Joined
·
80 Posts
Sometimes Lucy has growled and snapped at us and to me it does not look like playing - it looks like she's trying to get her own way by being aggressive - but I could be wrong.
Today my husband was cleaning up her teetee spot on the carpet and she wanted to tug on the towel - which had cleaning agent on it. So he kept telling her no and pushing her away, but she kept coming for more. Granted, he should have just removed her from the situation but he kept pushing her back and she finally growled and started snapping at his hand. He didn't like this and pinned her to the ground and she fought and growled and kept trying to bite him.
I told him not to pin her any more - that we will try other methods.
The vet told me to practice holding her in the crook of my arm on her back while I stroke her neck. When Lucy is sleepy, she lets me do this and does not make eye contact. But when she is alert, she will snap at my face, growl and try to bite my hand - while wiggling. Obviously it means she wants down, but the snapping and growling concerns me.
Another time I was cleaning a teetee spot, same thing - she tried to get the rag. So I held onto her collar to keep her back and she growled and tried to bite my hand.
Surely this is not "play," right?
The things I am doing with her now are not letting her enter doorways ahead of us, we always eat a snack or something before I feed her, I don't let her sleep on the couch or our bed, and of course I praise her a ton when she comes or goes potty outside. We also working on the mouthing and not letting her maul the kids' clothes. When she mouths, I tell her no bite and stop playing with her. She is actually a very gentle mouther and never bites hard enough for a yelp, but I did the "OW" at first just to discourage her biting too much. That's why I've moved on to ignore. When she jumps on the kids and mauls their clothes, I have a can of coins that I shake and that stops her instantly. It has really helped as she will leave them alone after that for a good long time.
Some young kids came over today and played with her and she was very good. She did not maul them, she let them pet her and even hold her in strange positions without her protesting.
Do you think she is just being bossy and not really aggressive, or do you think the snarling and snapping at us is a sign of aggression? She's too young for puppy class right now and I really don't know what to do but I am a little scared of her right now.
Today my husband was cleaning up her teetee spot on the carpet and she wanted to tug on the towel - which had cleaning agent on it. So he kept telling her no and pushing her away, but she kept coming for more. Granted, he should have just removed her from the situation but he kept pushing her back and she finally growled and started snapping at his hand. He didn't like this and pinned her to the ground and she fought and growled and kept trying to bite him.
I told him not to pin her any more - that we will try other methods.
The vet told me to practice holding her in the crook of my arm on her back while I stroke her neck. When Lucy is sleepy, she lets me do this and does not make eye contact. But when she is alert, she will snap at my face, growl and try to bite my hand - while wiggling. Obviously it means she wants down, but the snapping and growling concerns me.
Another time I was cleaning a teetee spot, same thing - she tried to get the rag. So I held onto her collar to keep her back and she growled and tried to bite my hand.
Surely this is not "play," right?
The things I am doing with her now are not letting her enter doorways ahead of us, we always eat a snack or something before I feed her, I don't let her sleep on the couch or our bed, and of course I praise her a ton when she comes or goes potty outside. We also working on the mouthing and not letting her maul the kids' clothes. When she mouths, I tell her no bite and stop playing with her. She is actually a very gentle mouther and never bites hard enough for a yelp, but I did the "OW" at first just to discourage her biting too much. That's why I've moved on to ignore. When she jumps on the kids and mauls their clothes, I have a can of coins that I shake and that stops her instantly. It has really helped as she will leave them alone after that for a good long time.
Some young kids came over today and played with her and she was very good. She did not maul them, she let them pet her and even hold her in strange positions without her protesting.
Do you think she is just being bossy and not really aggressive, or do you think the snarling and snapping at us is a sign of aggression? She's too young for puppy class right now and I really don't know what to do but I am a little scared of her right now.