Growling puppy

[Piper31]

Hello everyone,
I am in need of some advice, I have a 17 week old male cocker and a few weeks ago he started growling if you talk, stand near him or touch him when eatting his food and any treats . Not sure what to do as we never had this problem with our springer .
Thanks
Nikki

[JamiesGirl]

Hello growling is a dogs way of saying 'I'm not happy' and it's really important that you listen to him as if you don't he will think that his growling isn't working and will bite instead. If he's only growling when he is eating it could be because he's worried your going to take his food from him. As he's young you've plenty of time to work on it though. When he growls, calmly leave him be. If there is an occasion when he doesn't growl and you go near him praise him and give him a small training treat. Have you started clicker training with him? If you have you can use the clicker to indicate the good behaviour - not growling - if not I'd really reccomend starting as it is a fun way for you and pup to teach new things as well as helping to work on this little problem. Find out where his threshold is. How far away or close can you stand before he growls. Start in this area click/praise and offer another treat or pop the treat on the floor for him to have later. It's not an overnight fix but over time he will grow more confident and once the growling has stopped you can work on taking treats off him, praising him for letting you and then giving it straight back good luck!xx


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[phoenix]

I agree with the previous post.  The growling is not bad behaviour,  it is the dog communicating with you to saying please get out of my personal space, I don't like it while I'm eating.   The dogs next reaction is to take the only further step he can do, which is to snap or bite. 
I too have a springer that is totally gentle and laid back, but many cockers often have a much more sensitive temperament.  Mine is well documented on the forum seven years ago as a difficult puppy.  We learnt to understand his signals  and  'think like a dog' and use positive training methods.
I would advise you to read up the recommended dog behaviour guides so that you are prepared for any other possible problems like guarding and jealousy so that you know what to do.  I never had to think about positive training methods till I had my cocker!  Also, Clicker training is brilliant, and such good fun for all the family. Are you going to training classes with him?

[PennyB]

one good way of dealing with the food situation is to give him half his food and add the rest yourself - often best if its dry kibble and normally the best way is to stand and drop food into the bowl, gradually getting closer to the bowl until you pop it in close at hand - as he's growling when you stand near him its worth starting a distance away with the other half and throw a piece of kibble at a time until eventually you get to where you can stand close to the bowl and put food in etc. - don't rush though as it may take time.

He does sound like he's also guarding his food which can happen in many dogs (its considered normal behaviour in dogs as they're protecting a resource but obviously not a wanted behaviour in a pet household) and if dealt with slowly and calmly can be resolved or at best managed