's children she is totally fed up with it by now. Add into that the frustration from being physically stopped from something that she is attracted to doing and her behaviour is predictable.

The rough play with the other dog will be over stimulating her so that won't be helping either.

At 10 weeks old she will learn so much quicker what is required of her if you firstly deny her the opportunity to go 'wrong' and teach her what you would like her to do instead.

So rather than say 'don't go out of the back door' whilst it is open and she is totally focussed on the fun that she might have out there, keep the door shut until you have her attention on something else. Perhaps a game of tug or food rewards for coming to you.

blue_monkey_2

Hi Sara, I was just coming here to PM you so thanks for your reply.

I've noticed some things, it is when she has been playing really rough she gets worked up into a complete frenzy, she will growl at my other dog in the same way as she does my son - and then when my son is stopping her doing things she should not be doing she will growl at him then. He picked her up because I asked him to as she was trying to get out of the cat flap. I do pick her up as she does not come when I call her. We have a 150 ft garden, if she does not come when I call her I'll go and get her.

I am not sure if she is saying enough and does not want to sleep but if I put her in her crate she will then sleep for a god hour. I think she is getting over-tired but has too much stimulation (as you said).

I have started a routine with her, in the same way I would e baby, so she comes out of the crate, goes in the garden for 5-10 minutes to have a wee and poo (only during the day, the garden is too big for night times so we are talking about getting some wire playpens and 'fencing' a bit of it off so she can still go outside to the toilet and does not get confused), then after an hour she goes back in the crate for a sleep. She will always go to sleep so she must be tired.

When my son comes home from school she rushes to greet him, she is not agressive then so I think I need to ensure she does not get into the frenzied state of play so I stop them when it is getting iver the top. My son has also started feeding her as someone else said. Again, she will sit for her food and for a treat and she calms really quicky when someone comes in as we do not stroke her until she is sitting - she does this for my son as well. Now she will come and sit at our feet when she wants stroking and wants a fuss.

She is already very good at sitting, and while she will not stay, I am working on this, I did go to training with my other dog so I know all the basics - I cannot go back to that one now as my husband has other comitments and the other training school is 90 minutes which i think is too long for a puppy of her age.

The back door is not open but we have a cat flap - and of course she can get out of that at the moment, she can also get through the gap in the gate which is there for my cat, who has arthritis and cannot jump, so she cannot be left in the garden unattended. I do block the hole up while she is out but until she gets a few weeks older she cannot go out unattended. However, we do have another door which is closed and locked to stop her getting out but at that time it was open.

I do still pick her up, to put her in her crate for example, otherwise I'd be there all night saying 'bed'.

Will read above and add some more if I need to - hubby has just walked in the door.

blue_monkey_2

I have been reading through lots of articles on the site you recommended Sara and I found this: http://www.thebluedog.org/ Not sure if it is of help to anyone else but I am going to sit down with both my children tomorrow and have a look at it.

blue_monkey_2

Right.... so I have now just been on the receiving end of some growling. She was playing with the other dog and the growling got louder and louder, I stopped her going near the older dog and she growled at me. So I said no and put her to bed in her crate. It was just about on the hour I was allowing her out to play before putting her to bed so i do think that hour is enough.

Was this the right or wrong thing to do, please? If not, what do I do if she growls at me for stopping her play?

sarabe

The Canine Commandments by Kendal Shepherd is an excellent book for children and parents to read together.

When a dog growls they are simply trying to communicate. It's not like they can actually tell you that are are cross or frustrated or frightened.

You need to listen to your dog. If she growls she has a reason to. Try to see things from her point of view. Look at what you can do to avoid putting her into situations that make her feel this way.

It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that she is being a 'bad dog' and that she needs 'putting in her place' but she's 10 weeks old!! She needs guidance and training.

I have a golden rule when it comes to bringing up a pup in this house. The word NO is a big no no and the pup's name is always always used positively. Every time pup hears his name something wonderful happens. Makes a hell of a difference when it comes to calling your dog.

Not to say that I never tell my dogs to behave or to 'pack it in' at times but it is really important to stay positive with a young pup in order to bond with them and using positive reinforcement to train is so much easier and much more fun for everyone - human and canine!!