growling

mudpuppy

The thing about growling--  growling isn't a problem in and of itself, it just informs you that there IS a problem; and that you need to work on the problem. And the growling will stop when you fix the underlying problem. You can suppress the growl, but it won't eliminate the real problem.

Mudpuppy, I totally agree with your post and I have had many successes in extinguishing resource guarding with that approach.  Sometimes growling does not always indicate a problem and sometimes growling is just a way of communicating with no escalating behavior.  With my foster Molson, he growls at all the dogs when the pack is reunited each day when I return home from work.  But he is definitely playing.  Molson has a fungus ear infection now (from rolling in wood chips) and he growls when I put the medicine in his ear.  It must hurt.

I think that we need to look at the fact that this is a 7 week old pup who should still be with his litter.  If you watch pups eating there is often a lot of growling going on.  At this point in the pups life, growling is just habit.  There is not likely any agression going on with a pup this young.

A growl is a dogs early warning system.....kind of like my saying "please step back" when someone gets in my personal space.  If I were not allowed to say something, I might just haul off and punch the rude jerk rather than deal with him/her in my personal space.  The same thing can happen with a dog.  No ability to warn that s/he doesn't like something can lead to biting without warning.  Not to say that it always will, but why take away the dogs ability to warn?

My dogs do not growl at me and I'm not sure that this is something I taught them or not.  I am the giver of all things good and I'm guessing that they see me as the "ultimate" good guy and have no fear that I'll take something from them.  This is not to say that I don't.....I will often take contraband right out of their mouths, but that's surely not something I recommend to anyone, and especially not with a young pup.

glenmar

.I will often take contraband right out of their mouths, but that's surely not something I recommend to anyone, and especially not with a young pup.

I'm on the same page here with regards to contraband.  Though I'll give the "drop it" command.  This works well when it's super high value to the dog but super nasty to me (cat poo, small animal carcasses, etc.)  

I don't allow growling but I don't extinguish it either.  I look for the root cause and go about dealing with that cause.  If, like DPU, it involves medicines or eye/ear drops then I work on making that a positive experience.  If it involves food, then I work on resource guarding techniques. 

Xerxes

Though I'll give the "drop it" command. 

corgipower

i would teach him basic obedience

It's a SEVEN WEEK OLD puppy, you guys. He doesn't know any commands or basic obedience. He's not afraid, he's guarding his food from the people. Here's the original post.

cuddlybabe

hi i've got a 7 week old german shepherd, he growls at us when we go near his food, how can i stop this

FourIsCompany

Xerxes

Though I'll give the "drop it" command. 

corgipower

i would teach him basic obedience

 

It's a SEVEN WEEK OLD puppy, you guys. He doesn't know any commands or basic obedience. He's not afraid, he's guarding his food from the people. Here's the original post.

cuddlybabe

hi i've got a 7 week old german shepherd, he growls at us when we go near his food, how can i stop this

prolibertate

The puppy is 7 *weeks* old and hasn't learned much yet because he was taken too young from his mother and littermates. He's also too young to go into *any* class right now because he has to get his shots finished before he should be exposed to anyone or anything that could make him sick. Getting a trainer to come to the home would be safer for the puppy; then when he's a few weeks old (10-12) he can join a puppy class.

prolibertate

I totally disagree with the 'learn to TAKE commands' phrasing...dogs should be trained as to what's allowed and not allowed, but trying to make anyone TAKE commands smacks of one giving military orders and expecting them to jump to obey; we're not drill instructors...Command make it sound like a form of slavery to me. Dogs, just like anyone else, need to learn that nothing in life is free, but it can be done in a positive way; the feeding methods that have been suggested are one good way to start.

prolibertate

Also, growling is the way a dogs warns you that if you don't stop what you're doing he may bite you

Just thought these points bear repeating and I agree with them all 100%.  Good post

This dog is not being naughty or dominant or anything else like that.  The breeder may have fed him alongside several littermates and he's learned he has to a) wolf his food down and b) protect his share if he is not to go hungry!  He is also a breed that has been bred for guardiness for generations, so its slightly unfair to expect him to just not behave this way. 

Don't panic - this behaviour is normal!  He won;t be ripping your legs off next week just because he growled at you today!  HOWEVER, thats NOT to say that this should be ignored.  It is indicative of a problem that needs to be addressed.  Think of it this way - hes TALKING to you.  He has very few ways to communicate with you clearly.  One way you can combat this is to learn to read his body language better (Reading suggestion, Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas) so that you never provoke a growl and therefore never let him practise this behaviour and possibly end up learning that its a great way to get people to back off.  This is called being pro-active instead of re-active, setting the dog up for success and assuring him through your actions that you understand him, he can trust you and you will meet his needs and extend him respect.

I believe you should DEFINATELY hold his food bowl in feed him bit by bit from the bowl by hand.  You can train him  to "sit"  and "lie down" etc. using lure/reward or a clicker (ie positively) at the same time - it is never to early for him to learn this stuff and it will stand him in good stead.  Making him work for his food is the begining of NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free) which IMO should be implemented as soon as you can (ie as soon as he has one or two cues that he knows well and has generalised)

I have another suggestion - lay out 4 or 5 food bowls on the floor.  Drop some food in the first one, step away and let him eat.  Move to the next bowl and repeat.  Repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat... very soon he will anticipate and tun ahead of you to the next bowl.  He will stand beside the bowl totally happy and relaxed with a human approaching, dropping the food in then rewards him for that behaviour and also the state of mind. Repeat till the meal is finished. 

IMO any meals not hand fed by you (either training or using several bowls) should be fed in a quiet, peaceful place where the dog will not be disturbed.  A crate is ideal. 

Forum search "trade" and start working on that with low value items and working up.  All dogs should be taught to willingly give up items they have.  If this guarding behaviour spreads to other items this will be much harder.

FourIsCompany

Xerxes

Though I'll give the "drop it" command. 

corgipower

i would teach him basic obedience

 

It's a SEVEN WEEK OLD puppy, you guys. He doesn't know any commands or basic obedience. He's not afraid, he's guarding his food from the people. Here's the original post.

cuddlybabe

hi i've got a 7 week old german shepherd, he growls at us when we go near his food, how can i stop this

4IC, Teaching basic commands begins at moment one in my house.  Even sooner if it's a pup that left it's litter before 8 weeks.  It's not impossible to teach leave it, drop, sit, down, come, go, off.  Heck it's the best time in the world to begin teaching that.  This is a pup that's exploring and learning all about it's world.  Why not put boundaries in place from day one?  I NEVER treat my dogs as if it's okay that they don't learn.  I think that's what breeds dumb adult dogs.  Get the dog interested in learning from day one, make it exciting.  I know your dogs aren't treated as if they are dumb-heck you expect alot from them-I do too, and I begin with high expectations that are usually exceeded by the dog's ability to learn.

Anyways back to topic. 

Xerxes

4IC, Teaching basic commands begins at moment one in my house. 

I agree with you. Same here. My point is that the puppy doesn't KNOW any commands now and the OP wanted to know what to do to stop the growling. The dog eats (hopefully) 3-4 times a day. The OP wants the growling to stop. Sending it to obedience class (at 7 weeks???) and teaching it to sit won't make it stop growling now.

Feeding the puppy by hand and doing the protocol described by swissy will. That's all I was trying to say. I definitely agree with the training. It just doesn't address the immediate need, in my opinion. 

FourIsCompany

Xerxes

4IC, Teaching basic commands begins at moment one in my house. 

 

I agree with you. Same here. My point is that the puppy doesn't KNOW any commands now and the OP wanted to know what to do to stop the growling. The dog eats (hopefully) 3-4 times a day. The OP wants the growling to stop. Sending it to obedience class (at 7 weeks???) and teaching it to sit won't make it stop growling now.

Feeding the puppy by hand and doing the protocol described by swissy will. That's all I was trying to say. I definitely agree with the training. It just doesn't address the immediate need, in my opinion. 

 

I agree that the protocal I was given (or something similiar) where you give the food is what you need to do to work out the resource guarding.   And..  this is a great opportunity to start on some basic commands at the same time.  What better motivation for a sit and wait, than a handful of food.  So start to teach/train your puppy gentally but having him sit....   and food bowl down..   wait.... drop some food and release.  It's not going to all happen at once, start with sit, move to wait and then the release.  Have some fun with it!

 PS:  I don't like my dog growling either and I have said before "he's not allowed"!!  But what I learned with resource guarding is that the underlying problem needs to be corrected and the growling goes away.  If you use aggression type techniques, you will get the same negative response.  Remember he is afraid you are going to take HIS MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE - his FOOD!!  So if you scruff or yell or try and stop him from growling during these times he is REALLY going to think he is not allowed at his food and will get worse.  I made those mistakes with my dog.   I use to go and take his food when he growled.  I thought, "your can't growl at me, that is my food"!!  I started that at 8 weeks old, at 10 months old I had a dog who guarded the room where the food bowl lived!!  Just show him there is nothing to fear of you taking anything and that you will be the giver of those really valuable resources and your puppy will forget about guarding them, he will instead look FORWARD to you coming by his bowl and his tail will be wagging.  MAKE SENSE?? 

FourIsCompany

Xerxes

4IC, Teaching basic commands begins at moment one in my house. 

 

I agree with you. Same here. My point is that the puppy doesn't KNOW any commands now and the OP wanted to know what to do to stop the growling. The dog eats (hopefully) 3-4 times a day. The OP wants the growling to stop. Sending it to obedience class (at 7 weeks???) and teaching it to sit won't make it stop growling now.

Feeding the puppy by hand and doing the protocol described by swissy will. That's all I was trying to say. I definitely agree with the training. It just doesn't address the immediate need, in my opinion. 

 

LOL, I think we're on the same wave-length here.  Obedience classes aren't what I'd start right now anyways.     Like I said in my first post, Luvmyswissy's protocol was dead on.  My point remains that following that type of protocol while teaching basic and necessary behaviors will allow the OP to have a dog that is obedient, tolerant and won't resource guard. 

So again, I think we were arguing the same point, just from different perspectives.   

luvmyswissy

 PS:  I don't like my dog growling either and I have said before "he's not allowed"!!  But what I learned with resource guarding is that the underlying problem needs to be corrected and the growling goes away.  If you use aggression type techniques, you will get the same negative response.  Remember he is afraid you are going to take HIS MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE - his FOOD!! 

Absolutely correct!  Identify the underlying problem and fullfill that need.  Luvmyswissy, I can see the protocal working for a dog who is resource guarding against humans.  A much bigger problem is resource guarding against other dogs which seems to always escalates into a fight.  So if you fix one it does not mean you fix the other and the OP will probably experience this.  So that is why I always work toward not making the dog's everyday foods and treats "HIS MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE". 

Xerxes

So again, I think we were arguing the same point, just from different perspectives.   

I think so, too.  

 In other words, growling is the symptom, not the cause.

FourIsCompany

My point is that the puppy doesn't KNOW any commands now and the OP wanted to know what to do to stop the growling. The dog eats (hopefully) 3-4 times a day. The OP wants the growling to stop. Sending it to obedience class (at 7 weeks???) and teaching it to sit won't make it stop growling now.

Feeding the puppy by hand and doing the protocol described by swissy will. That's all I was trying to say. I definitely agree with the training. It just doesn't address the immediate need, in my opinion.