puppy growling when picked up

[rottlove]

Hello, my 9-week-old Viva growls when I pick her up unless she is sleepy. I am working a lot on the nipping and have the yipe and ignore thing down, but what is the appropriate response to her growl/nip combo when I pick her up? I am always gentle and use both hands. Seems like if put her down immediately and ignore her, she won't tolerate being picked up after a while, having been reinforced that growling=being put down. We are going to KPT and working on different commands with positive reinforcement, and she gets nothing without a "sit" and eye contact. She scored mostly 3s on the PAT. Her litter was home-raised with two children that know how to handle pups. Any advice would be great; she catches on quickly and is a joy to train.

[rottlove]

Well, I've thought of 2 solutions to my own quandry:

1. Pick her up only when she is sleepy!
2. Have some liver in my pocket!

[Diamond Dog]

You need to nip this in the bud, but at the same time you dont want to be correcting her too much as you do not want to adversley affect her confidence. You need to establish your dominance as much as possible in these formidable weeks.

When she growls, flip her on her back and pin her down. I straddle the pup with my knees (I am not really straddling him as he is too small, but to him it feels like it) I keep him from being able to move and really pin him down. The look directly into his eyes (very important)at all times and say "No" firmly but only once. IHe will probably look away. If he continues to squirm or growl, I growl back. This is pretty much what her mom or other dogs would do and believe me, they are probably more forceful than you will every be.

I also cradle my pup on his back all the time in my arms, even when he is not being bad. They are being domiated on their back and I want him to understand that I am the alpha dog. So every now and then I hold him in my arms on his back and say "good" Boy. I also interrupt his eating and flip him on his back every now and then. You dont always have to wait until he is being bad to flip him over.

A lot of times I will grab him by the scruff of his neck, pick him up off the ground before I flip him over. Same thing mom does (picking up by the scruf of the neck) I wont be able to do this much longer as he will be too big

Hope this helps.

[rottlove]

Thanks for your reply. I do flip her and yes, she does look away after she "settles". Usually she growls again a little as I release her, though--should I re-flip her at this point? I wasn't sure if growling was a serious enough offense for the drama of all of this flipping. I'm trying to keep things positive but I am also very familiar with the Monks of New Skete's more physical methods. BTW, she's not the slightest bit food aggressive and really listens to me, eye contact, etc. I guess it wouldn't hurt to do all the Alpha Puppy stuff posted recently by Deborah Reid and others. It's just hard to know how far to go since she is so golden in other repects. Her female littermates were even growlier; she didn't growl at all when I picked her out and did the tests.

[Diamond Dog]

If she growls again, I would flip her on her back again. But ideally, I keep mine on his back untill he is very calm. Then I praise like crazy when he settles down. Then I release. Usually he has calmed down enough that he doesnt growl. Beleive me he struggles for a while before he gets to the "calm" state and I just bear with it. I figure I rather hold him too long than not long enough.

There are also times, just like a baby, where they are so worked up (I call it "hyperspace") that its time to go in the crate and play with toys by himself for a while and settle down. That way I dont have to keep correcting him over and over and over in his "hyperspace" mood.

I think it is also important to carry them on their backs and put them on their backs and praise them as they are being good every now and then, just for fun. They don't always have to be doing something bad. I don't look at putting them on their backs as "punishment" I look at it more like establishing dominance. Something that will be hard to do when he gets 110 pounds.

[rottlove]

Thanks, Diamond Dog, we are flipping, holding, re-flipping. etc. She's tough, I've seen her wrestle with really big older pups. She can take it.

[Trinitii]

Our athena was the same way. Your on the right track it will just take some time and persistance. Now we pick her up and she will be calm for a while or will just grumble in a way like god why are you doing this to me you know i hate it hehe.

Trinitii

[Diamond Dog]

dont forget to pick her up in the middle of eating and cradle her on her back just to further drive home that you are the master and can do whatever you want WHENEVER you want.