Growling pup - should I be worried?

[3AndADog]

Cockerpoo pup is 6 months old. Lovely cuddly mad thing. Lots of Typical annoying puppy behaviour but we’re doing lots of training and seem to be getting there. Mouthing drives me up the wall.
This evening DH was sat with her on the sofa curled up and stroking her. I came and joined them (she’s hyper attached to me) and started stroking her too. She was mouthing me and trying to get me to play, but DH was withdrawing his hand and attention to get her to stop. As was I. She growled at us, twice - her body remained relaxed and she didn’t jump up or anything - it was a short quiet growl but we did see her teeth. I wondered if she was angry at SH for interfering with me and her, as I said she’s super attached to me and I’m worried she might be getting possessive - although this is the first time I’ve seen her growl in this situation. DH thinks she was growling for more strokes a give me more affection.

Should I be concerned about this? I can’t help panicking that it was a first sign of aggression. First time dog owner here.

Thanks

In my very limited experience and from what you have written it does sound like it could just normal puppy stuff. We have found everything called from about 8 months old. Try to build as good a bond as possible being kind to puppy, stroking her and telling her she is good etc so she just wants to please you. Try to minimise the opportunity for problems arising where they get stuff they shouldn’t and don’t get in a stand off with the puppy.

I think it sounds quite normal but also completely understand why you would want to get this issue sorted ASAP.

I know that people here love the Facebook group and I agree with their general principles (though not always with their specific recommendations). But in my observation they tend to have a very rigid approach and are not always helpful to people asking reasonable questions. I don't think I would ever post asking them for help.

A good trainer who can work with your dog directly, rather than from descriptions on FB, is ideal. If your current trainer isn't a good match, I would look for someone else with both credentials and considerable experience.

@certainshepherdpups

I think it sounds quite normal but also completely understand why you would want to get this issue sorted ASAP.

I know that people here love the Facebook group and I agree with their general principles (though not always with their specific recommendations). But in my observation they tend to have a very rigid approach and are not always helpful to people asking reasonable questions. I don't think I would ever post asking them for help.

A good trainer who can work with your dog directly, rather than from descriptions on FB, is ideal. If your current trainer isn't a good match, I would look for someone else with both credentials and considerable experience.

This is another reason I have hesitated to post on the group. I sense that it’s a little bit judgy and SO rigid, and I find it so overwhelming, there is so much on there and it’s all very black and white. I feel like a failure just browsing those files.

Our trainer seems great and everyone raves about her, I live in a small place (not Uk) with only one or two to choose from. She’s generally positive reinforcement/force free, and the dogs LOVE her, but there is one thing that she recommends that I have seen mentioned on that fb page as an adversive and now I’m doubting my trust in her.
There isn’t much choice tbh where I am.

@Turquoisesol

In my very limited experience and from what you have written it does sound like it could just normal puppy stuff. We have found everything called from about 8 months old. Try to build as good a bond as possible being kind to puppy, stroking her and telling her she is good etc so she just wants to please you. Try to minimise the opportunity for problems arising where they get stuff they shouldn’t and don’t get in a stand off with the puppy.

We do have a great bond, she is so eager to please, especially me, she’s really soppy and loves fuss. But it’s still just the guarding behaviour I’m worried about - usually it’s things in the garden she shouldn’t take and I call her away with a treat, on the odd occasion I’ve had a stand off it’s because she’s just totally wired and I haven’t had any treats to hand. But this one incident the other day upset me. She’s a real one for foraging and so it’s something I have to deal with everyday, and I haven’t started trying to train her to fetch/bring me things - have always been focussing on other things. When it comes to training I do feel like a bit of a failure because there is just SO much to think about and I get the impression reading on here and the fb group that by 6 months I should have it nailed. And I clearly don’t.

I think in dog training advice and support it says to prevent guarding behaviour you are to give them a treat whenever they bring you something so they get in the habit of bringing you things all the time in exchange for a treat. I am sure you are doing a lot better than you think. I believe in dtas they have said Cockapoos are often prone to resource guarding so maybe get professional advice sooner rather than later

Jean Donaldson's book 'Mine' is quite a good read for potential guarding issues - she notes that there are often 3 co-occurring issues...resource guarding, location guarding and body handling issues, which you may be noticing subtly already.
The book talks you through a densensitising process for this.
It can be more common in cocker lines I think, my cocker certainly had issues, but of course any dog can experience this.
I wouldn't try to challenge the dog when aggressive displays are happening as you want to be wary of escalation, but I'd certainly work on the training outside of those times so the dog is more able to pay attention to you and follow instruction and generally has the deferential demeanor that makes future challenges less likely.

To get a dog off a sofa it is often helpful to teach the command in opposite pairs...IE. First train her to 'get up' on to the sofa and reward her for that, and then teach the 'get off' command. Dogs often seem to learn easier with this style ...you can often teach a dog to be quiet more easily by first teaching it to speak, and to be calm by first having a word associated with the zoomies, (sounds weird, but treat and say the word during the zoomies) and then a word for the opposite when you need her to settle. ...(Watch for when she naturally calms down and then praise, treat, and repeat the word you want her to associate with an instruction to settle).