Author Topic: 7 month puppy.... growling/lip curling....  (Read 1488 times)

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Offline bongomark

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7 month puppy.... growling/lip curling....
« on: October 23, 2020, 11:22:45 AM »
Hi everyone,

I wasn't quite sure whether to post this here or in behaviour/training, but as he's a puppy I thought I'd start here.

In the last month or so he's started to sometimes curl his lip/even growl when you stroke his head. He tends to stiffen his head/neck and move his nose away from your hand as he's doing it. - he then tends to seem to realise he shouldn't be doing it and comes and snuggles in against me. Is this some sort of over stimulation?

He has also started a bit of resource guarding of his bed. If you go to stroke him when he is in his bed then he curls his lip, and sometimes growls. Again he then tends to come and snuggle in against you.

He's generally a lovely natured pup, and I'm not overly worried, but I don't want this behaviour to escalate any further. Is it just a phase or does it need nipping in the bud?

Thanks,
Mark

Offline Mari

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Re: 7 month puppy.... growling/lip curling....
« Reply #1 on: October 23, 2020, 12:19:24 PM »
This does not sound like normal teenage phase stuff to me. But I could be wrong, all dogs have their quirks. Good choice asking for advice! A dog trainer/behaviourist could be a good idea to consult if you have the possibility to do so.

The resource guarding is something you want to get ahead of as soon as possible. I don't know how much you know about training and preventing this type of behaviour, but there is good advice on here concerning how to deal with it. The main thing is to never challenge them on it. Train and build trust to prevent tense situations.
So if he guards his bed, don't approach him there, train him to come to you instead. He needs to know that his bed is a safe place he can go to when he wants to be left alone. Call him away from the bed and reward him if you need his attention. If he trusts that he is safe in his bed, he will not have a reason to guard it. If you ever need to remove him and he does not come voluntarily, use a leash to guide him rather than direct contact.

Has anything happened to make him feel insecure about his head? Could be someone accidentally hit his head or a child pulled his ear or anything that made him feel unsafe? I would want to rule out pain if my dog suddenly got reactive about being touched. A visit to the vet to make sure there are no issues with his ears or teeth or eyes or neck would be a good start.
Can he see well, have his adult teeth come in correctly, any chance of ear-infection, sore neck etc. The behaviour you describe him showing when you touch his head is him sending very strong signals indicating he is uncomfortable. Question you need the answer to is why? Why is he afraid of having his head stroked.

How you react to him growling is important too. Many people will challenge or punish a dog for growling and escalate the problem rather than getting to the bottom of it. I don't know how you respond when your dog does this, so I'll just throw out a reminder that this is your dog communicating with you, communicating discomfort and giving you a chance to find out why he is not happy in these situations.

Good luck, sounds like he is a great young dog and you are in a good position to avoid this becoming an issue :)

Offline bizzylizzy

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Re: 7 month puppy.... growling/lip curling....
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2020, 01:14:32 PM »
Great advice there, as always, from Mari!
Growling is a warning and shouldn‘t be ignored otherwise the dog will learn that if his signal is ignored, he might as well not bother and just attack or bite.
Although I would agree, you need to find out if there is a specific cause, pain etc, its worth mentioning that a lot of dogs just don‘t like their heads being touched, particularly if being approached from head on or above.
Welcome to COL, by the way, this is always a good place to start for anything cockery!!  ;)

Offline bongomark

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Re: 7 month puppy.... growling/lip curling....
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2020, 12:20:27 PM »
Thanks very much for the advice. I think I might get in touch with a behaviourist/trainer and see what they think.

I don't think it is pain related, as most of the time he is quite happy with his face being touched, it is just occasionally.

I'll keep you updated on how he goes!

Offline Mari

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Re: 7 month puppy.... growling/lip curling....
« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2020, 01:36:26 PM »

I'll keep you updated on how he goes!

Please do  :003: It will be interesting to hear how you get on and what the professionals think. Could be he's perfectly happy and normal, just particular about his head. Bizzylizzy brings up a good point about some dogs not liking their head touched.