How to stop puppy growling?

[Luvmydanes]

Goliath is growling at the kids if they try to pick him up or get near him when he has a chew toy. I don't like that and I want to stop it now while he is still a puppy. What suggestions can you guys give me on how to do that? We have started playing with his food while he is eating so he gets used to having hands around him while he eats, but is there anything else we should be doing?

[Luvmydanes]

bump

[Boyle]

What about making the kids the food providers to Goliath and have the kids start training Goliath with sit, down, etc. commands? 

[Luvmydanes]

Those were great suggestions..I think I will have the kids start feeding him. Now I know it isn't too early to be teaching him basic commands, but does anyone know any really sure fire ways to get them to work? Should Shaun and I begin the training and then let the kids give him the commands after he has caught on a little bit? I just dont want to confuse him by having a million people giving him commands. Thanks

[Luvmydanes]

We are going on our first walk in a little bit so I will try all of this. Thank you guys so much for the suggestions! I'm really excited. We still stop mid-walk with Jasmine and tell her "sit" just to keep her "refreshed" on it all.  I hope the growling issue gets under control, cause I'm really not liking that.

[Luvmydanes]

You're getting really good advice, and what you do now will make such a difference in how he behaves when he's too big to make him do things.  I highly recommend this book and video for new puppy owners.

http://www.jamesandkenneth.com/book3.html
http://www.jamesandkenneth.com/video1.html

Ian Dunbar is really a pioneer in puppy training.  Before he came along, trainers nearly always recommended that puppies be at least six months old before starting training.  By the time a great dane is six months old, it is far too late.  I went to a seminar with him years ago, and his advice was so incredibly helpful.  I can't recommend his materials too highly. 

That is exactly what I was thinking. By 6 months old, he will be so big and totally out of control. We started Jasmine early and she listens SO well now (when she wants to of course - hehe)

[kathryn]

You have received some great advice and I am going to check out that book also.  When Shiner came home I would have him in the kitchen with the Cinder and Kaila when I would train them.  I started with sit and down (lay) with him just watching and treating when he would mimic them.  So he learned the basics from the already trained dogs.  So if you have him with you when you train with Jasmine he will pick some of it up at the same time.  Then he can have his own training session also.  Now I am working on training all three of them at the same time with cooperative feeding and training methods.  It's worked one time the rest is mass chaos but fun.  I don't have kids but I have noticed that as long as Michael and I are using the same hand signals and voice commands then no one is confused and usually one of us starts a new behavior and then the other one of us helps shape it.  I hope that helps and sorry it's so long.

Kat

[navarre1316]

Does he only growl when he has a toy?  Navarre would kind of growl and swing his head around when I would pick him up as a pup, and sometimes I was like "ok, I'll put you down"  WRONG!!  That's just reinforcing that when he growls he will be left alone.  So, while the training will definitely help, I would also address the growling especially if it's not in a playful way.  If he growls when something is being done, like picking him up, don't give in.  Pick him up and hold him until he's calm and continue to hold him and love on him for a few minutes after he calms down then put him down.  This especially needs to be done while he's little, which won't be for much longer!!!  And if your kids can get involved in that somehow, safely, they need to be because Goliath needs to learn that he has to respect and mind them too!!  Good luck!

[Luvmydanes]

Does he only growl when he has a toy?  Navarre would kind of growl and swing his head around when I would pick him up as a pup, and sometimes I was like "ok, I'll put you down"  WRONG!!  That's just reinforcing that when he growls he will be left alone.  So, while the training will definitely help, I would also address the growling especially if it's not in a playful way.  If he growls when something is being done, like picking him up, don't give in.  Pick him up and hold him until he's calm and continue to hold him and love on him for a few minutes after he calms down then put him down.  This especially needs to be done while he's little, which won't be for much longer!!!  And if your kids can get involved in that somehow, safely, they need to be because Goliath needs to learn that he has to respect and mind them too!!  Good luck!

See that is the thing, Goliath will NOT growl at my husband or myself, no matter what it is we do to him. It is only the kids. If he is chewing on a toy, or a treat and they are touching him he will growl. If they try to pick him up, sometimes he will growl, others he won't. We have smacked him on the butt and told him no growling, and my husband and I have started taking his treats away and messing with his food while he's eating it. I think we need to get the kids involved in that while he is still little though, that way he will be used to be messed with while he eats. And of course, we will be supervising at all times while this happens.