snappy, yappy dominant pup

Hi,
Have a 10 week old cavalier x toy poodle. also have our 2nd flatcoated retreiver. Re the puppy : we are not used to such a dominant dog and one that snaps. The niping we expected as in all pups. The retreivers are such people pleasers , and this little guy seems very dominant and dare i say it , at times aggressive : growling at the kids if they go to pick him up and he doesn't want it, or, today, really growling and snapping when i (deliberately, to train him who was boss) removed his foodfor a few seconds. We do not want a dog who will have to be watched all the time with strangers. Our retreivers are so gentle. I love this little guy and he me...that in itself may be becoming a problem as he runs to me, and does not like the kids to take him from me (we are deliberately doing this too, ie I pass him to them, my logic being to train him to know I call the shots and I approve of the kids taking him). Very long-winded for an entry into this forum!! Basically, how do I stop the snapping and yapping (did I mention that??) and keep him as a gentle but non dominant dog?
Margie

Hi
I also have a FCR and know exactly what you mean!
I have to say though at 10 weeks old your pup isn't being dominant, to me he sounds a bit nervous and threatened by what you are doing with him. Why are you taking his food away out of interest? If you start doing that at this age you will be more likely to make hin food aggressive than if you left him to eat!

Have you tried encouraging your children to play with the pup and give him treats so he enjoys being with them. He may just be a bit scared of them right now, which is why he prefers to be with you. If he snaps, barks or growls just stop playing with him and ignore him, briefly. He will soon learn that being sent to doggie Coventry is not much fun.

I agree with Ramble and Maxine.

Whilst I understand what you are trying to do by taking his food away and passing him round the kids and I do agree that your pup has to learn that you're the boss, I disagree with the way you seem to be going about it.

Although some dogs will automatically accept any human as a 'leader', with many they expect that right to be earned/proved.

All he is learning at the moment is that when he 'submits' to you, 'nasty' things happen - his food gets taken away and he gets passed around from pillar to post with no consideration as to how he feels about it.

I know you are comparing the pup to your previous dogs, but realistically (with size difference), did your other pups get picked up as much?

IMO the best thing you can do for you, your family and the pup is to work on training using positive methods and laying down some ground rules for both the pup and your children.

If it was me, I would encourage 'training' type play between the children and the pup. One child at a time, teach them to teach him little tricks with something tasty (for the pup not the children ) as rewards. Done properly under your supervision, child and pup will learn to respect each other and in particular the pup will stop seeing the children as a threat/unpleasant experience.

I would also make sure that the pup had somewhere to go so when he has had enough of the children, he can go there (e.g. his bed or crate) and won't have to snap etc because he knows he will be left in peace.

As far as taking things off him is concerned, I always teach this by the swop method - ie the pup/dog gets given something even better than the thing you are taking away. once learned, I don't need to swap all the time, but when they give something up, they are always rewarded, even if it is just verbal praise. Both my rescues dogs had quite severe guarding issues when I took them on - I can now take anything from either of them without any problems.

As for the yapping, as has already been mentioned, when he does this, I would give him a 'time out' - a short spell away from you by himself. But, you have to be consistent - i.e. do it every time he yaps and if he yaps during his time out, do not go to him until he has been quiet for half a minute or so.

Again I agree with what has been said. I have a giant breed and two young children I have an older son too. It was very important that not only did the dog know how to behave around the children but also they learn what is acceptable with regard to the dog. I always leave him alone when he eats and ensure that he is fed away from the kids. I walk past him but never interrupt his feeding so he has no need to guard it. When he interacts with the children it is with them training him and is always rewarded for good behaviour. If he gets too boisterous then they immediately stand up and fold their arms and do not make eye contact. It the unwanted behaviour continues we leave the room. They generally cop on to this very quickly. Best of luck xx