My puppy growled at me when I tried to comfort her. What now?

Your puppy is still young and has a lot to learn. You need to work with her on potty training (consider crate training), socialization, and basic commands like sit/stay/come. Take her on walks frequently to help her energy level. All of these things will help foster and grow your relationship with her. Let her know that it is not appropriate to bite or growl by correcting her and then ignoring her after she does it. Some dogs have a more independent personality and she may be one of those dogs. But if you continue to work with her I'm sure you two will have a great relationship some day soon.

Hi there. Resource guarding is a very common (and normal, to some extent!) behavior in dogs. Do not try to take high-value treats away from her while she is chewing them, as this will only teach her to be anxious and on guard whenever you approach. Instead, leave her alone to chew them in peace. You can also practice walking up to her while she is chewing on something, dropping a tasty treat like a piece of cheese or a hot dog slice, and walking away without bothering her. This way, she learns that having you approach her when she has a "treasure" is a good thing, and not a threat! If this behavior escalates over time instead of getting better, then I would recommend getting in touch with a veterinary behaviorist or a good reward-based trainer who can evaluate her in person and help you put together a training plan to address it. Play growling during tug of war is normal, and it not typically a cause for concern.

Hi Carol! You're right that this behavior is somewhat concerning in such as young puppy - some lines of Presa Canarios can be quite dog aggressive, so this is something to keep an eye on as Karma gets older. Growling or lunging at another dog who gets close when she is sitting with you is a form of resource guarding - basically, she wants you all to herself. To improve this behavior, you want to teach her that good things happen when RaeRae approaches. If RaeRae starts to walk over to you when Karma is sitting on your lap, praise Karma, pet her, and tell her what a good girl she is. If she growls and RaeRae leaves, just say something like "Oh - too bad!" and calmly put her off your lap or on the floor. Basically, you want her to learn that if she growls at RaeRae, she loses your attention and the opportunity for snuggling - but if she allows her to come over without growling, you fuss over her and pay lots of attention to her. You could also try using a DAP pheromone collar to help reduce Karma's stress about this and encourage more social behavior. If you don't see any improvement in this behavior over the next few weeks, or if things seem to be getting worse, I would recommend making an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist sooner rather than later - early intervention gives the best chance of a good outcome with behavior problems in puppies, just like human kids.

Oh dear, what a cute little devil. Spanking is not the answer, but I think you do need the help of a trainer to help Pixie lead a more sociable life. Basic obedience is always a good place to start. She needs to learn to sit & stay while you place food dishes down & pick up toys. It is not okay, even with that adorable face, to be so aggressive with toys & food. She can still inflict a serious bite. I would start at a Petco, or someplace that offers puppy classes & go from there. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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.

Although this behavior can be common, mild aggression can very easily escalate and quickly. Especially, if your older dog decides to challenge her or not back down.It's not aggression you are seeing, it's resource guarding. I'd recommend always supervising them during feeding times and when treats or other high-value items are around. Teach your younger dog that there are no shortages of great things, ever. This means working with her around your other dog and showing her if she has something good like a bone/treat/toy there is another one coming. I call them treat parties where you have both dogs sit and give them rewards, alternating back and forth. This teaches them that they have to wait their turn, but they both will get something. Start with something basic like kibble, and every turn "trade up" for something more scrumptious each round. And offer plenty of "treats". This should help with some of the resource guarding you are experiencing. Keep practicing this regularly and it should help. If things begin to escalate more please call a professional trainer for a consultation and help. Nip this in the bud, before it gets to be harder to control.

I would be happy to help you - feel free to request a consultation if you want to discuss Koda's issues in more detail. For now, I can certainly give you some general information about food aggression and how to treat it :) Food aggression, like other types of resource guarding, occurs because the dog is afraid that you are going to take their food away from them. This doesn't have to be based on any negative experiences in the past - it's a hard-wired, instinctive behavior that is stronger in some dogs than others. Treatment is based on teaching the dog that good things happen when you approach his food bowl, so that over time, this doesn't make her feel threatened anymore. You can start by walking by her and dropping a treat into her food bowl while she is eating. Once she's comfortable with this, you can gradually work up to approaching her, picking up the bowl, adding a special treat of some kind, and giving it back. It's never recommended to punish this behavior, or to bother her or take away her bowl while she is eating, since this only reinforces the idea that bad things happen when you approach her and will make the problem worse over time. The book "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson gives an excellent overview of this issue, along with detailed step-by-step training instructions to address it.