advice needed

[thefootofourstairs]

I have a 2.5 year old dog but i have only had him about 5 weeks . We haven't had a dog before so would appreciate some advice .
He keeps growling at my 16 year old son . Each time he has done it ds hasn't been doing anything different than i have done with the dog . Yesterday he went to dry him with a towel .
sometimes he seems fine with him and then other times not . I realise it's a warning and it's better than him snapping but i am a bit worried about it keep happening and ds is feeling a bit perturbed too .

Where did the dog come from and has he had a thorough check up at the vet since you brought him home? Being quick to growl can be a sign a dog is uncomfortable, in pain or generally just not feeling well.

If he's been given a clean bill of health since the growling started then your best bet is to have some one to one sessions with a decent trainer or behaviourist. If he's from a rescue then they may well have a behaviourist they use who can help you, otherwise go through one of these organisations to be sure you're getting someone reputable.

A good behaviourist will be able to help you put a management plan in place so everyone is safe and happy.

Get him checked at the vet, but... it might just be that he's not so happy about a near stranger (5 weeks isn't long at all and if you're the one doing most of the feeding and walking and what have you...) being quite so hands on as to do things like drying him...

But if you get someone in to help your DS and you work with him it should be a pretty easy fix.

We got him from a woman who doesn't want him anymore , shes emigrating , i don't know her personally . He seems to have been well looked after but in any case i did take him to the vet for a check. The vet said he seems healthy if a little over weight .
He has been happy to sit on my knee at night ( hes fairly small) and also sits with ds plenty too . I thought it was his new environment when he was doing it at first because it stopped for 2 weeks and he seemed fine . Then , he growled whilst on ds knee as he just gently tried to budge him over a bit ( has done this before and not bothered) and then again when trying to dry him off with a towel . He asks to be lifted up on to ds knee and he picks him up ok , ive bathed him ok and everything else .
The other thing ive noticed though is that when out on walks he will show an interest in people but when they stop and try to interact with him he seems quite wary of them and if its a man he often starts barking at them . Hes great with dh though and like i say hes been ok with ds for the past 2 weeks aswell.
i'm planning on arranging something with a local dog trainer next week but it has just worried me a bit .

My rescue is (it turns out) deeply fearful of children. I found this out when she, without warning, lunged and snarled at one that was running straight up to her (fortunately was on lead). I don't think I'll ever be able to reverse her huge fear (she was a stray in inner city when picked up) so I avoid all children/toddlers/babies with her and say no (explaining why) to them when they ask to come and stroke her. However, she was also a bit hostile when approached by some males at first and growled at my (adult) brother whenever he came to my home. We sorted this out by his coming in with treats, speaking kindly to her and offering her the treats - she likes her food so she got over her worries fairly quickly. She now spends my holidays with him and loves him. The dog trainer is a good idea but you could start now with getting your son just to sit down near the dog at dog level and offer him some treats in a calm manner, to see if he is happy to approach him. Some sessions of this (perhaps without stroking him but just talking gently to him), would get the dog to see there is nothing to fear and to relax in his company?

Sorry, I see that your dog has been sitting on your son's knee before so obviously does trust him to a certain extent. Maybe he has been manhandled (in last home) and frightened by males before and so took the gentle nudge to be the start of something scary (and was probably taken a bit by surprise, if he was snoozing). Likewise towelling?

yes sounds feasible mrsjoyful . i am trying to get ds involved in his care as much as possible hopefully he will fully trust him with time .