Puppy that growls/snaps

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PS. There is no "tries to bite" from a dog. Dogs are lightning fast, and if they want to bite you, they will. Those are air snaps or warning snaps. You're annoying her, and she's letting you know. Never discourage a dog from growling by punishing them, you will only teach them that they can't growl, which is your warning that they don't like something. They need to be able to tell you so that you can stop. Otherwise, you might end up with a dog that goes straight to biting.

Think of it this way--if you're peacefully sleeping on the sofa and your DH comes home, shoves you and tells you to go sleep elsewhere, would you get pissed at him and snap?

+1. My mini goldendoodle is exactly like this. We use the growl as a warning/sign of communication and re-direct toward desired behavior with treats instead. We don’t just try to escalate/dominate the dog because the dog always got more agitated and tried to escalate HIS message too. He hates being picked up too, so cute as he is, we just don’t do it. For times when it’s absolutely necessary, we offer a good treat while scooping him up.

[Anonymous]

agree with others -- associate picking up and crating with treats. in addition to feeding in the crate, we'd periodically hide treats in there so if she smelled it and wandered in she would be rewarded. Door left open.

I remember the first time she just went in there on her own to nap. We all held our breathe and hugged each other like seeing a baby walk for the first time. It was so exciting, LOL.

Doesn't happen overnight, but if the dog associates with treats, it'll get there. Same for picking up, unless the dog is sore or tender or being picked up in a way that is uncomfortable or hurts.