Hi All. Cuillin has always been a bit off with puppies (since she stopped being one herself!). However in the past few months she seems to have developed an extreme aversion to them...if we meet puppies on walks she will growl at them no matter how they are behaving, and if they come near her she will really snarl at them and send them off in no uncertain terms. Today we met a very submissive collie pup and she gave him a right telling off for just looking at her. Sooooo.....do I correct her for this? After her second full on snarl today I told her to pack it in quite firmly, which she did, but the pup's owner told me i shouldnt do this as he needs to learn that not everyone is friendly. If the pup had been being rude, barging at her face etc then I can see that Cuillin should be able to tell him off, but he was just sitting next to us looking submissive and minding his own business, so I thought I should stop her. Any thoughts as this is now her default position whenver she meets a puppy? Thanks. Debbie
Re: Growling at Puppies....what to do Hi Debbie I have something similar with Maia and collies, although I know hers is due to two unprovoked attacks a couple of years ago. My approach is to make her sit in front of me with me between the oncoming dog and her (my back to the dog, facing Maia) but so that she can still see. I try to keep her calm and praise her for sitting still and generally being good. Any growl gets a small growl back from me with an 'ah-ah' type of noise. If she manages to let the dog pass and doesn't react she gets a good girl and a reward - type and size varies. Thereby reinforcing the good behaviour and rebuking the bad without actually creating a negative connection. My theory being that if she sees me as protecting her she doesn't need to protect herself by getting in the first 'word'. We've gradually improved and with some collies we can walk calmly by with only a bit of a worried look and if you look carefully a slightly raised hackle. She's nearly thirteen now so it's never going to be cured but as long as it managed and she doesn't pass it to the others that's fine. It has worked but we had problems this morning when a year old puppy playful collie came bounding up to us and neither of us had seen it, fortunately she was on the lead (we were on the road) but I managed to haul her back and get her anchored whilst the owner tried desperately to grab the cavorting pup! hope that helps. Kerryn
Re: Growling at Puppies....what to do Hi Kerryn thanks yes thats helpful. Ive been told that its not uncommon for adult bitches to have a bit of a thing about puppies....your approach sounds good. I guess what I missed out was the positive reinforcement of her stopping snarling! I'll build that bit in. Its actually made me realise that too often I let my two run up to dogs on lead, sometimes even though I know I shouldn't, without thinking about whether the dog is friendly or not, or the other dog could be nervous, or there could be another reason why they are on lead. When I see puppies approching now I get Cuillin back to me and put her on lead and call out to their owners that they might not want to let their pups run up wildly, but mostly they say oh it'll be fine....I've stopped letting my two run up to dogs on lead now on the grounds that there is probably a good reason! Thanks again.
Re: Growling at Puppies....what to do Any ideas on growling during play? Lilly often growls, quite loudly whlst in full flight rampaging around with other dogs in the fields - neither seem to be terribly bothered and both (or all) SEEM to be having fun. Not something easy to correct as she is normally distant to me - although sometimes going at super-sonic speed towards my knees She's normally pretty placid, although can growl if one of the kids (kids, she says : ) lies next to her on her beanie - we put that down to a shift in her position triggering a bit of pain in her hips though. She also will growl at pups if they are "pestering her" i.e licky licky on the head (don't blame her there - she's not fond of head fondling ) Any thoughts welcome jac
Re: Growling at Puppies....what to do I'm guessing it's a warning shot to prevent anyone getting too close. Juno used to do that, after being clattered into on a couple of occasions she developed her own boundaries and during play if the boundary was crossed she growled. As long as it stayed at growls I let it be, anything more and play was stopped for all whilst I split them up - Juno got hugs (and biscuits, just don't tell ). The others got sent out to play again. Kerryn
Re: Growling at Puppies....what to do That would make sense Kerryn. I think she's her own worst enemy : Thanks jac
Re: Growling at Puppies....what to do My old dog Billy really did not like puppies and used to snarl and growl at them. If they persisted in bothering him, he would knock them on to the ground. He NEVER hurt a puppy though. I always warned puppy owners, and put him on a lead if one came too close. In fact, this worked out very well. Any pup who knew Billy quickly realized he was 'the boss' - and this relationship remained like that! So even dogs that were larger than him, saw Billy as top dog, and so there were no fights or problems in our neighborhood. The other point was that although he didnt like puppies, he would nonetheless accept them if he thought they were part of the 'pack', and would then become very protective of them! This was the case with Bones (his little brother...), and also with two stray kittens we brought back from France. Long story, short message - I wouldnt worry too much about a 'warning growl' from Cuillin. She is just saying she doesnt appreciated being 'bounced' or bothered. And who can blame her?
Re: Growling at Puppies....what to do On the other hand, Lady is really into puppies. She often eggs them on for a romp. ;D At the same time though she also puts her hackles up when it gets too boistrous for her but I don't think she growls.
Re: Growling at Puppies....what to do My old Lab girl Tess used to tell pups off too . We had two JR pups when Tess was about 2 years old, she loved playing with them and being the boss but woe betide them if they overstepped the mark , she never hurt them but they did respect her for her grumblings . Sam, on the other hand is daft as a brush , with all dogs but especially the younger element , I often have to step in myself and give Poppy some time out when she gets a bit much for him or he wants a nap , sometimes wish he were more assertive but then part of his appeal is his softness and gentleness
Re: Growling at Puppies....what to do That's true Kate - Bones was as soft as anything with our Poppy, never ever growled at her no matter how obnoxious and boisterous she was! She used to knock him over, pounce on him and bite his ears... He was sooooo long suffering, I often wished he would have snapped at her to make her stop! All he did was bark at US to get us to take her away!!! By the time she was about 5 months old they got on much better though. Sigh. Now she is an only dog... :'(
Re: Growling at Puppies....what to do Oh sorry Karen, things like this bring the memories hurling back dont they ? Not that they are very far away . Poppy is slowly settling down, not quite so manic as she was the first couple of weeks, plus all the exercise is tiring her out, she hasnt been used to it , hugs for you x
Re: Growling at Puppies....what to do Debsie, Hattie will not tolerate puppies jumping around and she too tells them off but never nastily just as a mum would do. I was out with a friend and her 2 year old Golden Retriever called Poppy, when we met a 9 month old overweight lab pup Cleo that is very boistrous, it proceeded to bounce all over Hattie and Poppy, that was it Hattie had enough and placed herself between Poppy and the pup barked loudly at it - sorted Helen x
Re: Growling at Puppies....what to do thanks again folks. This has been really helpful to hear. We met the wee Collie again yesterday and the wee lamb flattened himself on his back as soon as he saw Cuillin. That obviously wasn't enough submission for her and she still growled at him...but no real row this time, just a strong warning! Jac, Cuillin and brodick growl so much when they are playing they sound positively fearsome! I got quite a suprise when I saw my sisters two labs playing with each other, the Noise and the wrestling! Lions at play it looked like. So I was prepared for my two which is just as well, I often have to reassure folk who are looking on in mild horror when they are playing in the park that its just play , they wrestle and growl really loudly and drag each other about by the neck, but their tails are going all the time....I can tell now when someone's play growl changes to a bit more of an Oi You Bit Me Then growl, at which point I just tell em Enough and they stop (for a biscuit too!), then restart and the growls are back to play growls...interestingly, while Cuillin play growls with all dogs Brodick will only play growl with Cuillin and my sisters dogs, who he knows well. Seems its a pack Thing for him...
Re: Growling at Puppies....what to do Thats great to know, Debbie! Lilly is the worst I have heard for growling, and I always find myself reassuring other owners (or maybe its just me I am reassuring LOL) jac
