Puppy Growling

RhodeIslandRed

Someone I know got a new golden cocker spaniel puppy. He is ten weeks old. When I was with them today the six year old went to pick up the puppy and the puppy growled at him. The child said that he bites sometimes but I'm not sure if he meant mouthing or if he snapped. The mother was there but English is not her first language and I think this is the first dog they ever had. I asked her if the puppy often growled and she said sometimes. I have two dogs and neither of them showed any aggression as puppies, they are still great with kids and have no problem being picked up. Is this normal for such a young dog to growl. We used to have a cocker spaniel years ago and I remember that she could be quite ill-tempered. I advised the mother to tell the vet when she goes for the vaccinations because it is not good that a little puppy is growling at the child. Was I right?

Whispered

A ten week old pup isn't showing aggression. They can be vocal and make noises but it's always just play or discovering their voice. They also mouth a lot, all puppies bite, every single one of them, because that's how they play with other puppies, they need to learn not to bite.

To do that the mother and child need to stop all interaction with the pup as soon as teeth touch skin. But they also need to understand this is a baby and learning not to bite will take time. It's not aggression, it's just how they work, so at this stage they don't have to worry. I'd suggest to the mother that she should be very careful with the child lifting the pup though. It's traumatic for a dog/pup to be lifted if they're not used to it, so a 6 year old who would be fairly clumsy and handsy would really hurt or upset the pup.

RhodeIslandRed

Appreciate your reply. Thanks a lot.

cocker5

RhodeIslandRed wrote: »

Appreciate your reply. Thanks a lot.

At ten weeks puppy's are just discovering the world around them they all growl it's not aggression just playful ... I have a cocker he's nearly seven ! He was a mad little fecker as a puppy he would run around growl, then skid off... Then run up and growling again it's just puppy behaviour!

The play biting too is perfectly normal... All puppies nip the brothers / sisters when they are growing, this may go on for a few months. While its totally normal for puppies to do this , I would say " ahh ahh" every time my guy did it as a puppy, or else say no with a stern voice over a few weeks the pup will learn to stop play biting!

If would not recommend chastising the dog, he is only acting normal but I would try and get him to understand not to play bite etc by saying no!

boardbrowser

at 10 weeks of age i would be very concerned if the puppy was growling.
first consideration would be to rule out a medical issue that would prompt him/her to growl when handled/picked up.
If the vet rules this out, then i would strongly suggest that they seek help from a recognised and certified trainer/ behaviour specialist and find the root cause of why the puppy is displaying this behaviour( possible handle ability issues)
Puppy play biting is part of normal developmental behaviour for a young puppy and they are for the the most part biting maniacs at this stage of their life.
This however should not be confused with a puppy who is growling and exhibiting an intolerance to being handled by children, adults and visitors for that matter and biting in a fashion to deliberately sent a message to 'stay away' or 'get your hands off of me'.
at 10 weeks a behaviourally healthy puppy should be extremely affiliative and wiggley giggley buy nature, yes, i would be concerned as early intervention could mean the differance between a happy outgoing adult dog and a potentially aggressive adult dog.

DBB

I'd agree with most of what is said above, but like boardbrowser, I would be inclined to be wary of a puppy growling at this age, and to read more into it than it just being puppy-stuff.
I have met quite a few pups, a startling number of them Cockers, in the past few years that show genuine aggression at a very young age. I met one Labrador pup that was PTS at FOURTEEN weeks of age because his aggression towards other dogs and people was astonishing. I know who bred this pup, as it happens, and I'm not in the slightest surprised the pup ended up as he did.
Cockers, and certain other breeds, seem to be going through some really worrying behavioural changes at the hands of poor breeding. Grumpy, intolerant, possessive, all behaviours you don't expect to see in a young pup, but you tend to see more of it these days.
I'd think this pup is peed off with the kid picking him up: 6 year olds tend not to pick pups up properly/comfortably, and pups quickly associate the approaching kid with discomfort, and consequently take defensive action, like growling. I don't know if the kid is being (inadvertently) rough with the pup in other ways, but this in one of the big, big problems with inexperienced owners with young kids taking on a breed that can be dodgy in the child-friendly stakes. Cockers won;t be treated as toys, and the danger is that this pup is being treated like a toy, albeit inadvertently (I hope).
This woman would benefit from one-to-one help to help her learn how to manage child and dog, and to work really hard with this pup to get him happier around the child than he is now. Time is of the essence with this pup. As it stands, it's an accident waiting to happen, if this pup is doing what I think he's doing.

RhodeIslandRed

My gut instinct when the dog growled was that it wasn't quite right especially since my own dogs aren't that long out of puppyhood. Hopefully she will at least take my advice and speak to the vet about it. Unfortunately I don't think any further advice from me would be welcome.
Thanks again for all the replies.

ziggy23

My 12 week old pup makes a noise when he is excited that sounds like growling but it is totally not growling it is just him getting excited about getting a ball or toy etc. As regards play biting I find if he does it to me and I say 'ouch' in a high pitch voice he stops straight away. When he does mouth its not half as hard now cos he is learning that it hurts me. I'm very wary still with my son and him and I always supervise the 2 of them when they are playing together.