# Puppy growls at me :'(



## Laura--x (Dec 9, 2008)

My 11 week springer spaniel pup has moments where she will growl then go for me or someone else in the house!! 

It is usually when we distract her, she will growl and snap usually at our faces. At first i thoguht it was just her playing, but now i know its not!!

She just settled down for a sleep and tried to get on the sofa to sleep, so i lifted her off to put her in her bed, and she growled at me!!

I then went out the room and came back down and she was on the sofa again, so i went to get her and she growled again! Then i did grab her and she growled then snapped again!

Why is she doing this :frown5::frown5: She keeps snapping at my dad aswell and he said if she carries on shes going. I really don't want to get rid of her though i love her! But this growling is not on! 

When she does it i tell her no and put her down, but it hasnt stopped her yet.


----------



## Jackinthebox (Dec 2, 2008)

She thinks shes the boss of you and you have no right to move her off the highest place in the house or take HER toys away from her. 

You need to show her whos boss (not in a nasty way though...) You need to teach her they are YOUR toys that you may let her play with occasionally. And also, I'd be willing to bet she is food agressive???


----------



## Laura--x (Dec 9, 2008)

At the moment we have a basket of toys on the floor which she just gets what she wants to play with out, should i not do this then? Should i just give her a few toys a day??

What can i do to stop her or show her that im boss? She needs to learn!!

What do you mean by food agressive??? I havn't noticed her being agressive in any other way apart from this.


----------



## Jackinthebox (Dec 2, 2008)

When you feed her in a bowl, does she get protective over it? Be VERY careful if you intend to find out. When you give her your bowl stand next to her, if she has a reaction (even if its just lifting her head to watch you out the corner of her eye) move away, and keep doing this for a while, then when you think shes ready try getting a brush handle (a long one so you can stand out of the way) and move her food bowl from under her when she is eating. If she attacks the handle you will know she is food aggressive and you need to get proffessional help.

If you want to try something yourself, I hand-feed Jack occasionally, he's never been aggressive but hes still got to learn that I control everything he gets, as a pack leader should. 
Get a hand full of food, and hold your palm flat so he can see the food (you can practice your wait/stay/leave commands here if you like) let him eat a little bit, then close your fist, he may paw at your hands and nibble, but as soon as he moves away open your hand and let him have a little more. 
But to be honest with you, if shes being like that over you just disturbing her, she will more than likely (if not now, then later) be food aggressive. 

As for the toys, I would put them away in a drawer somewhere, and YOU decide when it is play time and how many toys to give her, then when YOU decide playtimes over you take the toys away, just be careful if shes protective over her toys or things could get painful!! 

At the moment it really does sound like she thinks shes the leader of the pack. There is loads of stuff on the internet and TV programmes about asserting your authority, they may give you some hints! 

If you don't feel confident enough in doing these things yourself, if you are afraid of her or believe her to be a danger to you if you do try these, don't do it yourself, get the help of a professional, as I would hate it if you came back and said she'd bitten you after trying what I've suggested!! :-S

PS - she WILL be able to sense your fear and nervousness, as well as your reluctence to show her you're boss, if she senses you feeling guilty for making her do something, shes won and it reinforces the behaviour


----------



## Jackinthebox (Dec 2, 2008)

SHE* sorry, habit, I've always had dogs not bitches, lol


----------



## Laura--x (Dec 9, 2008)

ATM, she is NOT food agressive, ive stood over her and so on many a times and all she is interested in is her food! I will keep an eye out and do what you said though, just to test her!!

So should hand-feeding make her realise I am in control? How often should i do this?

The thing is, if she doesnt have toys she finds something else to destroy or bite! Whether its me, someone else in the family or furniture. I find it easy having a toy on hand so when she does bite us i can give her a toy and let her know that is the only thing thats ok to bite.

Also another thing aswell.

We have an older dog ( 3yr old lab x spaniel) and they do get on well, but Ruby ( the pup) wants to play quite alot, and holly gets a bti annoyed as she will only play for an hour a day say. Ruby always trys to iniciate play by snapping and jumping on her, when holly doesn't want to play we tell ruby 'NO' andg ive her a toy, but she always goes back to holly. We then lock ruby in the kitchen for af ew minutes, to realise that this is not play time with the other dog. Am i doing the right thing?

I'm not afraid or scared,more so just worried that she will carry on and she will have to go!! I really dont want to as she is lovely apart from this!!


----------



## Guest (Dec 16, 2008)

I think you have got to stop worrying quite so much, it sounds as if you are doing fine on most things.:thumbup1:
Your little dog seems to have had your undivided attention since you got her and she seems to know how to get your attention even if you do not want to give it. 
A crate would help you a lot and your give your other poor dog a break.
Though it's lovely to come across someone who cares enough to want to do everything right, you will end up not enjoying your dog if you don't chill


----------



## Laura--x (Dec 9, 2008)

I just really dont want to loose her as i love her loads!! With a baby due in 4 months, i just need her to be well behaved otherwise we will have to get rid of her.

I really want to get a crate but my family are so against it, they say they dont want to lock her up in a cage!! So i dont know what to do.


----------



## Guest (Dec 16, 2008)

The idea is not to leave her in a cage for long periods, just mainly for her own safety. You should stop thinking of it as shutting her away, it could become her bed, somewhere that she goes for a snooze and time out.
You have started putting her in the kitchen on her own occasionally, why not a crate?
As said before this puppy is sometimes telling you to back off and leave it alone. You are the one that should be telling it.
I know it is difficult sometimes, but you have got to toughen up a little or you are likely to have an even bigger problem when the baby comes.
I realise that you haven't got all the responsibilty for the dog so it must be very hard to deal with. 
I think you are doing all you can under the circumstances, but this cannot be doing you or your baby much good with all this stress


----------



## Laura--x (Dec 9, 2008)

So when she growels/snaps at me, what SHOULD i do? I tell her no, and put her down, is there anything else/more i can do? WILL she learn if i keep doing this? She hasn't done it since today, but i know she will soon!!

I just put her food out, and as she was eating it i put my hand by her and went to stroke her, she didnt turn or look at me, but she started eating faster, then slowed down as i moved my hand, would this be food agression?

Im so worrieddd!! I dont want her to be a danger to my baby  x


----------



## MonkeyDog (Oct 6, 2008)

It isn't so much what you should do _when_ she growls, rather how to stop this behaviour before she growls.

She sounds an insecure little girl who doesn't know the rules of your house. So she is trying to make up her own - as in everything is hers when she wants it!!

You need to decide what approach you are going to take. I've used 'Nothing In Life Is Free' and found that has worked well for my little group. Basically, with NILIF, you control everything. Food, walks, toys, affection, attention, sofa - Everything. And dog needs to earn it.

There are other training models, but what ever you decide on you must be consistent as must all the family. There is no point you keeping her off the sofa if mum lets her on for example.

You might also want to read 'Mine!' by Jean Donaldson.


----------



## Guest (Dec 16, 2008)

MonkeyDog said:


> It isn't so much what you should do _when_ she growls, rather how to stop this behaviour before she growls.
> 
> She sounds an insecure little girl who doesn't know the rules of your house. So she is trying to make up her own - as in everything is hers when she wants it!!
> 
> ...


Good advice. It's not really dealing with the growling it's the whole of her regime, and you must be boss. Consistency is the main thing, it will take time, nothing will change overnight


----------

