Growling

[Guest hankodie]

Gus tried that once recently too. It was a pitiful, whiney growl. I said tough tits my friend and carried on. Acted as though it didn't happen and we moved on.

Little turd! Haha.

I think its a rite of passage and pushing their luck. We've had no worries since, but I know him well enough to know he wouldn't follow through with it. I'd have been horrified if he had tried it with a groomer or something, more because he might have got away with it.

It definitely wasn't a whiny growl Steph but I feel better knowing that even sweet Gus has had a case of the teenage cranks.

I didn't want to carry on or tell him off as I want sure what to do.

Now that I think about it I have noticed him being more of a sh!t than usual the last few days. He's always obliged with the "drop" command whenever I catch him chewing on something he shouldn't be (which is 90% of the time as he's a retriever) but lately he's been ignoring me and running off with said item.

He's also been pushing Odie around a lot more and she's been having to tell him off quite a bit.

I feel bad now that I probably just let him get away with growling at me but I wasn't quite sure what to do

[Guest hankodie]

As it happens I've made an appointment a while ago with k9pro to address some of Odie's issues but I guess I will be bringing this up too when I visit them later this month. I feel like a terrible dog mum.

[huski]

Don't feel terrible HO, we all question ourselves and sometimes in hindsight some things are much clearer. You are right to be cautious in this situation when you don't know what to do.

When daisy was 6 months old she growled at me for telling her to get off the lounge, I had no idea what the right response was! Someone on DOL told me to scruff her and growl back at her so I tried that the next time and she took me up on the challenge and snapped back at me. That was almost 8 years ago and boy have I learnt a lot since then. Each situation and dog can be so different, you get better and more confident with more experience and you learn when to be careful or when to be tough etc.

It doesn't make you a bad dog mum, we all learn through experience.

[Steph M]

I think that's just how he growls, HankOdie! Haha. Its a pitiful sound.

I didn't carry on, just said 'no' and did it anyway.

And I feel that pain, the selective obedience is special.

And Gus was a jerk to Rosie last night, tried to shove her off her bone and she gave him a good snap and pulled some fur off and left a scrape under his eye. No more bones unless supervised for a while.

Don't feel bad though, they're not people and you can't reason with them. They're dogs who do their own thing, you've laid great foundations and he's just going through a phase. :)

[Guest hankodie]

Thank you Huski & Steph M you guys are very sweet, i feel a little better reading your replies .

Huski I definitely did not want to scruff him as I wasn't 100% sure about what he was telling me if that makes sense. It's also made me look at some of the things he's been doing lately that I've just sort of brushed off or haven't given much thought, like the things I mentioned in my earlier post. Also as I am lying in bed writing this he has growled at something outside which he has been doing a lot lately. Just little things like that that I haven't been paying attention to that might have lead up to him growling.

Anyway I am very much looking forward to meeting you guys, have heard nothing but wonderful things and hoping that our crazy pack won't scare Steve off

[huski]

We are looking forward to meeting you too, not long to go now :) try not to stress, Steve isn't scared of anything :laugh:

[OSoSwift]

I wouldn't scruff and growl but I would continue to do as I wanted and yes I would growl at them if they pushed it.

It is best to do nothing if unsure as if you react incorrectly and strongly you can be left with pretty big fall out.

[Rebanne]

He's probably just being a jerk but if you're concerned take him to the vet, he could have an injury.

Agree, he learnt from before that a growl will stop you.

[Guest hankodie]

thank you all. He seems fine today, I gave him a gentle pat down just to check to see if anything was sore, no growling this time, he was quite relaxed. If anything strange persists I will take him to the vet but I think he was grumpy and testing his boundaries last night. Admittedly I have been very slack on the discipline front, I think it has come from me treating him like the "easy" dog since Odie is such a challenge and also giving him a little too much freedom lately. I forget sometimes that he's not a wee puppy any more and I need to treat him a little bit more like an adult. I think I definitely need to re-evaluate my approach to his training as somewhere along the line I seem to have taken a little holiday and stopped being pro-active about it

Having said that I'm definitely looking forward to getting some professional advice as it will give me a better idea on how to manage this.

[apocalypsepwnie]

Vinnie hates his nails being clipped but we just continue with it and treat. He's getting better with it, mostly it's just the lack of being in control.

I notice he doesn't respond to forceful behaviour like growling back. Standing up sharply but silently does the trick.

Here's to hoping he was just being a jerkbeast.