Young puppy has begun growling and snapping at my pre-teen son

[StevenZ]

Hi!
We have a 13 week old cockapoo girl that joined us 5 weeks ago. She has been a lovely dog. We are a family of 4 with a teenage girl and pre-teen boy.

Today, my son tried to pick up the puppy from the sofa and she growled at him. Later on he tried to pick her up from my lap and this time she growled and then snapped at him. She hasn’t done this with anyone else in the family even in similar situations  

We also noticed she gave a little growl a few days ago when the neighbours young children were introduced to her.
What would be the best course of action to rectify this behaviour, especially with regard to my son?

Thanks in advance!

[Adrienne]

 

Hello and welcome to the forums,

It would be important excluding whether this growling takes place contingent upon being picked up, or contingent upon possibly resource guarding a sofa or lap. This to differentiate a case of possible resource guarding (guarding something the dog perceives as valuable) from a dog who is simply uncomfortable in being picked up. Careful attention therefore needs to be placed on whether this pup growls when your son approaches or when he actually goes to pick the puppy up. 

 

It sounds like, from your description, that the puppy is mostly growling because uncomfortable being picked up. In these cases, young puppies benefit from a program involving desensitization and counterconditioning. The goal is to therefore take baby steps (desensitization) and create positive associations (counterconditioning). You can read more about these behavior modification techniques here:

 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/

 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/

 

Very important in behavior modification is to ensure that the puppy or dog is kept under threshold as much as possible. Here is a read on threshold levels in dogs:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

 

 

Here's an example of a behavior modification protocol using desensitization and counterconditioning for a puppy who doesn't like to be picked up: This is not meant to be done all in one day but at the puppy's pace and gradually.

 

1. The puppy is approached and offered a treat.This action is repeated several times. This is helpful because a puppy who doesn't like to be picked up may feel a bit tense when approached.This action is repeated  several times, until the puppy seems comfortable with this.
2. Next, the puppy is approached and a hand is placed under the puppy's chest and a tasty treat is fed while the hand is there. Once the puppy finishes the treat, the hand is removed. This action is repeated several times, until the puppy seems comfortable with this.
3. Next, the puppy is approached and a hand is placed under the puppy's chest again and is fed a tasty treat while being slightly lifted off the floor. Once the puppy finishes the treat, the puppy is lowered down to the floor and the hand is removed.  This action is repeated  several times, until the puppy seems comfortable with this.
4. Next, the puppy is approached and a hand is placed under the puppy's chest again and is fed a tasty treat (or a helper feeds her) while being lifted more off the floor as the other arm is placed under the puppy's back end to support her. Once the puppy finishes the treat, the puppy is lowered down to the floor and the hand is removed. This action is repeated  several times, until the puppy seems comfortable with this.
5. Duration is added. The puppy is now picked up and fed several treats in a row while up in the arms as the owner takes a few steps. Once the puppy finishes the treats,  she is lowered down to the floor again and no more treats. The fun ends when placed down.
6. A verbal cue  is added(I like to use "up-up-up!") just prior to picking up the puppy that informs her the intent of being picked up and undergoing the whole chain of behaviors. The puppy is praised and rewarded with treats while up in the arms and the owner walking around. Dogs like routines, they like knowing what is coming so alerting them of our intent to pick them up makes them more relaxed rather than being startled by somebody suddenly swooping them up from nowhere.

If at any time you notice a puppy is struggling with any one of these steps, it means that we must split them into smaller sub-steps and not move to the next step until she is fully comfortable with the previous one.

Now, a disclaimer is warranted here. Behavior modification comes with some risks. Firstly, safety. A dog who growls may bite, and although young puppies can only do so much damage, any bite can get infected if not taken care of right away and we must also consider what happens at an emotional level. A puppy who shows an intent to growl, snap or bite, is a puppy who is over threshold, so we need to take smaller steps and work at the pup's comfort level. On top of this, if we allow growling and biting to happen, we are allowing rehearsal of the problematic behavior, which puts roots and becomes more difficult to overcome. For safety and correct implementation of behavior modification it is therefore best to enlist the help of a dog behavior professional.

A little growling at the neighbor's children is something we also need to take notice. It's the puppy's way of saying she's not comfortable with this type of interaction. Most likely, the children may have been moving too fast, perhaps they had excited voices and were petting her and startling her, and this pup felt stressed and overwhelmed. It could be that this pup was not introduced to children much by the former breeder, or that she is simply very soft and gets easily stressed temperament-wise. In these cases, once again we can use desensitization and counterconditioning, by giving directions to the children to use their indoor voices and act calm. Maybe have them sit on the couch and see if the puppy approaches them, and if she does, they can drop treats to her without forcing her to interact. It up to us owners to protect our pups from overwhelming experiences that may leave an everlasting impression on them. 

If she displays fearful body language (ears back, tail low, yawning, turning the head, trying to avoid the children, hiding), you may have to take further baby steps, maybe keep her on a leash at distance or behind a baby gate and you feeding her treats when watching the children and doing this several times until she appears less stressed. Then, you can have her closer, do the same and then progress to having the children nearby as you feed treats, building up to the level where they can pet her very lightly while you feed treats.

Here is more about socializing puppies and children:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/socializing-your-puppy/

 https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/socializing-puppy-children/

If you have a dog trainer near you holding puppy socialization classes, you can mention her behavior around children and see if they can help you make the best of these experiences in a controlled setting. We want to tackle this early and not allow her fearful behavior to put roots. Of course, ask your vet before to make sure your pup has finished all vaccinations and it is safe to take her out. 

I hope this helps!

Best, 

Adrienne

Disclaimer: Behavior modification comes with some risks. For safety and correct implementation of behavior modification please enlist the help of a dog behavior professional for an in-person assessment and guidance.

 

[StevenZ]

Thank you for the really quick response and advice! We will give it a go.

The growling is specifically when my son tries to pick her up when she is seemingly at a point where she doesn't want that. For example, this morning, when she needed to be moved temporarily from a favoured spot. Most times when my son picks her up, she has no issue. She has never growled at any other family members regardless of when or from where she's been picked up, only with my son. 

Is it possible some form of hierarchy of the family structure has become established in the puppy's mind? From my various searches online, some of the suggestions I've seen ask that the person at who the dog growls becomes the main feeder and walker, thus apparently establishing them at a higher level in the family hierarchy than the dog.

 

[Adrienne]

20 hours ago, StevenZ said:

Thank you for the really quick response and advice! We will give it a go.

The growling is specifically when my son tries to pick her up when she is seemingly at a point where she doesn't want that. For example, this morning, when she needed to be moved temporarily from a favoured spot. Most times when my son picks her up, she has no issue. She has never growled at any other family members regardless of when or from where she's been picked up, only with my son. 

Is it possible some form of hierarchy of the family structure has become established in the puppy's mind? From my various searches online, some of the suggestions I've seen ask that the person at who the dog growls becomes the main feeder and walker, thus apparently establishing them at a higher level in the family hierarchy than the dog.

 

You are very welcome!

Thank you for adding some details on the dynamic as they help me gain a better insight into the situation. If the puppy is being moved temporarily from a favored spot she is laying on, rather than picking her up,  the situation can also be managed by  tell her "off" while pointing at the floor and tossing a tasty treat to the ground.

About the topic of hierarchy, I will be posting my observations on this is my next post later today as I would like to to go more in depth in this. 

[Adrienne]

"Is it possible some form of hierarchy of the family structure has become established in the puppy's mind? From my various searches online, some of the suggestions I've seen ask that the person at who the dog growls becomes the main feeder and walker, thus apparently establishing them at a higher level in the family hierarchy than the dog."

The notion of hierarchy over a family's structure is something that was common notion some decades ago, but as new studies were conducted on dogs, most forms of aggression towards humans and members of the family are now considered to be driven from underlying anxiety/fear rather than an actual drive to establish hierarchy. 

You can read more about this from the position statement deriving from the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior  (AVSAB)

https://avsab.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Dominance_Position_Statement_download-10-3-14.pdf

Of course, feeding, playing, training with and walking the puppy is helpful considering that it helps establish a sense of trust with these positive interactions, so it can certainly help the puppy bond more with your pre-teen son, but the behavior of growling when being picked up is most likely due to the puppy not feeling comfortable for some reason. It could be your pre-teen son may have accidentally hurt her one time when picking her up (or maybe she just felt vulnerable) or she may be a little distrusting around youngsters also considering her behavior around the neighbor's children.  

It's important to tackle this issue sooner than later so to prevent this behavior from establishing and escalating. Preventing from exposing her to situations that overwhelm her while also aiming to providing only positive interactions with youngsters is therefore important. 

[StevenZ]

Thank you for taking the time to provide such detailed help and information. It makes a lot of sense and I’m looking forward to trying out the various techniques. Thanks again!

[Adrienne]

You are very welcome, 

Keep us posted on your pup's progress!

Best,

Adrienne