Why does my puppy bite and snarl when I pick her up? What to do?

Oh dear! Growling when you pick her up is a major red flag for future problems in a puppy this age - this is not normal, and needs more help than just socialization. From your description, it's hard to say if her behavior with the other puppy is normal play or aggression. I would strongly recommend making an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate her in person and help you put together a plan to work on these issues - it's best to do this as soon as possible, since early intervention gives you a much better chance of being able to change this behavior before she grows up. I'm not sure what part of Canada you're in, but your regular veterinarian should be able to help you find out where your nearest board-certified veterinary behaviorist is so that you can make an appointment. In the meantime, I would try and avoid doing anything that tends to make her growl - instead of picking her up, for example, use treats to encourage her to come to you. I would also not recommend any kind of punishment for this behavior, as this has a high risk of making things worse over time. The behaviorist can help you identify what kinds of situations tend to trigger the growling, and will put together a training plan to work on this issue.

Growling and biting isn't inherently a sign of illness, but it doesn't hurt to schedule a vet visit to rule out any issues, however I would be more concerned that a puppy is biting and growling at only a month of age and acting aggressively. I highly recommend trying to find a veterinary behaviorist in your area that can deal with aggression, or working with a trainer on basic puppy obedience so you can start to instill some ground rules and learn to communicate with each other better. http://www.dacvb.org/about/member-directory/

Situations like this are complicated and it's hard to give the best advice without being able to observe the behavior and walk you through things. Sometimes this can be true aggression. Sometimes this is related to Emma not wanting to be moved/handled. The latter can sometimes be treated with counter conditioning to provide a more positive experience that Emma will want to happen and thus will respond to. True canine aggression is a complex behavior as it can stem from dominance, possessiveness, fear, anxiety, resource guarding or a combination. Most people are not familiar with reading canine body language and training. Because of this, I recommend to work with a professional trainer. Researching on your own will also be helpful. Familiarizing yourself with canine body language and dog training can help you to recognize what your pet is trying to say. You can find many books written on the topic and there is a trainer named Victoria Stilwell who I think is particularly helpful. Best of luck.

Since this sounds like a sudden change I would recommend making an appointment with your veterinarian to rule out a medical problem first. It is possible that he is painful somewhere and is reacting this way due to pain. I would try not to pick him up until you can see a vet, or wrap him in a thick towel before picking him up. If he seems healthy, you can then discuss what could be causing this behavior with your vet or your vet could refer you to a local animal behaviorist.

Lucy is still very young and while I can't completely judge definitively the behavior you are describing without seeing it first hand, it doesn't sound like abnormal puppy behavior. Lucy is currently in a very important part of her emotional / social development so you may see lots of behaviors over the next 2-3 months that seem new or out of the ordinary, as she continues to find her role in this new world. If the biting to you really seems like an aggressive sort of action, I would recommend speaking with a trainer or behaviorist in person so they can make their own determination as how to move forward. In the mean time, any biting (or teething) that you see should be redirected to a toy. Do not touch Lucy or says something to Lucy when she bites, as this could be misinterpreted to her as attention. Sometimes, they don't care whether it's negative or positive attention, and will continue to perform any behavior that results in attention, period. Hope this helps you out. Good luck with Lucy!

What you are describing may be normal puppy behavior for Bear because some puppies respond very poorly to dominance type of behavioral training. However, I would be concerned with the behaviors that you are describing. I would recommend contacting your veterinarian or the foster organization for a recommendation on a trainer to work with to have someone else observe Bear's behavior to help you decide where to go from here. The longer this behavior continues, the more serious it will be become, so this needs to be dealt with immediately. In the meantime, I would not reprimand or challenge Bear since that seems to escalate the situation. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Oh dear! I'm sorry that you're having this problem with Billi. Owner-directed aggression is a complex behavior issue that can be quite serious, so I would recommend recommend asking your veterinarian to refer you to a veterinary behaviorist in your area - he/she can evaluate your dog in person and help you put together a detailed training plan to work on this problem. In general, I can tell you that the best way to deal with this problem is ny identifying what situations tend to trigger the aggression, then either avoiding them or working with her to teach her to be more comfortable with these triggers so that she doesn't feel the need to growl or snap. This would always involve reward-based training, never any kind of punishment as this is likely to make things worse. If your husband is petting her and she growls, she's asking him to stop - he should listen to her and leave her alone at that point, rather than continuing to antagonize her with more petting. This often leads to increased aggression (such as snapping or biting) from the dog, since her communications signals are being ignored. The behaviorist can help you understand why she gets upset in these situations so that you can learn to avoid them or help her be more comfortable.