Ah yes, sorry, I get you now and understand your point. I don't really see however, what I can add that I haven't already stated.

I didn't particularly want you to add anything - just wanted to help if I could

the point is you really need to get off your high horse, and stop posting such over-sensitive breedcentric political correctness........but then i'm not even convinced you believe all that 'stop picking on GSD'' rubbish you are spouting.....it is obvious you are being disingenuous and just intent on deliberately twisting Wis words to fit your own meaning, as you have some sort of personal prob with her.....after all, Patch and I and some others posted similar assertions regarding our observations of some GSD owners being disproportionate in their support of old school coercive methods (not to mention my observation of a specific form of arrogance attached to some GSD owners), but we didnt receive the same treatment as Wis....that being a line by line word by word out of context distorting dissection.....

Thanks Kruse that means a lot especially as you own GSD (and BSd!!) but I think we should just concentrate on the original poster's problems and do what we do best, do you agree?

Wys
x

I think MummytoMax has given some good advice on this, and I will add my two pence worth.

Generally there are a few things which will make a pup of that age growl. Some of them are:

Growling due to:

Fear
Apprehension
"Anger"
Frustration
Pain

It's not easy to understand what is going on inside a dog's head but many dogs simply don't like being picked up. Even if they enjoy sitting on a lap the actual physical feeling of being picked up, especially if the owner is not holding the body correctly, can cause growling.

If young children have been picking up and holding the pup/dog again this can cause a feeling of at the least apprehension for the animal unless they have been taught to handle correctly (ie supporting the pup), to not grab, and supervised.

All of the above with the exception of pain being the cause, can be solved, often in a few hours or days, with conditioning the dog to relax about being held/picked up (although my personal preference is to not see small dogs picked up, as they are dogs just like the bigger ones, I appreciate many owners will enjoy picking their dogs up!).

Occasionally the problem will be more difficult and then more work will need to be done but usually helping the dog enjoy being handled works well, and that may include a pup who is bolshy too. I'd use clicker training as it works so well but it doesn't have to be used at all.

The first thing to consider should, as the original poster did consider (but not act on the suspicion?) there is some pain and a vet check up is advisable just to close that door of concern "in case" :smt001

The other thing to remember is that the pup is not now growling but, but, is the dog still experiencing the emotions that caused the growling in the first place?

Telling a dog off for growling, no matter how old, is a big no-no because the dog may well stop growling - but next time may bite instead.

Lucky owners may just have stopped the problem with a telling off or punishment. But this can come back sometimes years later (as with my tale of the golden who attacked a person carrying a rolled up newspaper). It doesn't happen very often, but it can.

Training and understanding is the way to keep safe, and to enjoy being a dog owner in my view

Wys
x

I think this great video clip is related to this problem of handling, it's one of my favourite dog training/behavioural videos. Bit of chat at the beginning, but it does set the scene well.

Shows an Airedale pup, Tucker, learning to enjoy having his nails trimmed when before he was very upset about it. It shows better than words how a "problem" pup can be turned around by someone who understands how to do it.

It takes just 45 minutes of training to turn the pup around

I've posted it on here before but now may be an appropriate time to post the link again - enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgEwiH8CeUE

~Wys
x

Darn it. I so live to convince you of my sincerity too. Feeling better now it's out of your system? I think Wys has the better idea -- stick to the point.

it was your point.
but fair enough, you are right to point out wys's wysdom (haha...)... we should both stick to the topic now.

Not nearly enough!

Snorri

agreed snorri i don't any
crikey is this thread still going

Yawn LOL