growling?

[Ashley V]

Chip is such a sweet boy... he really is... but there is one problem we are having. If we take him somewhere and I am holding him and someone comes up to say how cute he is and pet him, he's perfectly fine. When Adam is holding him, however, he tenses up, growls really low and either shows his teeth or snaps. I don't think he wants to hurt anyone, I just think he doesn't want anyone near his daddy, but we definately can't have that.

The other day he randomly threw up in the car and was acting all lethargic, so we just ran into banfield and the receptionist took him back for the vet to just to a quick run through. The vet came out with Chip in his arms and Chip was fine, he just was squirming cause he wanted us. Adam started holding him and the vet was talking to us, then went to pet him on the head and he snapped at him! The vet said he was perfectly fine in the back room! Then we went over to the grooming place and this lady went to pet him and he showed his teeth! Thankfully she was just like "OHH you can't bite me! You have hardly any teeth!" then pet him some more. He just hid his head at that point... but a couple times he growled at some little kids. I just don't understand.

Also, this is only with people he doesn't know. He is perfectly fine with anyone in the house or family.

Any suggestions?

[lilybellesmom]

Ashley, I think that Chipper is just over protective of daddy (that's soo cute :D)

I think that maybe with some time eventually he will calm down. Maybe you can hold a training session with some friends of yours to pet him when Adam is holding him. Try having your friends pet him then give him treats when he does great.

You will probably get other great ideas here. Good luck!

[maltchimom]

Ashley, I'm working on the same problem with my Chipper except he is that way with my 9-year old daughter. Especially if she is sleeping and anyone tries to wake her up or get her to bed if she has fallen asleep in the living room. He is like a Mama protecting her baby.

[Morkie4]

Wow, can I ever relate to what you are going through! Toby is great with those he knows and is ok but pulls away from a strangers touch. But he is very aggressive with any other dog!! He tries to avoid people but will let them pet him but he is tense. He has never bit anyone but has chowed down on the neighbors dog, big or small a couple of times if they come in our yard. I think Toby is territorial and jealous. But at the flea market in his backpack (front carry) he will let people touch him no problem but you can tell by his body languge he is not happy about it.

I have the Dvd by the dog whisperer on aggression and I'l just have to take the time to watch it.

Sound likes your Chip is just having a jealous streak. I hope he gets better with time and if I find anything helpful on the dvd, I'll let you know.

[Ashley V]

Wow, can I ever relate to what you are going through! Toby is great with those he knows and is ok but pulls away from a strangers touch. But he is very aggressive with any other dog!! He tries to avoid people but will let them pet him but he is tense. He has never bit anyone but has chowed down on the neighbors dog, big or small a couple of times if they come in our yard. I think Toby is territorial and jealous. But at the flea market in his backpack (front carry) he will let people touch him no problem but you can tell by his body languge he is not happy about it.

I have the Dvd by the dog whisperer on aggression and I'l just have to take the time to watch it.

Sound likes your Chip is just having a jealous streak. I hope he gets better with time and if I find anything helpful on the dvd, I'll let you know.

Chip is the same way, but at opposite ends. He LOOOOVES other dogs, but gets tense and snappy with people, but ONLY when Adam is holding him. If he is walking by himself or if I'm holding him, you can tell he doesn't like it, but he's fine.

[MalteseJane]

Well Alex is almost 10 years old and I still have to be careful if a stranger approches us. He is very protective if he is in my arms. It's ok if he is on the floor but I warn people that come to the house to go slow. I don't let a stranger touch him, period.

[Ashley V]

Well Alex is almost 10 years old and I still have to be careful if a stranger approches us. He is very protective if he is in my arms. It's ok if he is on the floor but I warn people that come to the house to go slow. I don't let a stranger touch him, period.


Yea he is perfectly fine on the floor. Like today he went up to a little 3 year old and sniffed her feet then licked her leg and went back to me. If he was in Adam's arms... it would have been a different story. He has to warm up. For instance, we are at PetSmart and this person comes up and pets him... if he is in Adam's arms he would growl and snap or show his teeth... if he is on the floor, he usually will run behind my leg, but after awhile he'll warm up. Once he's warmed up, it doesn't matter if Adam is holding him or not... maybe he has a hard time trusting people?

[bek74]

This kind of behaviour is totally unexceptable and isn't good. He is still only young so it wouldn't be to hard to train him.

If he behaves like this when Adam is holding him, then as soon as he does it, Adam should say " NO" and place him on the ground and ignore him. I would continue to do this EVERYTIME he does it. Then like Laurie suggest, I would have Adam hold Chip and get different people to come up and pet him and give him treats at the same time ( Adam saying " good boy" the whole time).
You can't expect his behaviour to change after the first few times, but if you keep at it, he should learn that when he is good, he gets praise and treats and when he is naughty he is placed on the floor and ignored.

You know when people would take there grandkids over to see grandma and grandpa and the dog is sitting on Grandma's lap and the grandkids go up to give grandma a kiss and cuddle and the dog growls, barks and snaps at the kids????????, Then the parents say to the child " you know the dog doesn't like it when you go up to grandma like that". As if it is the childs fault, It isn't. The problem is, just because the dog is small and cute, people think that, that kind of behaviour is exceptable and people make excuses for it, I'm sorry but I don't think there is any excuse for that kind of behaviour from any dog and I most certainly would except it from my furbabies.

You can get Ill mannerd skin kids and Ill mannerd furkids.

I wish you all the best with Chip and getting this sorted out ( stick with one training routine and don't don't change or he will get confused).
More pics are welcomed :D

Hugs Bek

[Ashley V]

This kind of behaviour is totally unexceptable and isn't good. He is still only young so it wouldn't be to hard to train him.

If he behaves like this when Adam is holding him, then as soon as he does it, Adam should say " NO" and place him on the ground and ignore him. I would continue to do this EVERYTIME he does it. Then like Laurie suggest, I would have Adam hold Chip and get different people to come up and pet him and give him treats at the same time ( Adam saying " good boy" the whole time).
You can't expect his behaviour to change after the first few times, but if you keep at it, he should learn that when he is good, he gets praise and treats and when he is naughty he is placed on the floor and ignored.

You know when people would take there grandkids over to see grandma and grandpa and the dog is sitting on Grandma's lap and the grandkids go up to give grandma a kiss and cuddle and the dog growls, barks and snaps at the kids????????, Then the parents say to the child " you know the dog doesn't like it when you go up to grandma like that". As if it is the childs fault, It isn't. The problem is, just because the dog is small and cute, people think that, that kind of behaviour is exceptable and people make excuses for it, I'm sorry but I don't think there is any excuse for that kind of behaviour from any dog and I most certainly would except it from my furbabies.

You can get Ill mannerd skin kids and Ill mannerd furkids.

I wish you all the best with Chip and getting this sorted out ( stick with one training routine and don't don't change or he will get confused).
More pics are welcomed :D

Hugs Bek

Haha as soon as I get camera batteries I will post more pics... I have them... just not on my computer lol

[lilybellesmom]

Ashley, has Chip improved on his training for his growling?

[bek74]

Ashley, has Chip improved on his training for his growling?

Yes I was wondering the same thing. I hope you have put a plan in action and sticking to it. Good luck and please update

[Ashley V]

Eh... he kinda has. We've taken him on walks and to petsmart a few times and he's walked himself... so he's gotten more used to people. So far we haven't had a chance to really try it with Adam holding him except for when we were at the vet getting shots and he did not like that at all. He growled and showed his teeth just when they were taking his temp. so they muzzled him for the shots! He actually went up to a little girl and sniffed her when we were at petsmart the other day and he used to growl at them. I think if we let him discover on his own that people aren't that bad, he'll be okay. My actual theory on him growling and I just thought of this a couple days ago was everytime we went somewhere and Adam was holding him, he got shots... maybe everytime someone came up to pet him, he thought he was going to get shots. Maybe?