snapping and growling

hia, tday harley has been quite bad at growling and bite any tried and tested advice? i have been trying to be firm and say no but to no avail????

I'm assuming from his age that he's play growling and biting. At seven weeks (judging from your profile), your pup will be used to playing rough with his siblings, so in his mind he isn't doing anything wrong. Different methods of prevention suit different dogs, but some common ways to prevent biting/growling in puppies are:

-To squeal or yelp loudly when the pup bites
-To turn away and ignore the pup completely
-To scold firmly

If it's a behaviour you want to get rid of, no matter what that behaviour is, you need to be clear. If the pup bites and you laugh or continue to play with him, he'll assume that it's allowed to bite. Consistency is important.

With our dog, a firm 'no' works best.

Also, behaviour correction won't happen overnight, so don't worry if the results aren't astoundingly sudden! It might take a little while. He's only little, after all.

Hope this helped.

yes thanx any advice welcome, i have not had a pup for years waited till kids a bit older so i am on this site reading everything!!

The suggestions that Eleanor gave are good. Pick one and stick with it and do it EVERY SINGLE TIME. Which might be a lot at first it took Loki ages to make any progress, but he has made a huge amount of progress, so even if it feels like you don't see any progress, stick with it and it will.

linzi82 wrote:yes thanx any advice welcome, i have not had a pup for years waited till kids a bit older so i am on this site reading everything!!

Good for you for reading up on it!

ANattyRat wrote:The suggestions that Eleanor gave are good. Pick one and stick with it and do it EVERY SINGLE TIME. Which might be a lot at first it took Loki ages to make any progress, but he has made a huge amount of progress, so even if it feels like you don't see any progress, stick with it and it will.

Agreed! You'll probably want to pull your hair out at first, but he'll get the hang of it sooner or later.

All good advice.

Remember that this is how the pup would play with his siblings, so he doesn't realise that we don't like it. If you follow the advice given, it may take a couple of weeks to sink in, but you'll get really good results at the end of it!

Like you i hadn't had a dog for years and was on this site constantly, getting advice.
The yelping and then stopping all interaction worked pretty quickly for Bacchus.
If he's your first staffie, like us, be prepared for a lot of different experiences compared with other breeds but they are sooo loving

thanx for all ur advice, since my last post harley has now torn my best comfy trousers!!!! cant be mad tho. just excuse for another pair!!! he just has a mad half hour then hes as u say very loving and i just want to cudel him, i am going to stick to it tho ill keep u all posted!! untill my next post which prob will not be long!!!

happens to us all I'm still working on it at 7 months

ive used a faithfull AAaaah!!! NO!!!... and it works for loads n loads once she got it..

Just wondering if you could also give any more information about what he's growling and biting over? For example, is it due to possessions etc or just general puppy mouthing and chewing?

just general mouthing and growling just put pic up he looks like butter wouldnt melt!!!!

linzi82 wrote:thanx for all ur advice, since my last post harley has now torn my best comfy trousers!!!! cant be mad tho. just excuse for another pair!!! he just has a mad half hour then hes as u say very loving and i just want to cudel him, i am going to stick to it tho ill keep u all posted!! untill my next post which prob will not be long!!!

Bacchus tore my trousers first day we had him. He's 18 weeks now and settled down a lot. You'll notice a difference once his shots are up to date and you can get him out and tire him out. Meanwhile play indoors to tire him and remember they need a lot of sleep at that age. Strangely they are more trouble if over-tired. If you haven't already done so it's worth considering crate training him.

today harley wouldnt go in his crate at all ive cud him in and now put him in till i hoover and tidy, he woke and had a little cry not for long tho i gave him a wee treat he ate it and hes went t sleep! i have shut the door and this is first time hes settled with it shut any more advice on the crate training?

linzi82 wrote:today harley wouldnt go in his crate at all ive cud him in and now put him in till i hoover and tidy, he woke and had a little cry not for long tho i gave him a wee treat he ate it and hes went t sleep! i have shut the door and this is first time hes settled with it shut any more advice on the crate training?

I used to hide treats in his crate when he wasn't looking, then would tempt him into the crate with a treat. He would then find the hidden treats and was therefore always willing to go in to see what he could find.

Advice.........never reward him when he cries as he will associate the crying with a treat.
never use the crate for punishment, it must always be a pleasant place.
cover 3 sides of the crate so it looks like a little den, they find it more secure that way.

I'm nowhere near as knowledgeable as some of the guys on this forum as Bacchus is my first staffie but these are things which I have picked up on this forum which have worked for me.

hia thanx for reply, thats good idea to cover it al try that next time he in cheers, one thing he is doing very good at tho is the toilet as soon as he up im putting him out and going every time

linzi82 wrote:hia thanx for reply, thats good idea to cover it al try that next time he in cheers, one thing he is doing very good at tho is the toilet as soon as he up im putting him out and going every time

That's great progress, he's catching on. Just be sure to watch for signs ( sniffing the floor/circling) when he's loose and take him out as frequently as possible to avoid accidents, and lots of praise/treats when he goes outside.

Personally, I use enthusiastic "clean boy" for praise and good/clever boy for other training. With my last dog, a GSD, he would be a clean boy on command.