Puppy Growling

[Ohtheplacesyougo]

Hello!!

So I have an 11 / 12 week old cavalier puppy and he has started becoming very growly and bitey to my seven year old.

My DS1 has not provoked this (I’d say) - he plays with him and does a good job looking after him. I’m not just saying this as I know no kids are perfect but has really shown some maturity around caring.

We have had him a couple of weeks and has just started getting worse. He does it to me a bit but not husband. Usually when tired.

I’m new to puppy ownership. I have a trainer and her advice has been to ignore and replace the biting but tbh I popped him in his crate today as just wasn’t working and was chasing DS1. Puppy soon fell asleep after squarking a bit (btw I use the crate only at night time and morning nap). I know not supposed to use as punishment but he needed some time out.

Any help would be grateful.

Thanks x

Puppies do bite, it’s normal. You need to train him not to. So when he bites say ‘ouch really loud and turn away from him. Stand up and ignore him. He needs to learn that biting means no fun.
Also provide lots of different chews to help get those teeth out when it’s time.

I'd say puppy is getting over stimulated. They need so much sleep at that age, like newborn babies in a lot of ways, and we knew with our sprocker puppy that she needed time out from the grandkids and to sleep if she got too mouthy.

You can find some really good puppy routines online that are age appropriate.

And we made a really high pitched yip when she did hurt us (like one of her puppy siblings would have done) and turned our back on her so she knew that she'd hurt us, rather than telling her off for it.

Thank you, that’s helpful. Yes, I do fear this over stimulation. Our trainer said not to leave him more than 5 min and build up - which seems a bit excessive and tbh I am doing so (safely of course) but I think it is leading him not to sleep as much.

Anyway, will get her to Yip and turn her back. I generally don’t tell animals off - they don’t get it anyway and pointless getting angry with a puppy. Other than my cat - he does get told off and is in constant trouble for theft of food 🤣

Thank you x

You need to gently nip this in the bud now. It is probably mainly overexcitement and, as others have said, a need for time out and sleep. It is not a punishment to stop the play, it is a recognition that your puppy is tired. Young children love to play with their dogs and of themselves cannot recognise when enough is enough.
When nipping/biting starts stop the play straight away. Just say puppy is tired and need a rest. When he nips say 'No' firmly. [not shouting] fold your arms and turn away. The folding your arms is important, it is a signal that all fun stops here. Everything lovely comes from your hands, treats, lead on, walks, strokes. When you fold your arms and turn away puppy starts to see this as a sign that current behaviour isn't going to get any of the wonderful things he enjoys.

Be patient but consistent. Give him plenty of rest and plenty of praise/treats/fun when he is doing what you require. He will give you so much love in return.

It will grow out as he gets older and it’s perfectly normal puppy behaviour.

try and find something that doesn't encourage him, sometimes anything high pitched can just aggravate

we have used the following on different pups
NO!
AHHHH!
a low grunty huff
Oowwww!!
fold arms
turn away/ignore

then keep watch and as soon as they do a stop or settle or look like they might be thinking about the error of their ways a calm bit of praise and contact.

How much sleep is the puppy getting? At such a young age they need between 18-20 hours sleep a day.

It also doesn't take much for them to get over-stimulated - how much is DS playing with the puppy and what style of play is it? Could you encourage him to do some training (teaching things like come, sit, paw) instead of more active play?

Probably over tired. Snooze in crate with door open is good.

Defo agree with others about the biting, loud noise and stop the interaction, worked so well to stop our puppy. Now the problem is her licking us all the time! Haven't got experience of the growling.

Our pup found DS way too over stimulating and DS was only playing with him but just the way he moves, talks etc would get him hyped up (he's 11 and pretty sensible, thank god we didn't get a pup when he was younger!). We really had to stop them playing altogether as the nipping and growling was too much. We also had to get rid of squeaky toys and we stopped playing tug.

Pup is now 18 months and DS and him play really nicely together now, he does still sometimes tip into growling and biting (very gently and the growling is playful) and thats when the play session stops.

Very similar with our springer (13 weeks). If she is awake, she is biting something (or someone) and if I get her off something (someone) she shouldn’t be biting, she growls at me sometimes. I think it’s normal puppy stuff - she is soft as anything most of the time but she is teething really badly and probably isn’t getting as much sleep as she should what with lockdown and the children in the house all the time. I’ve got a 3 yr old and a 5 yr old. Both can be a bit silly with the pup (my 3 year old removed a chew toy from pup’s mouth and put her arm in her mouth instead... ) but fortunately pretty resilient when they get nipped!

Thanks. The crossing arms has worked really well for us. I get a grunt and a wander off and then back in a couple of minutes licking me!

With the children being in the house all the time @LorelaiVictoriaGilmore I have taken our pup to a friend’s house a couple of times for a couple of hours to separate from us. I’ve also booked him into daycare a couple of days a week after he has had his vaccines. I’m hoping this will help with some different experiences. As ordinarily we would be popping in and out in non-lockdown life.