Hello All, We've had our black lab puppy since he was 8 weeks old. He's been a typical puppy but recently he's started to growl at my 5 and 7 year old (children). I understand when he's playing with them he'll growl and try to bite, but this is happening when he's laying quietly at our feet. One of the boy's would reach down and give him a stroke on his head and out of nowhere he would growl. Is our puppy warning them not to bother him? And how should I treat him after the growl? I want to raise our puppy to be well behaved and to enjoy the life that he has here with us. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is an incredible sight with wonderful resources and I am quite relieved to have found this. Again thank you for any help.
We haven’t experienced this so I’m sorry I can’t really help, I’m sure someone will be along with some advice, and I’ll look out for it in case we see any of this. I suppose it will be reinforcing any time he doesn’t growl. Like if he does let them have a stroke when he’s calm, give him a few treats etc so he learns that this is the way to be. And try not to force it I guess? I did just post a video in the sticky section about over excited puppies. I know it’s a slightly different scenario but I suppose it could bring the same result. Good luck, I’m sure someone will have some positive answers for you!
Hi and welcome @Regan, do you have a crate for your puppy? It is always good for puppy to have somewhere private and quiet to rest, and where children are not allowed. For a young puppy, to have a hand coming down from above him can be quite frightening! Growling is just your puppies way of saying he is not really feeling very comfortable. Don't push it, as soon as puppy is resting, pop him in his crate.
Forgot to mention this, probably the most obvious and helpful thing to do. Buddy takes all his naps in his crate to quite a good schedule, this helps everyone including your dog.
Strongly agree with beanwood. Our 11 month old is still in a crate with a pen surrounding her. She’s used it since coming home at 7 weeks old. It is her chill space. It doesn’t bother her at all. She’s very used to it and often takes herself off to it when she wants time out. We still use it at 11 months because she still chews things we don’t want her to. Despite having toys and games and kongs etc. She is getting better and I imagine it won’t be long now till she can have more freedom. Pups do need their own space and the children and adults, including me need to remember this, despite how cute they are and despite how desperate you or the children want to play with them. Good luck.
I just also wanted to add that some dogs dont like being touched on the head and that this may be part of your dogs reaction. Having him nap in his crate is a good idea. As a friend said to me recently, even dogs need personal space.
Hmmm... It's really really important that children are never interacting with a puppy when unsupervised, and that parents are watching the interactions between kids and dogs **from the dog's perspective**. Growling and aggression starts to happen when lesser warning signs have been ignored. When a puppy or dog would like someone to stop doing whatever they are doing, they will first turn their head away and try to walk off or use avoidance in some way. The problem is that, to non-dog savvy people and especially to kids, these cues and body language is very subtle - and goes unnoticed. If the puppy is repeatedly prevented from getting out of the encounter, or the puppy is grabbed and hauled back when trying to walk off, or it doesn't work - then the puppy will have no choice but to escalate the warning to something which is clearer. If even the growl gets ignored, the next step will be a snap... and you're well on your way to reactivity or aggression. But fear not, you can undo this hopefully - especially with a pup so young. Kids are (always) all over a new puppy, and often this can seem completely innocuous until you really watch the puppy closely to see if they WANT this or are just tolerating it. Everyone in the family, but especially kids, should be using the 5 Second Rule any time they are interacting with the puppy. This means that they stop what they are doing every 5 seconds and see what the puppy does. If the puppy walks off or shows signs of wanting to disengage, that choice is completely respected and kids are NOT allowed to go after the dog any more. If the pup comes back at them for more, then they can continue - for another 5 seconds or so, before they stop to check again that everything is consensual. This way there is no need for the pup to escalate things to aggression. Here is Grisha Stewart, showing the 5 Second Rule: Here's another video, showing the same thing: You can clearly see there that the dog makes no attempt to leave the interaction when the physical contact stops, in fact the dog invites more of it. It's really important that kids know how to implement the 5 Second Rule during any interactions with the pup. I run training classes and I'm horrified at how some kids treat puppies. (Not to say yours do, but just saying!). They often treat the puppy like an object or like a teddy bear, there for their convenience to play with how they want. The idea that the dog may not want this sometimes, has never occurred to them. And parents just let it happen and expect dogs to tolerate it. If a dog is sleeping, I think the best rule for the kids is never to touch the dog... And ensure there is a location where the dog knows they can go, if they want to be left alone - usually the crate. At 12 weeks, I think you can turn this around!
Thank you so much for all the advice. Yes he is crate trained and I will start doing that. Very helpful and I truly appreciate it. This had definitely given me some relief. Thanks all!
When you say laying at our feet.....do you mean your feet (adults) .......or the kids feet.......if pup is laying on your feet ...not sure how old your dog is now.... but just wondering if you are dealing with some "resource guarding".......some dogs will have a specific treasure.......a treasure that they do not want to share with anyone.....sometimes that treasure can be a toy, food, or even a human......google this (resource guarding).....lots of intel out there about this subject.......on the plus side....at least he growls.....that's a warning.......do not discourage that.........otherwise ...might not warn you........might just go for the bite....... Good luck....
