I've just read The Gundog Club's Right Start manual and there is mention in there of growling at the puppy by way of escalation if a puppy continues to bite when he has been warned off with an 'oooow!' or when he ignores a recall when you start practicing indoors. I'm guessing that as the manual is a few years old Pippa's advice in the manual has been superceeded by what has been written in The Happy Puppy Guide and/or in the articles on her site. I'm just checking whether this is correct?
Re: Growling at puppy Personally I wouldn't growl at my dog. I would go by the advice Pippa gives in the happy puppy book
Re: Growling at puppy Growling at a puppy is something I would never do, aggressive and intimidating in my eyes
Re: Growling at puppy I don't remember reading that in Right Start, but it was quite a while since I read it. Not all of Pippa's books and articles are 100% positive - although the later ones tend to be. Mild aversives (such as No) are also used in the other gundog manuals too. But that's the case for pretty much all gundog material, I find. Pippa's books are still some of the most positive around. Even Helen Phillips' book, Clicker Gundog, and not many would argue with the statement that she is the most positive gundog trainer in the UK, contains one mild aversive which I doubt she would use now. I think it's a reflection that the early promoters of positive methods in the UK gundog world were on a journey themselves.
Re: Growling at puppy Thanks Julie, that's what I thought, it didn't tally with Pippa's more recent advice. The date of the guide is 2006 so almost 10 years old now!
Re: Growling at puppy No, I wouldn't growl - my growls are very ineffective! Human growls could never mimic dog growls well enough to give the correct message - human growls will just confuse dogs imo.
Re: Growling at puppy With Juno I just squealed if she started applying too much pressure and that seemed to work fine, didn't need to use "No" just squeals.
Re: Growling at puppy Please dont growl. its outdated & dont work. Just go ouch in a high voice then stand & turn away.
Re: Growling at puppy I wouldn't do it, I just wanted to check that it was outdated advice given that the manuals are written by Pippa and that it doesn't tally with everything else I'm reading from her
Re: Growling at puppy Hi there, Punishing a pup for biting (by growling at them) can now be thought to cause problems with their learning bite inhibition. Here is Pippa's current advice on dealing with biting: How to stop biting Your puppy biting Biting FAQ When biting gets out of hand Hope some of these help!
