Why does my pup growl/snarl/snap at OH

[SuperSaxon]

Hello all,

I'm hoping for a little bit of advice. We've had Saxon since he was 8 weeks old and he has now 16 months old. He is a beautiful boy. So cuddly and affectionate and a joy to have around. My other half and I absolutely adore him.

However, very very occasionally he seems to act aggressively towards my OH. Take tonight for example. OH works away a lot, and came home tonight. He spent a lot of time playing with the dog and cuddling him etc. We then went up to bed and Saxon was jumping to get into the bed with us (we let him sleep with us). So OH got out of bed and went to pick Saxon up to put him on the bed and The dog started growling and snapping at him in a very aggressive way.

OH seems to have abit of a power struggle with the dog as Saxon will often ignore him (though is always good for me). When the dog misbehaves or acts aggressively, my OH deals with it by looking the dog in the eye and telling him off in a very firm/raised voice and then locking him in the kitchen.

At this point I guess I'm looking for advice. Why does my gorgeous; loving, cuddly pup do this, and is my OH handling in correctly?

I should note that we haven't had him snipped yet. We were hoping not too as he has (usually) such s beautiful temperament.

Thank you

[bizzylizzy]

I think your boy's just a bit confused to be honest, he has you to himself a lot of the time and then has to "share you" when OH comes home and he's a bit unsure where his role lies.
I don't kniw all the ins and outs on dog behaviour but a few points spring to mind:
Agree with OH on how you handle the dog - you need to be completely consistent so that when OH is at home he's not allowing/forbidding things you do/don't.
Try to avoid (if this is the case), taking a complete back seat when OH comes back, he might be a bit muddled as to who is actually in charge here 
Not all dogs are happy about being picked up and get very scared if you look at them straight on to hold their gaze. The "aggresive" behaviour is fear, not agression. 
How does he normally get up on the bed? Do you pick him up too?
I would try the reward for good behaviour approach rather than punishment for "bad" ( no such thing, he just doesn't understand what you want). Others will have some more concrete tips, I'm sure.
Best of Luck!

[Londongirl]

Puppy behaviour can be so baffling sometimes. I sure people here with vastly more experience than me will have good suggestions to make, but as a new puppy owner myself, I can only say that I'm learning every day that dogs sometimes take two and two and make five! They don't think like people and most of my mistakes with Henry have come from me assuming he does.

There could be any number of things going on in Saxon's head that make him behave this way. But from your post, I would ask whether he understands what your OH is trying to achieve when he locks him in the kitchen AFTER telling him off. A firm 'no' when caught in the act is very effective, but I'm not sure (although I could be wrong) that he will understand that being locked in the kitchen is a consequence of doing something you didn't want him to do. He may just find it baffling and this might affect how he thinks your OH is going to behave in other situations.

Does your OH physically put him into the kitchen? I ask because I wonder if Saxon got confused when your OH went to help him up on the bed and though he was getting chucked out!

[daw]

I think your boy's just a bit confused to be honest, he has you to himself a lot of the time and then has to "share you" when OH comes home and he's a bit unsure where his role lies.
I don't kniw all the ins and outs on dog behaviour but a few points spring to mind:
Agree with OH on how you handle the dog - you need to be completely consistent so that when OH is at home he's not allowing/forbidding things you do/don't.
Try to avoid (if this is the case), taking a complete back seat when OH comes back, he might be a bit muddled as to who is actually in charge here 
Not all dogs are happy about being picked up and get very scared if you look at them straight on to hold their gaze. The "aggresive" behaviour is fear, not agression. 

I would try the reward for good behaviour approach rather than punishment for "bad" ( no such thing, he just doesn't understand what you want). Others will have some more concrete tips, I'm sure.
Best of Luck!

Agreed with all of this excellent advice.  Your boy will really need consistency now- and the staring them in the eye is from the old dominance school of thought that isn't good practice. So ignore the bad, praise the good...just ignore the dog entirely if there's tension over things by not looking or speaking to him. He's still a baby remember and sounds like he wants to be a real sweetie, just gets confused. Oh and none of our dogs have liked being picked up. 

[tenaille]

plenty of good advice.  Don't think about having him 'snipped' unless you have a very definite reason to do so, he's only a young dog yet.

[AlanT]

I have a beautiful 2 year old boy. He spends all day alone with me and we have a lot of fun.

But in the evening my wife is back from work and he settles down with her.
Now he will try to guard her and keep her to himself. Basically she is his bitch.

I could get heavy, frown, shout, naughty-step etc but all that happens is he sulks and escaletes his efforts.

So I just ignore it. When I want to, I just put a lead on and take him where I want. Or I can take out a ball and get control using that.

Been going on like this for over a year and has got no worse.

[phoenix]

My OH brings out the worst in sensitive dogs.  I have had a harder time training him,but he lapses!  He growls in fun at the dog, steals their toys ,  and doesn't talk in the same soothing voice that I use. so my stroppy  cocker over-reacted .  Tinker is a little poppet, but she is confused by him and he doesn't understand her body language, and her need to snooze without him disturbing her.
Beds are always an issue, and maybe it would be better to have a dog bed or comfy chair in the room for the dog to escape to when stressed.  It's very easy for stressed behaviour to  escalate into confrontation and biting.  I even  had  the It's me or the Dog  riot act. It wasn't the dog's  fault, so I took no notice, and kept them apart.  Dogs need clear boundaries , and consistent human behaviour.  It is natural for them to guard their own space at bedtime,  so maybe you all need to go to bed at the same time!

[hoover]

Saxon might not like being picked up, in which case that is something you can work on.  First make sure he is being lifted comfortably - we find best with Ollie side on to us, one arm scooping around his chest and one arm under his rump.  We lifted him the puppy way (hands under his underarms) and he didn't like that after a while as I think this became uncomfortable as he got bigger.  We had to work on this as a two person team - one holding the treats/ occupying the head and one lifting and now Ollie is fine with that.

He may also be guarding the bed and be interpreting your OH's advances to him as an attempt to remove him from his desired place (how does he know OH is about to help him on and not take him away? In fact the end result for Saxon on these occasions is that he is being taken away, so in his mind this might increase his motivation to growl and snap).  Personally I would be tempted to say no to allowing him on your bed, does your OH really want to feel uncomfortable approaching him at these times?

Others might disgree but I think excessive attention from your OH when he comes home is probably cementing in Saxon's mind that he is top dog and gets to do what he wants to do.  I would say your OH should ignore him for a few minutes, spend time greeting you, then ask Saxon to sit down, give a paw etc before giving attention to him.   I know plenty of others have no time for this 'top dog' mentality, all I know is that it works with our dog.  We lapse all the time, and forget all our strict ideas about 'nothing in life is free', asking Ollie to do things before giving him what he wants, excessively fussing him because we all love the cuddles, and it is in these times that his behaviour is the hardest to manage, when he starts guarding places and things again.  When we ignore him to start off with, ask him to do commands before receiving what he wants/ getting cuddles,  when we don't allow him on the furniture he wants to guard and when we walk him strictly on a short lead at our heel before having his long run around that is when his behaviour is much better ....and subsquently when we begin to lapse again  I think if your OH establishes good natured authority over Saxon on all the little things the bigger situations and more stressful confrontations are less likely to arise.